Work to give Oxford's 'shabby and run-down' Bonn Square a £1.5m facelift is due to start on Friday.

Specialists from construction firm English Landscapes are set to rip up the 34-year-old square and transform it into a 'welcoming public amenity'.

Completing the square - named after Oxford's twin city of Bonn - has been described as putting in place one of the first building bricks in the redevelopment of the city's West End, which also includes a £330m revamp of the Westgate shopping mall.

Oxford City Council want to reclaim the area from what has become a magnet for street drinkers and drug-takers.

Edinburgh-based architect Graham Massie won the Royal Scottish Academy Medal for Architecture in 2005 for his redesign of Bonn Square (see panel).

Michael Crofton-Briggs, director for city regeneration, said: "This is one of the first bricks in the wall for the Westgate and the West End - 2008 is going to be a year when we see things happen.

"There are few public spaces in the city. An integral part of the design is going to make it easier for people to cut across the square.

"At the end the public will feel it is their space - not something they have to skirt round.

Hoardings during the construction phase will explain the history of the site and have an artist's impression of what the completed square will look like.

The work is being partly funded by a Government grant.

Council leader John Goddard said: "The redevelopment of Bonn Square will open up the whole area and make it a much more pleasant place to be.

"The project, together with the Castle redevelopment, which has been such a success, sets the tone for the redevelopment of the West End."

Plans are already being drawn up to mark the end of the six-month project, suggestions include holding a musical spectacular in June, which could include officials and dancing troupes from Bonn.