April 23 2025

A B-listed Calton school, currently languishing on the Buildings at Risk Register, may avoid the fate of many of its contemporaries under plans to bring new life to a decaying landmark.

Facade retention proposals are being brought forward for Tureen Street School as the best balance between affordability and deliverability that could end two decades of dereliction by bringing the brownfield site back to life as affordable housing.

Eleanor Derbyshire, director of property services at Thenue Housing Association, said: “Calton is one of the most disadvantaged communities in Scotland and faces multiple challenges. The retention of the fabric of these historic buildings, in the heart of this area is important to local residents, former residents and visitors, as it retains cultural links, heritage and community memories."

42 apartments for social rent are proposed behind the historic main facades. Fully accessible and adaptable these low-energy properties are designed to meet Platinum sustainability and Glasgow’s Housing standards. This aligns with similar approaches nearby including Haghill and Golfhill Primary's. A different approach is being taken at St James Primary which is being brought back into the education system as a Gaelic school.

The housing association has been pursuing the reuse of the site with John Gilbert Architects (JGA) for over a decade. During that time, the fabric of the building has continued to deteriorate while attempts were made to cover a conservation deficit, which remains at £1.5m and subject to separate funding.“This is one of the last surviving examples of a School Board building in Glasgow’s east end,” added Matt Bridgestock, director at JGA. “The buildings carry architectural value and memories for the local community. By retaining and reusing the historic façades and carefully integrating them into a contemporary housing scheme, we can save a piece of our city’s heritage while providing safe, sustainable homes for the future.”

Landscape architects erz will enhance biodiversity and the public realm as part of these works with the creation of landscaped courtyards. CCG, G3 Consulting Engineers and Reid Associates round out the consultant team.

4 Comments

#1 Posted by Fat Bloke on Tour on 23 Apr 2025 at 18:36 PM

Huge project desperately needed to bolster an area on its knees. After the optimism and investment of the GEAR years the failure to deal with the little building quality they still had in the area has been shocking. Reeks of a low energy public and social sector that couldn't generate the bandwidth needs to deliver awkward sites.

Over twenty years of failure where funds can be found to segment education but nothing can be found to bring 3 architectural gems back into productive use.

£1.5mill funding gap / £35K per unit -- surely the productivity savings from the £150mill Avenues Project could be harvested to fill the gap?

£150 mill found to tart up a few roads to the flawed ideas of a small clique of Transport 1400 hobby horsers is £150mill not available for real investment in the fabric of Glasgow.

20 years of failure and now a blame game to find the resources required.

#2 Posted by Des on 25 Apr 2025 at 10:57 AM

Fat Bloke on Tour: Do you ever stop moaning?

#3 Posted by Mark on 26 Apr 2025 at 16:06 PM

#2 - To be fair, the portly traveller makes some good points. GEAR should never have come to an end, as the job it was conceived to do wasn't complete.

Also - when we have a housing crisis and rampant child poverty … why are we devoting so much money and bandwidth to building bike lanes, of all things?

Surely the people of tree/bird/fish/bell town deserve better.

#4 Posted by Grant on 28 Apr 2025 at 14:11 PM

I feel like we've missed the base point a little here - good to see this building being saved in some capacity as well as adding much needed social housing to the area.

I walk past this building most days & it's in a pretty sad state. Happy to see it getting repurposed for a good use & the proposed design looks pretty smart too.

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