July 18 2005

The Charlies Rennie Mackintosh building at the Glasgow School of Art has been earmarked for £7 million worth of funding by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Although it has received a development grant of £153,500, it has also been granted Stage One pass for a grant of £4,466,000. Over the next year the GSA will work closely with HLF to ensure that we meet all the criteria which they have laid out. It is a tough process but a valuable one,” said Seona Reid. It is rare for a Stage Two application to be declined.
However, in an interview about the future of studio design, the Head of the School of Architecture, David Porter suggested that there are proposals under discussion to redevelop every aspect of the Art School Campus with the exception of the Mackintosh Building. The school had looked at refurbishment as an option but an initial costings exercise suggested that redevelopment was a better option. A spokesperson for the GSA said, “There are no concrete plans to redevelop the site. Discussions are on-going about the long term future of the site.” This major conservation and access project will refurbish the Mackintosh Building and improve access, increasing visitor numbers by 60%. The repair and refurbishment of the Mackintosh building will include the restoration of the original features and removal of modern additions, such as the unsympathetic fire doors, the antiquated and obtrusive heating system and the Finance office from one of the main painting studios. There will also be a full programme of timber and stone repair. Conservation work will also be carried out on historic collections such as the Mackintosh furniture and textiles collection and a new research centre will be created with environmentally controlled storage of archive material. New public facilities will include an interpretation centre offering free public access to exhibitions about Mackintosh in an adjacent building.

After an extensive period of public consultation, Austin-Smith: Lord have finally been granted planning permission for their Charing Cross Housing Association. The scheme will look out over one of the cities busiest intersections which sits over the M8 and further on to superb views of the city beyond. It will provide a total of 42 units with a wide variety of accommodation ranging from 1 to 4 bedroom flats. The scheme also addresses the urban fabric of Garnethill to the rear with its tenement rows leading up towards the School of Art. It is estimated that the scheme will have a contract value in the region of £5.2m

ABK’s design for John Wheatley College in the Haghill district of Glasgow’s East End has just received planning permission. The brief called for a welcoming building that drew in the community. Certain functions such as hairdressing, a restaurant, a library and childcare will be open to them. 6000sq m in size, it is divided into three categories with a fourth, a large concourse, linking them.

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