Designs sought for Crichton laundry's £15m makeover

The former laundry is in line for conversion to create a £15m heritage centre

Design ideas are being sought for a £15m makeover of a former laundry building in Dumfries.

It is hoped the conversion of the building on the Crichton Estate will create "one of the most significant cultural buildings in Scotland".

It will become a heritage centre housing archives telling the 183-year story of the former "Institution for Lunatics".

A design competition has now been launched to find an architecture team.

Provisionally named the Crichton Centre for Memory and Wellbeing, the new building will tell the story of the site's unique role in the evolution of understanding and treating mental health issues.

It will also include exhibition and study spaces.

In 1829, Elizabeth Crichton wanted to create a university on the grounds with an inheritance from her late husband.

The Crichton Estate is now home to a number of universities, colleges and businesses

However, her plans were thwarted as it was felt unfilled places in other parts of the country made a south-west campus unnecessary.

She eventually admitted defeat and, instead, an "Institution for Lunatics" opened in 1839.

During its time in operation it carried out pioneering work in the field of mental health.

The laundry itself was a more modern addition and was used by the local NHS.

By the 1980s, the health board declared the Crichton surplus to its requirements and it was bought by Dumfries and Galloway Council to save it for the community.

It is now leased to the Crichton Trust and a range of universities, colleges and businesses have taken up residence.

RIAS Consultancy - the competitions and procurement arm of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland - has launched the design competition for the old laundry.

The closing date for first stage submissions is 19 August.

Five teams will then be awarded £20,000 to develop their proposals, with a winner announced in November.

Visions of how the old laundry site could be revamped are being sought

Gwilym Gibbons, chief executive of the Crichton Trust, said: "We are very excited about creating the Crichton Centre for Memory and Wellbeing, in what will become a new landmark building in the heart of the Crichton.

"This project is about preserving our past and building the heritage of the future and I am intrigued to see the design proposals when they come through."

Tamsie Thomson, RIAS chief executive, said they were "excited and honoured" to be working with the trust on the project.

She said the end result would be "transformative" for the estate and cultural provision in south west Scotland as a whole.