{"id":428687,"date":"2026-02-16T13:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T13:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/428687\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T13:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T13:05:08","slug":"amanda-levete-designed-paisley-museum-makeover-nears-completion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/428687\/","title":{"rendered":"Amanda Levete-designed Paisley Museum makeover nears completion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The \u00a368.7 million Renfrewshire redevelopment, which was approved seven years ago<\/a>, sees Paisley Museum transformed by Amanda Levete\u2019s practice AL_A with a red glass accessible entrance hall and large-spanning extension fronting the John Honeyman-designed landmark.<\/p>\n

Both the Category A-listed building and Coats Observatory \u2013 the oldest public observatory in Scotland \u2013 have been improved through significant external and internal repairs to provide updated galleries on every floor and almost double space for the museum.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 150-year history.<\/p>\n

Funded by Renfrewshire Council, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic Environment Scotland and the Scottish Government\u2019s Regeneration Capital Grant Fund, the redevelopment also includes dedicated learning spaces and a heritage centre, as well as a new caf\u00e9-restaurant and shop.<\/p>\n

Paisley Museum and Art Galleries host the world\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The project was originally earmarked to complete in 2022 but was delayed multiple times. In December 2024, Renfrewshire Council agreed to put an extra \u00a312.5 million into the project following delays caused by the pandemic and material shortages, as well as construction cost inflation.<\/p>\n

Once reopened, the museum will be operated by Renfrewshire\u2019s leisure and cultural charity OneRen and it is hoped that visitor numbers will quadruple to 125,000 a year.<\/p>\n

Renfrewshire Council<\/a>\u00a0appointed the team led by AL_A for the\u00a0planned \u00a342 million overhaul of the\u00a0 Neoclassical building\u00a0in early 2018<\/a>, ahead of seven shortlisted firms, including MICA, WilkinsonEyre, Zaha Hadid Architects and Richard Murphy Architects.<\/p>\n

The Paisley Museum Reimagined project is the culmination of a \u00a3100 million of investment in local culture over 10 years, including a \u00a322 million renovation of Paisley Town Hall by Holmes Miller and a \u00a33 million refurbishment of Paisley Arts Centre.<\/p>\n

In October 2023, Collective Architecture completed a \u00a34.5 million development of the town\u2019s Central Library, shortlisted in the 2024 AJ Architecture Awards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A brand-new \u00a385.5 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\u2019s West End, delivering social and private housing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The \u00a368.7 million Renfrewshire redevelopment, which was approved seven years ago, sees Paisley Museum transformed by Amanda Levete\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[157179,157180,6225,6485,6486,1120,96,27010,3776,157181,3778,26588,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-428687","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-al_a","9":"tag-amanda-levete","10":"tag-arts","11":"tag-arts-and-design","12":"tag-artsanddesign","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-extension","16":"tag-paisley","17":"tag-paisley-museum","18":"tag-renfrewshire","19":"tag-retrofit","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom","22":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}