Sustainability Scoping Feasibility Study
£18,500 was awarded to the Glasgow Building Preservation Trust to enable them to explore the potential for reuse of the building at 73 - 77 Trongate, Glasgow . The study was to explore the suitability of the building for use as office premises for Forward Scotland, or other organisations similarly concerned with sustainability. There was also funding from Glasgow City Council Central Area Budget.
The Merchant City Townscape Heritage Initiative submission to the Heritage Lottery Fund identified the building, dating from 1868 and category C listed, as of critical importance and in need of preservation. It was hoped redevelopment of the building could promote best practice in the refurbishment of redundant property according to sustainable development principles.
Conservation Architects Fiona Sinclair Neil MacPhail assisted by The Structural Partnership, Structural Engineers, T J Ross, Quantity Surveyors, John Gilbert Architects and Thirdwave Scotland Ltd, carried out the study, which had conservation and sustainability aims.
The study costed the option of conversion to office use. It considered and proposed materials which do not include toxins, and which do not involve significant embodied energy in their production and come from sustainable sources. Solar water heating, rainwater recycling, a displacement natural ventilation system, and PVC free cabling were features of the proposals. Saving in revenue costs and payback times were quantified. The study considered increases in capital cost should be set against the new use of a redundant building, contribution to the area's regeneration and creation of a healthier and more natural environment in which to work.
The study thus addressed the way an existing building could be adapted and modernised on sustainable principles. It is relevant to others addressing similar challenges.
Further discussions on taking the project forward highlighted problems of financial viability. An option is restoration of the shell only and putting the building on the market.
Contact
Glasgow Building Preservation Trust
The Tobacco Merchant's House
42 Miller Street
Glasgow
G1 1DT
www.gbpt.org