Port House

Jedburgh, Scotland

Status

Category A

Project Development Grant

£7,500 (2018), £15,000 (2019)

Loans

£100,000 (2019)

Commissioned by the Jedburgh Co-operative Society and completed in 1900, Category A-listed three-storey warehouse, Port House, is an early example of glass-curtain walling, displaying its cast-iron structure to let in daylight for the benefit of shoemakers and seamstresses working inside. With its functional, community-first design, Port House was a natural head office for the Co-operative Society, which for over a century served the Jedburgh community. But while the lower floors have continued to be occupied in recent decades, the upper floors have fallen from use and been added onto the Scottish Buildings at Risk Register. Since 2010, the Jedburgh Community Trust has been working to restore the building as a community resource centre.

Jedburgh Community Trust was formed in 2002 to preserve the town’s built and natural environment and provide for its residents high quality facilities that promote education, recreation and social welfare: conserving and breathing new life into Port House is a flagship initiative. Current plans will support a local charitable anchor tenant to take on use of the ground and first floor as offices with ‘incubator-units’ available for local social enterprise start-ups. The second floor will form an additional, independent unit.

The AHF has supported the project since 2013, with two Project Development Grants totalling £22,500 - the most recent of which was granted in September 2019 to fund architect’s designs, community consultation exercises and for the development of a fundraising plan. Two months later, the project was also awarded a loan of £100,000 to enable its capital redevelopment work to commence, and work will soon start on-site.

jedburghcommunitytrust.org.uk

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