One of Glasgow's most recognisable industrial landmarks has been brought back to life with the completion of a major retrofit renovation of the city's iconic Glue Factory.
Originally bult in 1891, the Glue Factory was home to the British & Foreign Aerated Water Company and Scottish Adhesives Company - which gave the building its name. After lying vacant for decades, the derelict warehouse was reimagined in 2011 by a group of artists, designers, architects and musicians as a non-profit creative space.
Thanks to £188,533 of support from our Transmission Net Zero Fund, it has been transformed into Scotland's first inner-city retrofit campus, a 20,000 square feet warm, affordable and flexible space for the benefit of local community groups and businesses. The funding has gone towards various building updates such as retrofitting the Glue Factory through external wall insulation, triple-glazed windows, insulated doors, air source heat pumps, electric and thermal batteries and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system.
The Glue Factory sits at the heart of a growing retrofit campus focused on reducing carbon emissions, introducing energy saving measures and converting historic buildings into low-carbon spaces. The project was delivered by Agile City following the recent success of its award-winning Civic House retrofit - funded by our Green Economy Fund - which has already become a thriving hub for social, cultural and green enterprise in the city centre.
Graham Campbell, Director at SP Energy Networks, said: "Glasgow is full of incredible historic buildings and the transformation of the Glue Factory shows how they can become workspaces and community hubs that are fit for the future.
"The Agile City team has shown how an energy efficient retrofit can take a crumbling building and regenerate it into a hub for innovation and creativity. We're proud to have supported the transformation of the Glue Factory and Civic House to create Scotland's first inner-city retrofit campus, which will be an inspiration for communities in Glasgow and beyond."
A shared energy monitoring system has been installed across both Civic House and the Glue Factory, allowing the performance of the buildings to be tracked and learned from, while the refurbished space provides room for workspaces, training, events and community activities under one roof.
The transformation also supports a new Net Zero Training Progamme, delivered in partnership with local colleges and universities. The programme will host 140 sessions and engage more than 4,500 people from students and tradespeople to community groups, helping to build the skills needed to retrofit homes and buildings across the city and beyond.
Since 2018, Agile City has invested over £2 million in building the retrofit campus of spaces in Glasgow. The Glue Factory retrofit marks the final step in realising their vision to establish a flagship campus in Scotland.
Rob Morrison, Director at Agile City, said: "This funding from SP Energy Networks unlocked the full potential of our retrofit campus to make the Glue Factory a vibrant, inclusive space where people can work and learn. Together with our partners, we've set a new standard for retrofit projects in Scotland - helping create a community and business hub that's warm, welcoming and affordable."