Renovation Project 2025

Glasgow City Council have accessed some £420,000 of funding to carry-out urgent repairs to the building. Commencement Date – 22 May 2025.

Progress blog below:

The building will remain closed for the duration (expected 14 weeks).

Links to detailed plans (existing & proposed) plus a project plan are shown below.

The main items are to dig new underground drainage and waterproof the underground sections of the walls to limit the amount of water getting into the building plus fix the roof leaks and gutters. Hopefully these works will reduce water damage and internal humidity.

New electrics are being installed the redundant plant room will be removed, the front canopy roof will be replaced and the rear canopy removed (leaving the iron-work in place for a future pergola). Ventilation will be improved also.

The immediate area will be fenced off, but access up from the pond and the path around the south side of the building will be retained for the duration. There will be no access along the north side.

Our usual Open Afternoons (on the third Sundays of the month) will hopefully re-commence in September, however we are planning an information session (plus children’s activities and tours of the quarry area) on Sunday 15th June on the grassy area outside the building.

Progress Blog

22 May: Day 1 of the renovation project. Internal scaffolding 3/4 complete, site secured with fencing.

23 May: Day 2 – Scaffolding completed

27 May: Day 3 – Waiting on welfare cabin, container and generator, electrical work commenced

28 May: Day 4 – Welfare/office cabin arrived, electrical downtakings in progress (old lighting frames)

29 May: Day 5 – generator arrived on site, electrical downtakings continue.

30 May: Day 6 – Two electricians on site and a gas engineer dealing with the (obsolete) gas supply. Details of the demolition of the old plant room and the re-routing of the electrics are being worked on.

2-3 June: Days 7 & 8 – Excavation on the N and S sides commenced. Vegetation and rock removal. A piece of fossil tree branch found!

4 June: Day 9 – Excavation work on west and south elevations continue.

5 June: Day 10 – excavation on north wall commenced – trench was full of old dolerite setts in sand. Electrical down-takings complete. Work on new consumer unit/distribution board commenced. Decanting of toilet store contents to container progressing.

6 June: Day 11 – Excavation along north wall continues. Some more old tanking exposed. More setts and sand-fill. Site meeting with Hypostyle architect and city building Clerk of Works. Awaiting assessment by tanking subcontractor as to whether the old tanking is to be removed or covered by new tanking. Revised drawings to be produced showing trap/gullies at SW and SE corners, revisions to rear window covers and west canopy roof timber removal. The proposed subsurface drains will be lower than the existing roof drainage system so options for a soakaway at the west end are being evaluated. Test of rainwater drains carried out and confirmed that the five west-end roof drainage pipes still terminate at the pond. Old concrete cover near fence was opened but does not access the drains. Toilet store contents now fully relocated into container. New electrical work progressing well.

9 June: Day 12. Further excavation north end trench. Awaiting approvals for plant room demolition so no start date. Decorator sub-contractor in for site visit. Due to start next week. Reviewing options for a soakaway; hopefully existing drainage could be hooked into.

10-11 June: Days 13 & 14. Site meeting on 11th with CB architect and civil engineer from Fairhurst to plan best option for subsurface drainage routes and possible soakaways.

12 June: Day 15. A bit more excavation, but project is essentially waiting on architect’s revised drainage drawings and the go-ahead to demolish the plant room.

13 June: Day 16. No activity

16-17 June: Days 17&18. Groundworks contractor commenced removing old tanking. Electrical work progressing well. Decisions and drawings imminent for plant room demolition and drainage routing.

18-20 June: Days 19-21. Tanking removal and electrical installations continue. Site progress meeting on 20th.

23-25 June: Days 22-24 Slow progress with groundworks – no new plans yet for drainage or plant room demolition. Electrical work going well.

26 June-4 July: Days 25-31 Electrical work progressing. Awaiting details of demolition and drainage. Tanking removal complete

7-8 July: Days 32-33. Slow progress. Site meeting planned for 9 July postponed to 16 July.

9-11 and 14-17 July: Days 34-40. Electrical work nearly complete and is now ‘live’. Plant room demolition started. New drawing for N-side drainage now issued (see below) and drainage works soon to restart. 2-week extension to programme agreed (to mid-Sept). Scaffold erected for east canopy roof replacement.

18-25 July: Days 41-46. Demolition of plant room complete. Materials on site for brickwork and tanking.

28 July – 8 Aug: Days 47-56

Site Meeting on 8 Aug to discuss delays in programme. Currently approx 6 weeks behind. Completion of drainage now to go ahead with new drawings for north elevation.

Scaffolding bridges will be erected over the trenches to allow roof work to commence. The electrics are complete. The toilet/store and the reception have new ceilings and lighting. New external roller shutters have been installed.

11-15 Aug: Days 57-61

Excavation on North side continuing to smooth out high points. One area investigated for possible fossil tree remains, but nothing found. One thin bed of shale with plant fragments. Painting of internal roof beams commenced.

18-27 Aug: Days 62-69

Progress meeting on 27 Aug. Works now due to be completed end Sept. North side tanking progressing with membrane being installed. Plan to finish the north side taking/drainage asap and get the scaffolding in place for the roof works thereafter. New timbers are on order for the east canopy roof and work should start very soon on stripping the old canopy roof. Roof beams painting complete and timber work around west-end windows complete and painted. Wall scraping commenced and plan is to put on a coat of white damp-seal

Shelving for store room assembled. store room being refurbished and shelving to be installed. once painting completed. New gutters ordered (very large!)

28 Aug-12 Sept: Days 70-81

Drainage work continues on north and west elevations. Roof work commenced on East Canopy. Painting of reception and store room complete. New mega-gutters and downpipe installation in progress.

List of Plans

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