Dismantling ‘progressing well’

Work to dismantle the Mackintosh Building is “progressing to plan” to allow residents and business owners affected by the safety cordon to return to their properties, Glasgow School of Art (GSA) has said.

Businesses and 33 homes within the cordon zone remain evacuated following the blaze which tore through the famous building on the night of June 15.

Locals have been left frustrated that they cannot access their property to retrieve possessions and staged a protest at the weekend.

Glasgow City Council said parts of the building are at risk of “sudden, unannounced, collapse” and warned that anyone who tries to breach the cordon faces arrest.

GSA said work to dismantle dangerous parts of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed building is progressing to plan, with structural engineers in contact with the council so they can “assess when it might be possible to reduce the size of the security cordon”.

Professor Tom Inns, GSA director, said: “The fire in the Mackintosh Building has had a devastating effect on the Garnethill community and especially the people whose homes and businesses are within the security cordon.

“We want to assure people that our first priority is dismantling the dangerous elements of the building in the safest way both for the workers and for surrounding properties.”