It is one of the city’s most significant buildings which, since 1983, has operated as a museum, giving an insight to life in the city 500 years ago.
The works to it have included renewal of services throughout, replacement of 1980s windows with double-glazed units, replacement of rainwater goods, structural repair of walls and repairs to the roof.
The Category A-listed building is the second oldest in the city centre after Glasgow Cathedral and is Glasgow’s oldest surviving residential building with some elements dating from 1471.
The building was saved from demolition by the Provand’s Lordship Society in the early 1900s, and eventually passed into the care of Glasgow Museums in 1978 – the last time the building’s fabric and services were comprehensively refurbished and upgraded.
The most noticeable change has been to the building’s exterior walls. Previously, its stonework had been in poor condition and pointed with cement, which was preventing the wall from breathing. As a result, the building has been repointed internally and externally with a lime mortar that is sacrificial to the stone. Externally a new lime harling finish has been applied – a finish historically used on the building – which provides it with a greater capacity to absorb and release moisture in a sustainable way, making it more resilient to the effects of climate change such as increased, more intense rainfall.
Architect’s view
We are delighted to see the project completed and are excited for the public to be welcome back into the building. It has been an honour to be entrusted with a critical part of the city’s heritage and to have the opportunity to understand the building better. We also want to commend Glasgow Life for the support and backing they’ve offered throughout for this bold approach on the site, and City Building (Glasgow) and the craftspeople they’ve brought in who have done a fantastic job.”
The boldest move in this project was reinstating the historic lime finishes to the exterior of the building. We had plenty of evidence to demonstrate that the building had previously been harled, but that this was removed by the Edwardians in the spirit of ‘improvement’ and the building repointed in cement. Ultimately this had the impact of making the building less resilient to Scotland’s worsening climate, reducing its ability to manage moisture effectively, and increasing the rate of erosion of the building fabric
Repointing the building in lime and reinstating its lime-harled finish has allowed us to improve the building’s resilience, as well as bringing other benefits such as a more stable internal environment for the collections. It is undeniably a stark change to the external appearance of the building from what the public has been used to for the past 100 or so years, and is a step beyond the ‘minimum intervention’ approach to conservation. However, we believe that in this case it was justified and have been really pleased to see the positive reaction to the new/old appearance of the building.
Scott Abercrombie, project director and conservation architect, John Gilbert Architects
Client’s view
The reopening of Provand’s Lordship is a major boost for Glasgow and its cultural sector. The museum offers visitors a fascinating insight into life in the city during medieval times, and these improvement works represent our commitment to protecting and maintaining Glasgow’s built heritage so it can be enjoyed by generations to come.
Glasgow Life constantly looks to maintain and improve its cultural venues to enhance the lives of residents and visitors to the city, and the Provand’s Lordship restoration is the latest in a series of major investment projects at Glasgow Life Museums, which is continuing with the refurbishment and reimagination of the People’s Palace.
Duncan Dornan, head of museums and collections, Glasgow Life
Source:John Gilbert Architects
Project data
Start on site August 2022
Completion date November 2023
Gross internal floor area 375m2
Form of contract or procurement route Design and build
Construction cost £1.6 million
Construction cost per m2 £4,265
Architect John Gilbert Architects
Client Glasgow Life
Structural engineer Narro Associates
M&E consultant Luths Services
Historic building consultant Frew Conservation
Landscape consultant Matt Benians Landscape Architect
Main contractor City Building (Glasgow)
CAD software used Archicad
The Architects’ Journal Architecture News & Buildings
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