Two weeks after a blaze that destroyed Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh Building, both Kier and the school have decided to terminate the contract
Kier Construction was undertaking restoration works on the building, a project required due to an earlier fire in 2014 that caused substantial damage.
After two years of work and completion in sight, a second major blaze tore through the Mackintosh Building at around 11.15pm on 15 June 2018.
On 29 June Glasgow School of Art and Kier Construction issued this joint statement: “Following the fire on 15 June, The Glasgow School of Art and Kier Construction Limited confirm they have jointly concluded that the current contract for the Mackintosh Building restoration will end with immediate effect. Both parties agreed that the current contract could no longer be fulfilled or completed. The Glasgow School of Art acknowledges the work Kier Construction Limited and its appointed sub-contractors had undertaken to date.”
The School, working with its team of structural experts, has now had a chance to assess the structural integrity of the Mackintosh Building. Its new specialist site contractor, Reigart, has brought large mobile cranes on site to allow thorough close-up visual assessment of damage to the building.
The detailed visual assessment shows that damage to the Mackintosh Building is considerably greater than had initially been anticipated from ground visual assessment and drone data.
Reigart, together with structural engineers, David Narro Associates, are using all this information to develop a plan of works to achieve structural stability of the building. This will be agreed with Historic Environment Scotland and Glasgow City Council Building Control.
“The plan of works will involve Reigart undertaking extensive down takings and potential structural bracing,” the Glasgow School of Art said. “Due to the conditio
n of the Mackintosh Building this work will be undertaken in a highly controlled way to minimise any potential risk of failure and be sufficient to achieve structural stability of the Mackintosh Building.”
