Latest news with #Martyrs'School
STV News
a day ago
- Business
- STV News
Rennie Mackintosh building to be sold and turned into museum
A Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed former school in Townhead is set to be sold by Glasgow City Council and turned into a Scottish Catholic museum. The Bishops' Conference of Scotland are expected to take over the old Martyrs' School on Parson Street if a £250,000 deal is backed by councillors this week. It is planning to invest £1.75m in the A-listed property to create a 'public museum of Scottish Catholic archives to house artefacts and artworks', a council report reveals. While not the highest bid received, council officials have recommended it for approval 'given the overall merits'. They add the unconditional offer of £250,000 has the 'benefit of certainty, being a cash offer and not being subject to any suspensive conditions'. Two other bids met the same criteria but were for commercial letting of workshop space, with some public exhibition space, and their occupation was 'not guaranteed'. Cllr Ruairi Kelly, SNP, the council's convener for housing and development, said the plan was 'great news for an important piece of Glasgow's built heritage'. 'Without marketing this building, we would not have found such a positive outcome that not only secures investment but opens it to the public,' he said on social media. The three-storey school building was designed for the School Board of Glasgow by Charles Rennie Mackintosh while he was an assistant at architectural firm Honeyman and Keppie and completed in 1898. It is of 'considerable architectural and cultural significance, being one of the earlier buildings attributed to Mackintosh', the council report adds. Used as a school and college until the early 1970s, the building has since been an arts centre and then council offices. The Bishops' Conference of Scotland's plan for the property also includes some office space, and 'proposes to link the subject to their existing ownership on the opposite side of the street'. Marketing of the building began in October last year after it had sat empty for 'a considerable time'. Five compliant bids were received by the closing date in March this year. The council report adds: 'It is proposed the subject will undergo a sensitive restoration and will have the prospect of a meaningful future as part of its local community.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The Herald Scotland
4 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Landmark building by renowned Scottish architect sold
When Glasgow City Council put the Martyrs School on the market for sale last year, it had to move to reassure heritage experts concerned over its future in a city struggling with its difficult-to-keep heritage. External features are in view. (Image: Newsquest) The A-listed Martyrs' School, completed in 1898 and named after Church of Scotland Covenanters executed in 1684 at Townhead, is one of the earliest buildings attributed to Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Now, in an exclusive article by Craig Williams, it is revealed the building that last operated as a school in the 1970s and was most recently used as offices, is to be sold to the Bishops' Conference of Scotland and will become a public museum of Scottish Catholic archives, housing artworks and artefacts. The sale is set to be approved by a committee within days. Also building will be sensitively refurbished through a £1.75 million works programme, funded by the Bishops' Conference of Scotland, who will pay £250,000 in the sale. The Bishops' Conference of Scotland also owns St Mungo's Church and retreat on the opposite side of Parson Street. READ MORE: Craig also pointed to the negotiations over the use of another Mackintosh building - the Lighthouse, which was home to The Herald for 112 years - as a location to help climate tech firms grow after a committee gave the green light to the proposal. The council said it was to begin talks with Sustainable Ventures (Scotland) Limited on a long-term. The Lighthouse is one of Mackintosh's most celebrated architectural gems. Stuart Robertson, director of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, said that "on paper, this sale looks a good fit for Martyrs' School and being used as a public museum'. He also told The Herald: "I am delighted to see that it will be sensitively refurbished through a £1.75 million works programme, funded by the purchaser. It would be good to see more details of this and the planned timescale." Dominic d'Angelo, chair of the Alexander Thomson Society, celebrating another renowned Scottish designer, raised an interesting idea when he wrote in The Herald last month that: 'Maintenance, especially for listed properties, comes at a cost, as the council has identified in recent discussions in Westminster, identifying some 60-plus properties that could benefit if the requirement for repairs to be subject to VAT could be lifted. 'Doing so could enable re-purposing older buildings to address Glasgow's – and other cities' – urgent housing needs and to repopulate the city centre, as well as benefiting organisations such as ours seeking to ensure a positive outcome for buildings by the many talented architects that have contributed so much to Glasgow's urban environment and streetscape.' He also said: 'As a society, we have consistently raised concerns with the council over the church's condition and future, alongside that of other buildings, including planned development next to Grecian Chambers in Sauchiehall Street and current repairs to the Buck's Head Building in Argyle Street.' Maintaining public buildings brings its own set of challenges for councils. So, the new arrangement for the former Martyrs' School building looks like a positive long-term move.
