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West End school offers a restoration lesson

West End school offers a restoration lesson

October 3 2023

Work to restore a historic Victorian school in Glasgow's West End with moves to fashion 49 homes at Napiershall Street.

The former Napiershall Street School, closed since the 1980s, will be refurbished by Kelvin Properties and Haus Collective, bringing its central atrium and staircase back to life while introducing a rooftop community garden designed for dining and leisure.

Andrew Duncan, land director at Kelvin Properties, commented: “This development is central to our mission to invest and build in Glasgow, turning former buildings on brownfield sites in and around the city centre into thriving residential communities where it’s viable to do so.

“While the former school is not a listed building, we feel strongly that retaining this excellent, structurally sound, building, is the right thing to do. We are restoring many of the old school’s features which made this building so special, while developing new high quality outdoor spaces, including the rooftop garden that will be key to fostering a thriving community within the development."

24 apartments are to be vreated within the historic fabric with a further 25 new build homes in the school grounds for completion by early 2025.

A rooftop addition provides an elevated opportunity for al fresco dining

Built in 1900 the school has lain disused since the 1980s

The central atrium will soon welcome permanent residents

The work will secure the school for the foreseeable future

13 Comments

#1 Posted by Whispering Andy on 3 Oct 2023 at 15:42 PM

Whisper it.......but that looks like a great compromise. An aged building of the past is regenerated - great work Kelvin.

I appreciate that the new build element will not be to the general UR reader's taste, however I imagine it was required to get the numbers to stack up. In that case, it's a clear win-win for all!

#2 Posted by Fat Bloke on Tour on 3 Oct 2023 at 20:59 PM

What lesson can we realistically learn from this situation?

Best place to start would be the 30 plus years of stagnation and slow motion dereliction -- usable asset left to rot and decay in plain sight.

Wilful neglect -- what is driving this continual wastage of useful assets?

#3 Posted by Passerby on 4 Oct 2023 at 05:47 AM

#2 were you asleep for Thatcher?

#4 Posted by Fat Bloke on Tour on 4 Oct 2023 at 09:22 AM

Your point ... ???
The milk snatcher left office in 1990.
Hiding behind her shadow shows how mature we are as a society -- excuse mongery turned up to 11 / scared fartless / looking for a bogeywoman where none exists to explain our own failures.

Given the service cuts she was responsible for you would have expected local government to be very open to generating resources from redundant buildings.

Devolution -- aka rule from Auld Reekie -- for 24 years?
Nats on a gravy train for 16?

Aye right -- Maggie is to blame ...

Not good.

#5 Posted by Hairy Hipster on 4 Oct 2023 at 11:04 AM

Yeah yeah, SNP bad we know, the MSM play that song to death.

Fact is however that if things went differently in '14 then our public funding would be in a much better place. Who knows, we might even have a tidy surplus to invest in the regeneration and reinvigoration of our historic buildings. The Building Control and Planning system would certainly be in much better shape if we weren't constrained by the death star.

#6 Posted by devilish advocaat on 4 Oct 2023 at 13:29 PM

Nice to see a developer choosing to bring a derelict historic building back into use without being legally compelled to for a change. More of the same please, plenty of options to choose from.

#7 Posted by Jimbob Tanktop on 4 Oct 2023 at 15:47 PM

#4 Before Brexit Holyrood had responsibility for 9% of all legislation affecting Scotland, the EU 9% and Westminster 82%. That EU legislation, which was supposed to come to Holyrood, was of course grabbed by Westminster. Given Dross' pronouncements on 'levelling up' funding and A9 duelling, they want even more. In short, you're only 9% right. And 91% wrong.

#8 Posted by Ben on 4 Oct 2023 at 16:41 PM

Seriously, all of the complaining comments? You can't win in this country, damned if you do and damned if you don't. There have been loads of successful school conversions across Greater Glasgow and the fact that another one is being saved from the wrecking ball is a cause to be positive. And the school hasn't been left to rot for "30 plus years," it was being used as offices until City Property sold it to the developer a year or two ago.

#9 Posted by devilish advocaat on 4 Oct 2023 at 18:15 PM

#8 Why react positively to the regeneration of an existing building when you can instead give sermon on our societal and governmental shortcomings from the last few decades? You must be new here.

#10 Posted by Fat Bloke on Tour on 4 Oct 2023 at 18:59 PM

City Property -- going by the state of the fabric of the building in the pictures above maintenance would appear to be on their to do list.

Not a great advert for municipal property management.

#11 Posted by Headmaster on 5 Oct 2023 at 16:50 PM

#8 Ben
I agree with you Ben on your comments and Yes there has been some great School renovations and one particular is Holmlea Primary School in the south side of Glasgow in Cathcart . Anymore negative comments! You will receive detention!