January 24 2023

The Glasgow School of Art has made progress in efforts to bring the Mackintosh Building back to life after clearing the fire-damaged shell of 5,500 tonnes of debris.

The painstaking two-year process, overseen by Reigart and Narro engineers, has seen 300 skips worth of material removed stone by stone in a meticulous programme of record keeping and study to ensure every salvaged item can be reused where possible.

With much of the rubble from the library tower, rebuilt as part of the 2014 restoration, now retrieved work can progress to partially dismantle scaffolding on the Scott Street elevation.

Professor Penny Macbeth, director of The Glasgow School of Art, commented: "Our vision for the Mackintosh Building is that it will be home for a GSA Graduate School bringing together our postgraduate students with researchers from across the globe who are making world-leading, innovative work. We will also bring back to their original use key spaces such as the drawing studios, which will be timetabled for all students, recognising that drawing is already a distinctive and defining attribute of the GSA graduate."

Completion of this slow process means work can begin in earnest on a faithful reinstatement of the building, adhering to Macintosh's original designs. This will see the internal structure reinstated as a priority, ensuring that the building becomes self-supporting under a temporary roof. 

The process of appointing a design team for the rebuild is ongoing.

6 Comments

#1 Posted by Hm on 24 Jan 2023 at 20:39 PM

Good news. I wonder if there will be an opportunity to view the remains now they are cleaned up and stabilised before restoration begins. Would be a unique experience.

#2 Posted by Fat Bloke on Tour on 25 Jan 2023 at 11:51 AM

I wonder what they think of our efforts over in Paris?

Half hearted / glacial / lazy / low energy / amateurish?

Four years and seven months to get this far -- somebody needs a boot up the erse to get things moving.

#3 Posted by James Hepburn on 25 Jan 2023 at 12:32 PM

Funny how nobody has ever been apportioned the blame for two of the most criminally negligent fires in Scottish history. Muriel et al.

#4 Posted by spike on 25 Jan 2023 at 15:58 PM

Hope the restoration work begins soon

#5 Posted by GlasgowSmilesBetter on 26 Jan 2023 at 14:35 PM

Looks better than the original.

#6 Posted by Lovely on 27 Jan 2023 at 11:44 AM

So everyone knows that sprinklers were supposed to be installed before the first fire right?

Third time lucky perhaps....

Post your comments