The Herald Scotland
4 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Mackintosh building to be sold by council for use as museum
The sale is due to be approved by the council's Contracts & Property committee next week. The Herald understands that the category A-listed building will be sensitively refurbished through a £1.75 million works programme, funded by the Bishops' Conference of Scotland, who will pay £250,000 in the sale. In addition to becoming a public museum, The Martyrs' School will also feature office space - meaning the vacant heritage building will become fully occupied once more. READ MORE: Council will seek Martyrs' School condition assurances from buyer The three-storey former board school is located on Parson Street in Townhead, on the same street where Mackintosh was born in 1868. It was designed by Mackintosh for the School Board of Glasgow when he was an assistant at Honeyman and Keppie architectural firm. Completed in 1898, The Martyrs' School is one of a group of important buildings by Honeyman and Keppie dating from the mid 1890s - others are the Glasgow Herald buildings and Queen's Cross Church - in which Mackintosh's distinctive contribution to the work of the firm can first be clearly seen. The design includes some unorthodox features, particularly the roof timbers, which suggest that Mackintosh took a leading role in the project. The Martyrs' School was given statutory protection as a listed building in December 1970. The threat of demolition in 1973–4, for a road scheme, galvanised opposition, not least from the newly-founded Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, a pressure group established to raise awareness of the Mackintosh legacy and campaign for its preservation. Interior of Martyrs' School in Glasgow's Townhead (Image: Colin Mearns) After closing as a school in 1973, it has since served as a museum, offices for staff displaced during the restoration of Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, and, latterly, the home of Glasgow City Council's Social Work Leaving Care Services. In June last year it was declared surplus by the council, who said it could find no use for the building. A marketing exercise for the disposal of the building was then carried out between October 2024 and March 2025. The Herald understands that three bids for The Martyrs' School met the necessary criteria, with the other two bids being for commercial letting of workshop space with some public exhibition space. The Bishops' Conference of Scotland also owns property on the opposite side of Parson Street – St Mungo's Church and retreat. Commenting on the news, director of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society (CRMS) told The Herald: "On paper this sale looks a good fit for Martyrs' School and being used as a Public Museum of Scottish Catholic archive, housing artworks and artefacts, there might be an opportunity for some public access to the building. "I am delighted to see that it will be sensitively refurbished through a £1.75million works programme, funded by the purchaser. It would be good to see more details of this and the planned timescale." In February, the council revealed that negotiations were set to begin over the use of another Mackintosh building - the Lighthouse - as a location to help climate tech firms grow after a committee gave the green light to the proposal. The council said it was to begin talks with Sustainable Ventures (Scotland) Limited on a long-term lease for the 88% (5,424 sq ft) of the floorspace in the building that the council owns. Sustainable Ventures (Scotland) Limited have 130 climate tech startups co-located at their HQ workspace in London, and support over 700 climate tech SMEs across the UK. The Lighthouse – which was home to The Herald for 112 years - is one of Mackintosh's most celebrated architectural gems, and was formerly Scotland's centre for architecture, design and the city. However, it closed temporarily at the start of the pandemic and never fully reopened. A council review of the use of the building failed to find a long-term, sustainable use of the building for council purposes. Speaking at the time, Councillor Ruairi Kelly, Convener for Built Heritage and Development at Glasgow City Council, said: "I'm delighted that negotiations on bringing the Lighthouse back to full life have been given the go-ahead. This is a Charles Rennie Mackintosh classic which has been seeking a new purpose over a number of years. Plans to use this architectural gem to provide space for hi-tech start-ups is exactly the type of project which can revitalise this great building."
