Camelon heritage hub at old Irn Bru factory goes premier after gaining new retrofit facility

The national heritage hub centre, located in Camelon, is planned to host Historic Environment Scotland’s (HES) national Retrofit Centre for Traditional Buildings.

The new facility aims to strengthen the centre as the premier hub for retrofit heritage skills and science alongside the Engine Shed in Stirling. It will also help Scotland in tackling the climate emergency.

The centre will support the upgrading of Scotland’s traditional buildings to use less energy and cut carbon emissions, which is vital for the country to achieve its net zero targets and address other issues related to climate change.

The 2024 audit of Scotland’s historic environment estimated that almost 500,000 buildings in Scotland are made by traditional construction. This includes 18 percent of homes, 24 percent of offices, 33 percent of shops, and 41 percent of public buildings.

The centre aims to put heritage science and research at the forefront of its approach to develop custom-made solutions needed for the decarbonisation and conservation of Scotland’s historic environment. It will become a main facility for climate heritage science, housing training, research, and specialist equipment.

UKRI Arts and Humanities Council, via the Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Sciences, have provided £1 million in funding to support the retrofit facility.

Works at the Centre of Excellence for Canals and Traditional Skills are coming along with major internal and external construction works progressing. Developed by Scottish Canals in partnership with HES, the project involves transforming the old AG Barr Irn Bru factory in Camelon into a centre that brings heritage knowledge and skills together.

The project is funded by £4m Scottish government funding through the Falkirk and Grangemouth Growth Deal, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF), Scottish Canals, Historic Environment Scotland and the Pride in Place Impact Fund.

Colin Tennant, head of technical conservation at HES, said: “Expanding the scope of what the centre has to offer means that we are creating a central resource that will ensure that everything that makes up our built heritage – our castles, aqueducts, forts, canals and traditional buildings -- continues to be protected and cared for.

“The Retrofit Centre will deliver UK-wide benefits as an innovative knowledge transfer space, a research workshop, a retrofit materials library, and a heritage science laboratory. The new location will allow the centre to provide more training and practice more heritage science research, all while adding to the dynamic collaborative space that will make up Scotland’s Centre of Excellence for Canals and Traditional Skills.”

Richard Millar, Scottish Canals chief operating officer, said: “Scotland’s Centre of Excellence for Canals and Traditional Skills will create a focus to safeguard and develop the traditional skills that are essential to caring for Scotland’s canals and historic places.

“The Retrofit Centre will help equip future generations with the knowledge and expertise needed to improve the performance of traditional buildings while protecting the heritage that makes them so special.”