Buildings of Glasgow: Glasgow art gallery wants to transform “at risk” A-listed riverside building

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A Glasgow art gallery wants to bring an “at risk” A-listed riverside building back into use as its “principal premises”.

The Modern Institute intends to provide space for artists to exhibit their work in a Carlton Place property which has been empty for over a decade, according to plans submitted to Glasgow City Council.

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Documents suggest the project has the “potential to establish a long-term beneficial use” for the listed building, which it is feared could suffer a similar fate to a nearby fire-ravaged property.

Emergency services attended an allegedly deliberate blaze at the former Prince and Princess of Wales hospice on Carlton Place in August.

Paul Sweney

Plans submitted for 48 and 49 Carlton Place, on behalf of the applicants, state that while the building is “wind and weathertight”, its “unoccupied status in this location raises serious concerns that the building could be subject to vandalism and damage by fire”.

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They add: “The level of concern has been raised following the recent fire of August 6 at another similar listed property in Carlton Place.”

Planning consent would “help to secure the future of this building and remove it from an ‘at risk’ status”, the applicants argue. The Modern Institute, an established private fine art dealer in Glasgow since 1997, currently has premises at Osborne Street and Aird’s Lane.

It aims to promote “contemporary visual art practice in Glasgow” and recently showed an exhibition of work by renowned American artist Keith Haring at its Aird’s Lane premises.

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Under the proposals, the Carlton Place building would become its “principal premises” and “first move south of the river”.

“The lower floors will be used to exhibit artworks by artists that the gallery represents and other guest artists,” the plans add. “The ground and upper floors will be used for reception, meetings, administration and archive/library.”

Exhibition spaces would “generally operate on an appointment/invitation basis with a rolling programme of artists’ collections either mounted separately or thematically”.

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The interior has been stripped back to the structural stone and brick. Previous plans for flats in the building have been refused and documents add it appears to have been vacant since 2010.

They state several attempts to sell the property to a new user have been “unsuccessful either due to lack of interest or due to the proposed new use being refused planning permission”.

Part of the building was previously used as a bar and restaurant with a dancefloor, the application adds. 

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It continues: “The intent of this development is to return the building to a beneficial use and to undertake a sensitive repair and enhancement of the whole building to the wider benefit of its setting and cultural significance.”

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