Date: 27 October 08
Author: Caroline Ednie, Web Editor
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Heart of Hawick is an arts and culture led regeneration project designed to make a substantial contribution to the social, cultural and economic regeneration of Hawick and the wider Borders. By transforming two derelict buildings in the town’s West End, the project has created new, sustainable facilities that add value by creating jobs, encouraging visitors, building civic pride and promoting social inclusion.
For more than 20 years, there had been a clearly expressed public demand to remove dereliction from the town centre, to bring new and additional jobs into Hawick and to either remove or make use of an old mill building in desperate need of renovation. The local community was particularly concerned about the building’s future in 1993 shortly after it was vacated by a shop using it for storage and after an adjacent building was destroyed by fire.
In 2002, stakeholders agreed to develop a state of the art genealogy service to take advantage of both the rich cultural heritage of the Scottish Borders and the opportunity to attract national and international visitors. The project subsequently grew to include the adjacent sites of the old Corn Exchange and Drumlanrig’s Tower.
As a result Tower Mill, a derelict weaving mill and Category A listed building built over a river (incorporating a 14 foot high Victorian waterwheel) has been completely transformed and now features: an 111 seat auditorium configurable as a cinema, theatre and conference centre; the Scottish Borders first coffee & music house; 10 rentable workspaces, and exhibition space, for creative industries; and meeting rooms for hire. Additional features include underwater cameras to see the nearby otters, heron, bats and salmon, as well as a glass floor over the waterwheel, a two-storey external glass entrance and an external glass terrace built over the river.
The Heritage Hub, formerly the Corn Exchange, is now the Scottish Borders archive and local history centre. Connecting the campus, the civic space – which enjoys a fine river viewpoint - variously functions as an external performance and community space, an outdoor café bar in fine weather, a site for civic sculptures and an ideal venue for street theatre and Farmers’/Continental Markets.
Future phases of the project include the refurbishment of Drumlanrig’s Tower Visitor Centre – which aims to have the Registrar on campus by the end of March 2008 - and further Town Centre Development works.
The project is ambitious and challenging in a number of ways: it seeks to be a demonstration project on how to engage with the local community; looks to harness the entrepreneurial flair and drive of the private sector; removes some very obvious town centre dereliction; renovates and improves Category A and Category B listed buildings; and provides a range of services to encourage ambition and aspiration for young people.
Project: Heart of Hawick
Architect: Gray, Marshall and Associates
Client: Heart of Hawick Partnership, principally funded by Scottish Borders Council, the European Regional Development Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Location: Hawick, The Borders
Link: http://www.gray-marshall.co.uk
Images: Keith Hunter Photography
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