It’s Halls or nothing New plan to save landmark building could cost £30m
There is hope for the future of Glasgow’s Egyptian Halls as conservationists secure funding to develop new masterplan – despite its owner having his own vision for the future
SHROUDED behind scaffolding for more than a decade, one of Glasgow’s architectural gems has faced demolition threats, urgent repair notices and been branded one of Europe’s most “at risk” buildings.
Inside, its once-rich decor has faded. Plasterwork is crumbling and paint is peeling, signs which hint at past uses – cinema, classrooms and tutor rooms. Plants sprout from brickwork.
Despite its glorious facade, Alexander “Greek” Thomson’s 19th-century collonaded Egyptian Halls – regarded as a masterpiece of design – has seemed doomed to crumble and wither while debate lumbered on over its future.
Now, after lying empty for more than 40 years, the A-listed treasure appears to be on the brink of a new chapter which may finally see its future secured.
Conservation experts fighting for its restoration have secured funding to develop a business plan to examine how the landmark building can be revived – a vital route into securing funding for its takeover.
It is a major milestone after decades of wrangling and sets the Egyptian Halls working group, led by the Scottish Civic Trust, on course to wrestle it from its private owners and bring it into public ownership.
That, however, could be a messy battle: Dundee-based property developer Derek Souter, who has owned the Union Street building with two others since 2000, said he is also in the midst of moves to secure a new future for the building, with plans which include turning the upper floors of the building into a hotel or apartments.
Dire warnings
THE long-running saga has spluttered along for decades, with the current owners facing defective building notices requiring urgent repairs, and dire warnings from their side of potential structural failure that could endanger passers-by and impact power supplies to nearby Central Station.
At one point, they suggested they may have to demolish it. The working group says its plan will offer the public an opportunity to suggest ideas for the building’s future.
Previous suggestions include a history of slavery museum, while it has also been said that its upper floor could be a glamorous rooftop bar, with lower floors a hotel or affordable hostel accommodation.
It could also return full circle: when the Egyptian Halls opened in 1873, it was a vibrant emporium of shops and stalls, exhibition space, and lecture rooms.
But impact of the pandemic on city-centre office accommodation means it is unlikely to be developed for business use.
Fiona Sinclair, chair of the Egyptian Halls working group and a Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of
Architects in Scotland, said: “Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson’s Egyptian Halls has long been a worrying building at risk, and yet the relatively open-plan nature of its floor plates makes it ideal for a range of exciting uses.
“There is no shortage of ideas for the repurposing of this iconic, internationally-significant building, but the key is to deliver an end use that is sustainable, both in business as well as energy terms. We are hopeful that the development of a business plan will provide a realistic way forward, taking into account the changing nature of city-centre buildings and the availability of funding for repairs as well as upgrading.
“As well as being architecturally exceptional, the Egyptian Halls is importantly located next to one of the city’s principal transport hubs, and surely has a role to play in addressing the climate crisis.”
Thomson designed the building in the early 1870s for iron magnate James
There is no shortage of ideas for this iconic, internationallysignificant building
Robertson, and used cast iron and stone in its construction.
Its colonnaded facade, with dozens of windows and elaborate decoration, was immediately hailed as one of his finest works, while thousands visited its shops, attended lectures, or viewed antiquities and art in its large hall.
Eventually, however, the building lost its appeal.
With no occupants, it was hidden behind unsightly scaffolding leading to it being named among Europe’s 14 most endangered buildings by Europa Nostra, a pan-European heritage organisation.
Costs of restoring it have been put at around £30 million.
The working group, which includes filmmaker Murray Grigor and leading architect Scott Abercrombie, is forming a charity which aims to “protect, rehabilitate and preserve for the benefit of the public the historical, architectural and constructional heritage” of the building.