Paisley Town Hall

Paisley Town Hall

Status: Completed 2023

Value: £22m

Type: Civic / Conservation Refurbishment

Location: Paisley, Renfrewshire

Paisley Town Hall is a £22m refurbishment of a historic, Grade A listed, 1882 Neoclassical Town Hall building in the historic centre of Paisley. The Clients aspirations were to substantially renovate and upgrade the existing building into one of the finest live performance venues in the West of Scotland. The completed building, in addition to the main events space, includes a dance studio, café bar, cinema, wedding and banqueting halls.

By combining a variety of key local amenities, the objective was to promote greater footfall and public engagement within the town centre. The design approach focused on the sensitive restoration of the heritage fabric. We were rigorous and careful that each intervention was sympathetic to this beautiful and grand building.

At Holmes Miller we greatly appreciated the trust placed in us to develop this Grade-A listed property and as such we were rigorous about every proposal made. Our conservation methodology has been to painstakingly analyse the materials and details of the existing building and to only select interventions which are harmonious with the original design.

The building is a fine example of Neo-classicism therefore any new interventions must embrace symmetry and order. To give one example among many; the original lighting was formed of blown glass spheres (gas lanterns) - we had to ensure that the new wall lighting proposed aligned with these original fittings. New wall lights were then installed symmetrically and sympathetically into spaces to take account of historic colonnades, wall panelling, historic precedent position, and plasterwork detailing.