O’DonnellBrown’s deftly designed and skilfully executed office redevelopment scheme in Glasgow’s East End gives a new lease of life to a local landmark.

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David Barbour

Award-winning local practice O’DonnellBrown has transformed a former Salvation Army Citadel and headquarters of the Grand Orange Lodge into a flexible 280-square-metre commercial office space in Glasgow’s East End. The £1.7m development, which will support up to 20 full time jobs, has been spearheaded by Clyde Gateway, Scotland’s largest regeneration company.

Located within the Bridgeton Cross Conservation Area, the existing two-storey, red sandstone building is a local landmark has a strong street presence. New additions to the Victorian structure include a platform lift to improve accessibility and a public entrance signalled by a sculptural metal tower named The Beacon. The internal spaces have been approached with a ‘de-furb’ strategy, exposing brickwork, roof trusses and existing timber linings, while dramatically improving energy performance with new insulation, air source heat pump technology, and underfloor heating.

“The excitement and challenge of New Olympia House lay in peeling away layers of unsympathetic subdivisions that had occurred over the years and finding the historic and characterful features that existed behind,” says project architect Ross Cameron. “The previously concealed brickwork, roof trusses, timber linings, and first-floor hall space are now celebrated to create the atmosphere of the new work spaces.”

“Previously, the dark, dingy, gated side lane was a negative space that the building turned its back to,” continues Cameron. “This has been transformed, with New Olympia House now embracing the lane with large glazed openings and a new main entrance, providing dual aspect, natural light and ventilation to the work spaces. This move is signified by the new lightweight metal beacon that infills the missing piece of the street elevation, and sits in dialogue with the decorative metal work of the Bridgeton Umbrella.”

“New Olympia House provided an exciting opportunity to repurpose a historic building and further strengthen one of Glasgow’s historic Crosses,” concludes project director Jennifer O’Donnell. “The regeneration of Bridgeton Cross over the last decade has been tackled with ambition and care and O’DonnellBrown enjoyed working in this context with the project team and Clyde Gateway to give this local landmark a brighter future and new lease of life.”

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