Museums, Galleries & Libraries
Paisley Museum Re-Imagined. We are currently working on a major refurbishment of Paisley Museum and Coats Observatory as part of a 4 year long £42m transformation of the venue. The refurbishment of Paisley Museum is the flagship project in a £100 million investment in Paisley Town centre over the next few years. You can read more about the project on the new Paisley Museum Reimagined website.
The museum is being redesigned by award-winning architects AL_A, who are behind some of the world’s most striking buildings.
The firm’s founder Amanda Levete – a former winner of UK architecture’s top honour, the RIBA Stirling Prize – says the Paisley Museum project is ‘one of the most radical briefs she has read’.
It will be the first Scottish commission for the London-based practice, who have designed landmark projects including the Victoria & Albert Museum Exhibition Road Quarter – for which they won the prestigious RIBA London Building of the Year 2018.
The new-look museum will showcase its outstanding art, science and natural history collections, along with telling the story of the Paisley pattern, the town’s famous weavers and being at the centre of the global thread-making industry.
The revamped museum is expected to attract 125,000 visits a year – almost four times current numbers – when it reopens in 2022. And it’s estimated that it will create huge amounts of visitors to Paisley town centre, as well as a £72m economic boost over 30 years.
The redevelopment will include a contemporary addition to the existing Victorian-era building, major revamps to all four museum buildings including Coats Observatory, and a complete internal redesign reimagining the visitor experience and doubling the number of objects on display.
The David Livingstone Trust is under-going an exciting re-development. The 6.3 million pound Birthplace Project (funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic Environment Scotland and the Scottish Government), will see a refurbishment of the exterior of the building, returning it to the original appearance; a new exhibition inside the museum, displaying the many items relating to the iconic Scottish explorer David Livingstone and an exciting range of activities and events.
The museum is packed with items relating to David Livingstone’s explorations in Africa. These include journals, letters and navigational equipment, as well as dioramas of significant events in his travels. It also gives a fascinating insight into the living and working conditions of 19th-century Scotland.
For more information please visit https://www.david-livingstone-trust.org/
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