Caerlee Mill Bike Campus

The 'Caerlee Mill Bike Campus' will provide a flagship centre for the cycling industry, particularly mountain biking, by merging laboratories with creative, events and office space.

The innovation hub provides an ecosystem of growth and development through an environment that promotes collaborative innovation. It's location in the Tweed Valley is already firmly on the map as an internationally recognised destination for mountain bikers, and so was a natural choice for developing such a significant venue for sport. The accommodation will include multi-occupancy offices, maker labs, teaching space, retail and brand experience spaces as well as an event and community space.

Situated in the town of Innerleithen, the project sits on the site of the former Caerlee Textile Mill, a category B listed building originally built in the 1790s as the first water-powered woollen textile mill in the Scottish Borders - a beacon for technological innovation and sustainable energy use. Funded by South of Scotland Enterprise (SoSE) and Borderlands Regional Growth Deal, the project is set to bring significant regeneration to the region. 

The first aspect of design involved detailed work with an extensive list of specialists to explore the feasibility of salvaging the category B listed mill building, including timber rot experts, structural engineers, moisture-reading specialists, contamination surveyors and a heritage architect. Extensive in person consultations with Historic Environment Scotland and Scottish Borders Council realised demolition as the only commercially feasible option to unlock the site for regeneration. Through the exploratory works, regular communication with the local community kept both the design team aware of local priorities and residents updated on progress and decisions.

From there, a design for a new building which acknowledges the historical significance of the mill and its prominence within the townscape has emerged, with its height and massing giving a nod to its predecessor. Elements of the existing site are retained including the chimney, the boiler house and the engine shed, integrating the wider site and celebrating its place in community history.

Internal placemaking is at the heart of the design approach, creating shared and open space to encourage interaction and collaboration.  The aim is to design a place and space which feels alive, inspires creativity and promotes business growth with access for the local community through an events space.

A key component of the design is ensuring future flexibility and adaptability through the adoption of a well-considered planning grid, MEP strategy and material specifications.

Thanks to a sensitive and meticulously‑evidenced approach to working with planning and key stakeholders, this project stands as a powerful example of how thoughtful regeneration can prevail when facing the demolition of a listed building. By creating opportunities for growth and innovation, the approach and design honours the site’s deep historical and sentimental value to the town. Its new lease of life has garnered strong support, with historical site items becoming part of the new community experience.

The Centre will fundamentally remain as a place of work and industry, staying true to the principles of its first use as a mill.  Over two hundred new jobs will be created in an environment which is at the leading edge of a global mountain biking industry and so brings with it significant potential for future development.  It will host academics and research by Edinburgh Napier University and will provide teaching space for Borders College for their BASE mountain bike leadership course.

The campus will enable companies from across the globe to develop products and services and train athletes across the mountain biking and wider cycling sector.