Work to design the planned transformation of Ayr’s Hourstons building could be given the go-ahead tomorrow.

The £20million allocated to the project cannot cover the cost of retaining the entire building with 5,800sqm of floorspace. Instead, the redevelopment will retain the historic façade and create less than half of the total floorspace.

This also means that the project will not meet all of the needs requested by South Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP).

Instead, the HSCP has identified the priority office and clinical user needs that could be accommodated in the 2,600sqm of space that is being proposed.

South Ayrshire Council’s Cabinet will now be asked to authorise the progress of detailed designs.

The report features a number of different examples of how this has been managed elsewhere. It reveals that the HSCP and NHS are working to calculate operating cost arrangements, including the potential for leasing from the council.

Councillors approved the allocation of £20m to the development of the Hourstons building when they set South Ayrshire Council’s budget in February.

NHS Ayrshire & Arran will not provide any capital funding for the project.

A report to go before Cabinet on Tuesday, April 23 states: “Officers have continued to engage with the South Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership and NHS Ayrshire and Arran to confirm user requirements and to progress further design and engineering work to provide improved clarity on costs of redevelopment to accommodate these user needs.”

Conservation and heritage considerations mean that the key features that make the Hourstons building ‘recognisable’ would be retained with a façade retention of the front and the main gable.

The report states that the cost of retaining the entire Hourstons building would cost far more than £20m due to the large floor plates involved with the buildings.

The report continues: “Based on outline design work, it is estimated that this level of floorspace can be provided within current budget provision and would involve a façade retention, demolition of the buildings to the rear, and with a new building being developed supporting the Listed Building façade.

“Development of 2,600sqm of office and clinical floorspace provides a significant improvement of the South Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership and NHS Ayrshire and Arran operating estate requirements.

“This development is also capable of accommodating future phases of development, as an extension to the new modular style building, should further budget be identified in the future.”

Parking, both for the first stage of redevelopment and any future phases will also be examined at the meeting tomorrow (Tuesday, April 23).