The Development Corporation was still being set up so Glasgow architects Gillespie, Kidd and Coia were charged with designing the first housing, which includes those seen behind these two early residents. The former farmland was also the location for Cumbernauld’s first shop, which opened in 1959, along with a branch of the Clydesdale and North of Scotland Bank. On the jobs front the Burroughs Adding Machine Company had committed to becoming the first major employer. At its peak 2700 staff worked at the plant.