Charity dedicated to saving Glasgow buildings turns 40

It had been the home of the city’s fish market for more than 100 years, designed in 1873 by Clarke & Bell in the French Renaissance style, with painted stone facades and a galleried hall of cast iron and glass.

The Briggait in the 60s (Image: Newsquest)

By the 70s, however, the traders had left and the building had fallen out of use and favour.

In stepped Glasgow Building Preservation Trust, a band of determined citizens keen to see the city’s built heritage saved and repurposed.

The restored Briggait (Image: Newsquest)

Forty years later, they are still going strong. Since 1982, they have saved more than 20 buildings, including landmark church St Andrew’s in the Square in 2000, Kelvingrove Bandstand in 2014 and most recently, Glasgow Green’s West Boathouse in 2022.

West Boathouse on the day of its opening in 1905 (Image: West Boathouse)

“As part of our landmark anniversary this year, we have been spending time reflecting on all the projects we have done, spread across the city, and it is quite something,” says David Cook, director of GBPT.

“We did find ourselves asking - what would Glasgow look like today, if we had not been here for the last four decades?”

David joined as director of GBPT around 18 months ago, but he has always had an interest and admiration in its work.

West Boathouse today (Image: West Boathouse)

“When the role came up, and I saw the list of people who have been involved over the last 40 years, I thought it was a team I’d very much like to be part of,” he says, smiling. “I saw it as an opportunity to contribute to my city, to the place I live in and love.”

David is a chartered surveyor, with a long-term interest in and passion for the arts, conservation and social enterprise. He was previously CEO with Wasps Artists’ Studios - based in the refurbished and restored Briggait - for more than 20 years.

The Briggait was the “turning point”, says David, which gave GBPT the confidence to continue pushing for the restoration, rather than demolition, of Glasgow’s old buildings.

“Growing up in Glasgow, I remember seeing the tenements being taken down, the wallpaper still hanging inside and the imprints of staircases on gable ends,” he says.

“That was what we got used to, as a city.

"From the success of the Briggait, sprang our organisation, and we have been going for 40 years. And we are still going - the city is not ‘finished’.”

He adds, with a laugh: “We actually made a film for this year’s Doors Open Day festival which was called exactly that - It’ll Be Great When It’s Finished…..”

One of GBPT's proudest achievements is Doors Open Day, a city-wide festival which allows the public to peek behind the facades of some of Glasgow’s most interesting and impressive buildings.

“We were the first to bring Doors Open Day to the UK and we are now the largest in the UK outside London,” says David.

“It feels like a very Glaswegian thing - that feeling of ‘this is my city, I have the right, almost, to see inside these buildings and learn about their history’, and it’s a fantastic free festival.”

There are many challenges ahead, he adds.

“A lot of buildings in Glasgow, as in most cities, need attention,” he agrees. “Currently, there are more than 100 on Scotland’s Buildings at Risk register.

“The biggest challenge is money. Brexit, Ukraine, Covid, all of these global shocks we have encountered in recent times, have meant construction prices have gone through the roof, which makes it harder for us.”

David pauses.

“But that does not mean we are going to stop doing it,” he says.

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“Buildings are important physically and visually, of course, but we are not simply restoring buildings to become museums, where you can admire the grand dining room where the wealthy ate, although of course, there is a place for that.

“But we want to repurpose those buildings which no longer have the use they were perhaps intended for, like stables, or bandstands, and make them useful to the communities around them.

“Castlemilk Stables, for example, is a really good example of that - a 17th century stable block which is now a thriving community hub.”

He adds, with a smile: “If it was really easy, everybody would be doing it. So, we’ll continue to roll up our sleeves and get cracking.”