Category: ARCHITECTURE: Retrofit

A dwelling house, located within and around a stone and brick ruin in the Ayrshire landscape. Conceived as a ‘building within a ruin’, the project consists of a quiet, honest, and restrained intervention, extension, and outbuilding. The site rises from the southwest to the north-east. An existing track, lined with three ash trees, leads north towards the stone ruin. The structure is long, narrow, and gently steps down to the west. The ruin was a patch work of modifications formed […]

Kinning Park Complex (KPC) is a community owned building in the Southside of Glasgow, steeped with rich history; it has been an ever-changing centre for education, activism, and protecting its local community for over a century. Originally built for use as a primary school in 1910, today Kinning Park Complex is a multi-use community space focusing on a wide variety of activities taking place over four key strands: Community, Citizenship, Creativity and Wellbeing. We have been working with the community […]

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 […]

A self-build EnerPHit Passive House, The Barn was a labour of love for the owner builder. They wanted an energy efficient home, with no reliance on fossil fuels and adaptable to their changing needs should they eventually require single level living. The Barn is the conversion and extension of a stone outbuilding and the addition of a small artist’s studio all sitting within the curtilage of an extensive walled garden. The converted outbuilding features a living room and study on […]

The New Steiner for Stenier Property Ltd consists of 36 2 bedroom apartments, duplexes, and penthouse apartments for private sale divided between the converted former Glasgow Steiner School building and 6 storey new build block. The project was driven by a determination to save a locally significant landmark and preserve an otherwise lost piece of Glasgow’s architectural heritage. Dating from 1876 the former school building was completely destroyed by fire in 2013. An extensive restoration process was subsequently undertaken to […]

History, Condition & Building SignificanceThe Concourse Pavilion formed part of Aberdeen Joint Station completed just after WW1. It was constructed with a sandstone lower storey and timber framework at upper level to accommodate departure boards, electric clock and advertising. The timber framework was removed during the building’s lifetime exposing a utilitarian flat roof. A sandstone lift shaft was added in the 2000s providing access between concourse and adjoining bridge level with the lift motor room inserted into the building’s footprint. […]

Greyfriars Charteris Centre demonstrates an important agenda for the re-use of historic buildings that no longer serve their original purpose. Formerly a church, the congregation was relocated due to declining numbers but rather than sell the site to residential developers, the client decided to repurpose the building so that it could continue to play a role as a ‘centre for the community’. Konishi Gaffney lead a multi-disciplinary team for the refurbishment, improvement and extension of the church. The Charteris Centre […]

The retrofit of Civic House, a former printworks, has created a hub of cultural and social enterprise that brings new life to a neglected corner of Glasgow. The repurposed building acts as a micro power station ‒ generating more energy than it consumes over the course of a year. Funded by the Climate Challenge Fund and Scottish Power Energy Network’s Green Economic Fund, Collective Architecture was commissioned by Agile City to undertake the refurbishment of the 1920s industrial warehouse located […]