The landmark 71-unit development has been designed to blend in with the Harbourside’s unique architecture.

Depute Provost John Sweeney officially opened the new £15 million development yesterday which was supported by £5m of Scottish Government grant funding.

The site provides a mix of general needs houses, amenity bungalows and homes for wheelchair users. It also includes a sheltered housing complex, called Alfred Nobel House, which looks out onto the harbour.

Depute Provost Sweeney said: “I’m delighted to be asked to officially open these new homes at Irvine Harbourside. We are very proud of the properties that have been built and I think we can all agree that the design really suits the historic harbourside setting.”

Councillor Tony Gurney, cabinet member for Green Environment and Economy at North Ayrshire Council, added: “The new homes have added extra life and vitality to the Harbourside area.

“We consulted with local residents and businesses to develop the plans, ensuring the design of the homes was sensitive to this unique coastal location. We are delighted with the magnificent results and the feedback from the tenants has been hugely positive too.

“We have ambitious, long-term plans to revitalise the harbour area as part of the Ayrshire Growth Deal, with the aim of unlocking the area’s potential as a major tourist destination. This is one of the first steps towards that goal.”

To ensure they are environmentally friendly, each home has been built to the Scottish Government’s ‘Greener Standard’. They feature a range of sustainable features across the site, including solar photovoltaic panels to help reduce energy bills, provision for future installation of electric vehicle charge points in driveways and a low emission communal heating system for the sheltered homes and some amenity bungalows.

The development also reached gold accreditation for Secure by Design with Police Scotland recognising the “well-considered access, passive surveillance and landscaping”.

The project was delivered by McTaggart Construction, which was recently named Scotland’s large apprentice employer of the year in the Skills Development Scotland awards.

Managing director, Janice Russell, commented: “We were delighted and proud to be involved with North Ayrshire Council in such a fantastic project. It not only provides high quality accommodation in an historic setting but created life-changing employment opportunities for 27 young people.

“As a family business with our HQ in Dalry, it’s important to us to give something back to the area and we saw the Harbourside project as a fantastic opportunity to make a difference and at its peak more than a fifth of our site-based workforce were apprentices and registered trainees. In addition, we supported 908 weeks of work-based learning.”

North Ayrshire Council has committed to building 1,625 new homes across the area by 2028. It has so far built approximately 800 new homes with many more in the planning stage.