Located on the site of the former Johnnie Walker bottling plant, the HALO Kilmarnock is being shaped as a multifaceted brown-field regeneration that will create “an innovative, inspirational and imaginative urban park with a dynamic commercial, educational, cultural, leisure and lifestyle quarter”.

Its low carbon, renewable deep geothermal district heating network will address fuel costs on the site and have the capability of being extended to service other areas of the community – a first for the UK.

The development will also include a light manufacturing facility and key worker private rental accommodation.

A cornerstone of the development will be the HALO Enterprise & Innovation Hub which is a 55,000sq.ft, three-storey building comprising vibrant interior spaces that will accommodate a number of enterprising and collaborative organisations and forms Phase I of the overall development.

The steel and concrete structure will be clad in profiled curtain walling and spandrel panels working in harmony to create a light, contemporary appearance consistent with the distinctive HALO brand. The project also features a Virtual Reality Café and ancillary retail and merchandising. A lower ground level plant room houses the equipment for the deep-well District Heating Network; the first time this technology has been used in a mixed-use project in the UK.

Construction of the building is expected to complete in Autumn 2019.

Keppie are architects for the project, with Dougal Baillie providing civil / structural engineering services and Ramboll providing M&E services. Landscape design is by TGP.

Marie Macklin, founder of the HALO, said: “With outline planning consent secured, I’m thrilled that we are maintaining the momentum on this important project with our submission for detailed planning consent for the HALO Enterprise & Innovation Hub, which will form the beating heart of this development. This is a major milestone for the project and for Keppie and the rest of the design team and it’s a delight to be working with them.