West Lothian Civic Centre is a municipal building on Howden South Road in

Livingston, West Lothian Livingston (, ) is the largest town in West Lothian, Scotland. Designated in 1962, it is the fourth post-war New towns in the United Kingdom, new town to be built in Scotland. Taking its name from Livingston Village, a village of the same name ...

in Scotland. The building serves as the offices and meeting place of

West Lothian Council West Lothian Council is the Local government in Scotland, local government authority for West Lothian, West Lothian council area. History West Lothian District Council Local government across Scotland was reorganised in 1975 under the Local ...

as well as the venue for hearings of Livingston Sheriff Court.

History

Until the early 21st century, West Lothian Council was based at County Buildings in

Linlithgow Linlithgow ( ; ; ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a historic route between Edi ...

, which had been built as the headquarters for the old West Lothian County Council in 1935. However, the council also owned Lindsay House on South Bridge Street,

Bathgate Bathgate ( or , ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Linlithgow, Livingston, and West Calder. A number of villages fall under ...

, which had been built as the Burgh Chambers for the old Bathgate Town Council in 1966, and West Lothian House on Almondvale Boulevard in Livingston, which had been built as the headquarters of the Livingston Development Corporation in 1981. The council wanted to consolidate its activities at one location: the site it selected was just north of Livingston town centre on the bank of the River Almond. The building was designed by BDP in the Modern style, built by

Laing O'Rourke Laing O'Rourke is a multinational construction company headquartered in Dartford, England. It was founded in 1978 by Ray O'Rourke. It is the largest privately owned construction company in the United Kingdom. History The company was founded by ...

with a steel frame and

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

cladding at a cost of £53 million, and was completed in July 2009. It was officially opened by

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond ( ; 31 December 1954 – 12 October 2024) was a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement, he was Leader of the Sc ...

, on 25 November 2009. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage facing west onto Hochsauerland Brae. The layout involved three main sections: a clearly visible circular council chamber, and offices for council officers and their staff, to the south, a divisional headquarters for

Police Scotland Police Scotland (), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist services of the Scottis ...

to the centre, and six courtrooms for Livingston Sheriff Court as well as offices for the

procurator fiscal A procurator fiscal (pl. ''procurators fiscal''), sometimes called PF or fiscal (), is a public prosecutor in Scotland, who has the power to impose fiscal fines. They investigate all sudden and suspicious deaths in Scotland (similar to a corone ...

and the

Scottish Children's Reporter Administration The Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, with responsibility for protecting children at risk. SCRA was formed under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1994 ...

to the north. Linlithgow Sheriff Court, which the complex also replaced, closed in August 2009. Lindsay House and West Lothian House were both demolished shortly after the new Civic Centre opened.

References

{{reflist Livingston, West Lothian 2009 establishments in Scotland Government buildings completed in 2009 Court buildings in Scotland