Bower Building

Background

Located in a crowded area of the campus with many residents living nearby, the University of Glasgow’s listed Bower Building had long been acknowledged for its architectural and historical significance. This meant Reigart employing a variety of specialised demolition techniques when this famous library and research facility caught fire and suffered substantial internal collapse. 

Solutions 

A Reigart team went in early the next day to make the building safe and take emergency measures to save its historic façade. An important early task was to create access through the debris to enable staff to salvage precious research material and artefacts, as well as valuable computer data.

Tight noise and dust restrictions, and an adjacent building in use meant much of the work had to be carried out at nights and weekends – often by hand, owing to restricted access. Vast amounts of broken glass and undocumented asbestos also had to be removed. An internal and external façade retention scheme incorporating external Kentledge was installed taking due care to avoid damage to the road surface and nearby drainage systems.