107 Niddrie Road

107 Niddrie Road is a pre-1919 red sandstone tenement in Govanhill in the south side of Glasgow owned by Southside Housing Association. Like most traditional Scottish tenements, it consists of eight flats and a communal close and back court. Each flat includes one bedroom, a living / kitchen, bathroom, hallway and store. This project was designed to EnerPHit standard (Passivhaus for retrofit) and has high levels of insulation and airtightness combined with new heating and ventilation systems. These energy efficient measures drastically reduce energy bills for the tenants while providing them with the healthiest possible internal environment. The whole building in a parlous state and vacant for at least couple of years. It was also in single ownership of Southside Housing Association which is an uncommon occurrence in tenements but gave us a unique opportunity. SHA commissioned the groundbreaking retrofit which was supported by Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council and the housing association themselves. The building itself needed considerable repair works externally and internally and the existing layouts were less than ideal with poor accessibility into very small bathrooms and kitchens. The design approach was three fold: i) building repairs and conservation of the tenement, ii) energy efficient measures and iii) improved layouts and upgraded finishes such as new kitchens and bathrooms. The main issues here, given today’s climate crisis and cost of living crisis, are carbon emissions and fuel poverty. By drastically improving the fabric of the building and installing innovative new technologies we can reduce emissions and make fuel poverty all but impossible. The heating demand has been reduced to 25.9 kWh/m2/year through a fabric first approach which is approximately 90% lower than that of a similar sandstone tenement. The lower four flats are fossil fuel free as they use zero carbon technologies (ASHP).