| AdminHistory | As part of the Master Plan, and the Lothian Regional Development plan, which together set the shape and structure of Livingston New Town and its place within the Lothians, a regional shopping centre was envisaged as a way to boost employment. This regional shopping centre was to be part of Livingston's town centre, and was to be carefully planned and developed in a series of seperate phases that would gradually extend the size of the and scope of the centre.
Initial plans for the town centre changed dramatically during the early planning of the 1960s. Early proposals had included the damning of the River Almond to create two artificial lochs, the location of a district hospital in the town centre; and the town centre itself was to be located either side of the River Almond and linked by a series of bridges and with pedestrian and vehicle traffic totally seperated.
These plans were redesigned given the depth of glacial silt near to the river (which would have resulted in much deeper and more expensive foundations), the costs, and the decision by the Scottish Development Department that the Corporation could not fund the development of the Shopping Centre. This meant that the site was moved to the south of the river, and was planned instead as self-contained site, to suit the purposes of a private developer.
Unlike with most of the housing schemes in Livingston, design of the town centre used several design, engineering and construction consultants. The collapse of the initial plans for the town centre led to a complex, near two-decade long, legal case between the Corporation and consultant engineers Hunter, Zinn and Woolgar over the amount of compensation that was due to them.
The shopping centre project was sent out to tender in 1972. Ravenseft Properties won the bid with a plan that would create one of the largest indoor centres in the UK. The shopping centre was also to include Scotland's largest superstore. Almondvale Shopping Centre was opened in the autumn of 1977, with 320,000 sq ft of retail space available. This was subsequently known as Phase I.
Around Phase I the Corporation built up the rest of Livingston town centre, which included other retail premises, services and leisure facilities.
The Corporation leased the land on which the regional shopping centre was built to Ravenseft (who bought the land on the LDC's windup). Outwith the shopping centre there were several developments of office and commercial space that the Corporation similarly leased to tenants, although on a smaller scale.
As part of the development of Livingston town centre, a number of office buildings were planned and built. The first of these, and one which was planned to be built at the same time as the shopping centre, was office block no.7 - later known as Pentland House. The theme of Scottish hill ranges was continued in later office blocks - Lomond (house) Sidlaw (house) and Lammermuir (house). As of 2013, Pentland house still stands. Sidlaw House was constructed in an identical manner to Pentland house and comprised 62,000 sq ft of office space. It was completed in 1980, became the headquarters of Livingston Development Corporation in 1984, and was later part of the endowment for the newly created West Lothian Council. Renamed West Lothian House, the building was sold to Land Securities when the Council moved into the newly completed Civic Centre. Land Securities subsequently demolished West Lothian House.
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| ScopeandContent | 143 legal filesrelating to the leasing and disposal of land in Livingston Town Centre including:
1-5. Disposal and leasing of land to Ravenseft/Land Securities, 1973-1995.
6-8. Disposal and leasing of land that held the Woolco/Asda Superstore, 1973-1994.
11-36. Legal files relating to the creation of, and leasing of suites in, Pentland House
48-81. Legal files relating to the creation of, and leasing of suites in, Sidlaw House.
82-107. Legal files relating to the creation of, and leasing of suites in, Lammermuir House.
110-136. Legal files relating to the creation of, and leasing of suites in Lomond House.
Legal files can contain correspondence with tenants and their legal representatives; copies of legal documents, such as lease contracts; maps and plans of the property; financial data including invoices; internal memos and memoranda, especially between different departments of the LDC; any other documentation as was necessary for the legal aspects of tenancy management.
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