AHR wins planning consent for six business units at Queensway Industrial Estate in Glenrothes

Architecture practice AHR has secured planning approval, working with Fife Council, for six flexible business units on a brownfield plot at Queensway Industrial Estate on Flemington Road, Glenrothes.

The units are intended for tenants in the industrial, manufacturing and distribution sectors, AHR said in an announcement posted on 9 October 2026. They form the third phase of the council's programme of business units at Queensway.

AHR is providing architecture, landscape architecture and principal designer (building regulations) services. Bayne Stevenson Associates is structural and civil engineer.

Ann-Chris Murray, project lead at AHR, said: "This project is about creating flexible, high-quality space that gives businesses room to grow while strengthening Queensway Industrial Estate as a destination for investment and employment."

The team

The client is Fife Council Property Services, and Fife Council Building Services will act as contractor, so the council is both developer and builder of the scheme.

According to AHR, the site has been vacant for several years following its former manufacturing use. The practice said the building form reflects similar units on the estate, with landscaping of native planting, gravel surrounds and permeable paving chosen to echo the tones of the facade.

The units will connect to Fife Council's new district heat network, and the site will have electric vehicle charging points and secure cycle storage, AHR said.

Murray said: "By bringing a long-vacant site back into use, we're helping create a durable, efficient and future-focused environment that can support businesses for years to come."

Heat in Glenrothes

AHR's announcement does not name the heat network the units will connect to. Separately, Fife Council has announced the Glenrothes Energy Network, a local heat scheme it described as a partnership between the council, RWE and the Scottish Government.

The council said that network would provide heat to a mix of industrial, commercial, community and domestic properties in Glenrothes and was due to be operational by the end of January 2019.

Units at Queensway

Invest Fife, the council's economic development arm, markets five business units at Queensway ranging from 133 sq m to 135 sq m. Rent is £8.00 per sq ft a year plus VAT, on a minimum three-year lease term.

Tenants must meet business criteria on innovation, technology and growth, Invest Fife said. The estate has direct access to the A92, with links across Fife and onward to the M90.

Background

Fife Council delivers the Fife Industrial Innovation Investment (i3) programme, a £58m, ten-year programme supported by Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal funding, according to the City Region Deal. The programme provides new business premises and serviced employment land in existing business clusters in mid and south Fife beside the M90 and A92 corridors.

AHR's announcement does not say whether the new Flemington Road phase is funded through that programme.

AHR works from nine UK offices and traces its history to 1835, according to the practice.