Camphill Gate Tenement, Glasgow

Shortlisted for our new Best Loved Award in the private category, Camphill Gate an outstanding example of how a community of residents and owners have tirelessly worked together over eight years to improve the condition of their much-loved tenement.

Our Best Loved Award celebrates regular care and maintenance to old buildings, a key aspect of the SPAB Approach. Our shortlisted projects demonstrate the value of maintenance for buildings of all dates and types, and for the people who occupy, use and love them. Vote for your favourite. 

Pollokshaws Road elevation. Credit: Glasgow City Heritage Trust

Glasgow pre-1919 tenements contribute so much to the city’s image of itself. Camphill Gate building is a ‘B’ listed red sandstone tenement dating from 1905, designed by John Nisbet. As it was built in front of a bakery, this was Glasgow’s first fireproof tenement. It is of concrete construction faced in stone. With four storeys of flats above ground floor retail, this an unusually tall tenement for Glasgow.

Poor quality repairs to the tenement in the 1980s began to cause significant problems. Unfortunately, the original cast iron gutters were replaced by undersized aluminium ones. These could not cope with the rainfall runoff from the large flat roof, resulting in saturation of the wall head. The flat asphalt roof had a network of patches and cracks causing leaks into the flats below.

The domes have now been re-slated with Westmoreland slates, the domes renewed in lead now look impressive. The wrought iron railings have all been renewed, so it is now safe for children to play on the roof once more. The correct gauge and profile of cast iron gutters have now been installed to help take rainwater away from the building.

Repaired saucer dome. Credit: Glasgow City Heritage Trust. 

The tenacity of the Residents Association has been most impressive and their capacity to look after their tenement, now one of the best loved in Glasgow, is significantly improved. 38 co-owners spread across three tenement closes and 10 shops and cafes have worked hard to raise funds for the conservation repair of the tenement. Their work has included:

• Rooftop gigs
• Exhibitions concerning community issues and local artists
• Opening for Glasgow’s Doors Open Day Festival, winning the 2017 Innovative Visitor Engagement award
• Hosting visits from politicians including Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon
• Giving evidence to the Scottish Parliamentary Working Group on Tenement Maintenance
• Appearing on the Glasgow City Heritage Trust’s podcast ‘If Glasgow’s Walls Could Talk’ about their campaign

Glasgow City Heritage Trust offered a grant of £292,226.14 towards the grant eligible conservation repairs of the contract which is now costed at £1.2 million. This was later augmented by a top up grant from Glasgow City Council.

Further urgent areas of repair have been identified including the mullions of the bay windows and the stone facing. The stonemasons, Cornerstone, removed the 1980s cement skim only to discover that it is peeling off in large sheets and delaminating the red sandstone underneath. This is due to a combination of aggressive sand blasting in 1980s combined with inherent defects in original erection of stone mullions. Therefore, many of these have now been de-scaled or occasionally renewed. There are other areas, such as windows, which will need attention when funding permits.