The £68.7 million Renfrewshire redevelopment, which was approved seven years ago, sees Paisley Museum transformed by Amanda Levete’s practice AL_A with a red glass accessible entrance hall and large-spanning extension fronting the John Honeyman-designed landmark.
Both the Category A-listed building and Coats Observatory – the oldest public observatory in Scotland – have been improved through significant external and internal repairs to provide updated galleries on every floor and almost double space for the museum.
In addition, a new outdoor garden and public space have been created opening previously hidden views of the observatory and create more of a cohesive campus. It is the first makeover in the museum’s 150-year history.
Funded by Renfrewshire Council, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic Environment Scotland and the Scottish Government’s Regeneration Capital Grant Fund, the redevelopment also includes dedicated learning spaces and a heritage centre, as well as a new café-restaurant and shop.
Paisley Museum and Art Galleries host the world’s largest collection of Paisley shawls, along with many 19th-century Scottish paintings and local history artefacts. The 1871 complex was a gift to the town from local industrialist Peter Coats.
An extensive fit-out and object install programme is now under way by HUB Build, working with a team of expert content producers and collections specialists. The scheme is expected to be fully completed towards the second half of this year ahead of a public reopening, whose date is yet to be revealed.
The project was originally earmarked to complete in 2022 but was delayed multiple times. In December 2024, Renfrewshire Council agreed to put an extra £12.5 million into the project following delays caused by the pandemic and material shortages, as well as construction cost inflation.
Once reopened, the museum will be operated by Renfrewshire’s leisure and cultural charity OneRen and it is hoped that visitor numbers will quadruple to 125,000 a year.
Renfrewshire Council appointed the team led by AL_A for the planned £42 million overhaul of the Neoclassical building in early 2018, ahead of seven shortlisted firms, including MICA, WilkinsonEyre, Zaha Hadid Architects and Richard Murphy Architects.
The Paisley Museum Reimagined project is the culmination of a £100 million of investment in local culture over 10 years, including a £22 million renovation of Paisley Town Hall by Holmes Miller and a £3 million refurbishment of Paisley Arts Centre.
In October 2023, Collective Architecture completed a £4.5 million development of the town’s Central Library, shortlisted in the 2024 AJ Architecture Awards.
A brand-new £85.5 million Ryder Architecture-designed campus replacing Paisley Grammar School is expected to open its doors to pupils and staff later this year, while a multi-phase regeneration masterplan is under way in Paisley’s West End, delivering social and private housing.