Scottish studio PagePark Architects has won a bid to restore the Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed Glasgow College of Art building, which was devastated by fire last summer.
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) Restoration Committee has appointed local office PagePark Architects to restore and rebuild the fire-broken building, which houses the school’s Fine Art Division and an exhibition space utilized to host the annual degree show.
Located on Renfrew Street in the centre of the city, the sandstone-clad Mackintosh Building – frequently identified as the Mac – was made by Scottish architect and GSA alumni Charles Rennie Mackintosh in the 1890s and is deemed his seminal work.
PagePark fought off competition from four other shortlisted practices like London studios John McAslan + Partners and Avanti Architects to be awarded the commission to lead style operate on the restoration project, which will reportedly cost £35 million.
The fire broke out on 23 Could 2014 towards the end of the summertime phrase when students were preparing for the school’s annual degree show.
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The blaze is believed to have started in the basement prior to spreading up the west side of the building to the roof, causing irreparable damage to the library’s distinctive wood-panelled walls as nicely as a glazed passageway referred to as the “hen run”.
“We have, in excess of a lot of years, had the privilege to function on and in the context of the Mackintosh legacy,” explained David Web page of PagePark Architects, “the highlight of which will now be the possibility to carry The Glasgow College of Artwork into splendid re-use for its college students and staff, the folks of Glasgow and the huge audience past the city.”
The Glasgow School of Artwork library
The firm has carried out restoration operate on a number of Mackintosh’s industrial and domestic buildings, including the refurbishment of the National Believe in house Hill Residence and the conversion the former Glasgow Herald offices into The Lighthouse architecture and style centre.
“The staff assembled by PagePark Architects impressed us not only with their deep expertise of the building, but of the wider operate of Charles Rennie Mackintosh,” mentioned GSA director Tom Inns. “They displayed a fantastic methodology to the activity of restoration – in certain their space by room examination of the structure, materiality, craftsmanship and intent of Mackintosh in creating, specifying and overseeing the building of his masterwork.”
“They also carry an knowing of the building’s specific importance to Glasgow – its men and women and history – as nicely as of its standing as an international design icon,” he extra.
A statement released by The Scottish Fire and Rescue Services shortly after the fire mentioned that over 90 per cent of the structure and 70 per cent of its contents had been preserved, with damage contained to the library and studio spaces in the building’s western wing.
The PagePark layout crew will operate with the college to develop detailed plans for the restoration of this component of the constructing, whilst an external professional advisory panel will be established to offer advice on the project.
Operate is anticipated to get started in early 2016, with a see to reopening the vast majority of the spaces in time for the 2017-8 academic 12 months.
Photos of the fire-damaged school by Mcateer Photograph.
