Council says significant part of south facade will have to go after being deemed unsafe

A significant part of the Glasgow School of Art building will need to be urgently dismantled because it is dangerously unstable, increasing doubts about its survival.

Safety experts said a large part of the south facade of the fire-ravaged Charles Rennie Mackintosh building would need to be taken down as a matter of urgency after surveys found its walls had moved significantly.

The surveys from mobile cranes, a drone and lasers, carried out in recent days, also revealed the building’s western gable had continued to deteriorate, and its east gable had continued to move outwards.

The dismantling was expected to start within days, officials said, but would be carried out in a controlled manner to prevent the structure’s catastrophic collapse, and ensure the stability of surviving walls.

Immediately after the fire, which devastated the category A listed and 110-year-old building, the council, school of art and Historic Environment Scotland had hoped its remaining structure would be saved to allow reconstruction. Some experts suggested that could cost in the region of £100m.

But the latest evidence has dashed those hopes, said Glasgow city council and Glasgow School of Art officials.

“The building has moved much, much more than we expected. The south facade is a particular risk and we’re now saying it is likely rather than possibly going to collapse,” a council spokesman said.

“It will be taken down urgently to probably at least the first floor level, but safely. And by safely we mean it will take a couple of days to come up with a methodology to do that.”

Many experts had already raised fears that the devastating fire earlier this month, which gutted the art nouveau masterpiece, would make it impossible to rescue and rebuild it.

It was already extensively damaged by a fire in 2014. The intense heat of that fire and then its rapid cooling when the flames were doused weakened the stone. The Mackintosh building had been due to reopen next year after a £37m restoration, which has been all but destroyed by the latest fire.

Prof Alan Dunlop, an architect who trained at the school, said the decision to remove large sections of the school’s walls was “a sad outcome but not unexpected”.

He added: “I disagree that the replication of the art school is the best way to honour Mackintosh – let it go. There should be a full public discussion to include the option of an international competition to design a new art school.”

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There were some tensions between the art school and council on Thursday after news of the dismantling decision was announced: the art school was very keen to stress the need to preserve its structural integrity. The council put heavy stress on the risk of imminent collapse, and the need for urgent action.

Raymond Barlow, the council’s head of building control, said: “This building has undergone substantial stress in recent days. With each passing day a sudden collapse becomes more likely. It has become urgent that we take down the south facade. As the process begins it will be likely that the other walls will also need to be reduced.

“We do not know what effect this will have on the rest of the building so I have to be clear this site remains dangerous and is becoming more dangerous. It is particularly important that people observe the cordon which remains in place.”

The art school said its contractor Reigart and structural engineers David Narro Associates were using the new data to ensure the dismantling “will be undertaken in a highly controlled way to minimise any potential risk of failure and be sufficient to achieve structural stability of the Mackintosh building”.

The risk of collapse meant some households who were moved to temporary accommodation during the fire would still not be allowed to return home, the council added.

The council’s statement said that if the demolition and safety work began at the eastern end of the building it might be possible to make the eastern wall safe enough to allow residents on Dalhousie Street to return.

“However Glasgow city council, GSoA and the contractors wish to be clear that people should still not believe that this will be a quick process and that it is still impossible to say how long the cordon will remain in place,” it said.