This is a listed former bingo hall in Airdrie, in North Lanarkshire. It is a landmark building in the town, and earlier in my career, as lead architect and director at UngLo Architects, I led its conversion into a new use.
We were brought in by the client after an earlier planning application had been refused. The planning officer had asked for a design that made more of the building and used the site more efficiently, so the brief was to rethink the scheme and bring the building back into use.
The building is listed, so its character had to be respected and the work needed listed building consent as well as planning permission for the change of use. The challenge was to fit modern homes into a historic building that was never designed for them, while keeping what made it special.
We proposed converting the original part of the building to residential use, with the later addition at the rear taken down to make room for further flats. The planning and listed building officers responded well to the design and asked us to include retail on the ground floor of the original hall, which we worked into the scheme so the building would have shops at street level and homes above.
Listed building consent and full planning permission for the change of use were both granted. The result is a scheme that brings a landmark listed building back into everyday use, with shops at ground level and new homes above, designed to sit comfortably within its history.