186 Argyle Street, Argyle Street, Glasgow

Window and facade repairs:

Argyle Street

Glasgow · 2021

Our role
Principal contractor, window, masonry and slating repairs
Client
Scottish Transport Credit Union Ltd
Architect
Pollock Hammond Ltd
Programme
From January 2020
Scope
Scaffold access, structural timber repairs to lintels, mullions and bay windows, workshop window repair, slating, stone replacement in lime mortar, internal making good

186 Argyle Street is a four-storey bay-windowed building in the heart of Glasgow, standing beside Central Station and in continuous use as offices. Scottish Transport Credit Union Ltd, working with conservation architects Pollock Hammond, appointed us to repair the street facade and its windows. We repaired the failing timber structure behind the bays, repaired window sashes in our workshop and completed the associated roof, stone and internal works.

Before & after

Drag across the image to compare the building before our work and after completion.

186 Argyle Street after restoration by LTM Group186 Argyle Street before restorationBeforeAfter
186 Argyle Street: timber bay window repairs, on the scaffold and at the bench
186 Argyle Street, Argyle Street, Glasgow — photograph 1
186 Argyle Street, Argyle Street, Glasgow — photograph 2
186 Argyle Street, Argyle Street, Glasgow — photograph 3
186 Argyle Street, Argyle Street, Glasgow — photograph 4
186 Argyle Street, Argyle Street, Glasgow — photograph 5
186 Argyle Street, Argyle Street, Glasgow — photograph 6

The challenge

Water had penetrated the street elevation over many years. Behind the painted finishes, the timber lintels and mullions that carry the bay windows were softened by rot, and some window frames and sashes had decayed beyond simple redecoration. The building stayed in use while the works went on, so repairs had to be sequenced floor by floor, with dust, noise and access agreed around the occupiers. The street frontage is next to a busy station approach, which meant careful scaffold planning and pedestrian protection, and the work had to be coordinated with the architect and the specialist joinery supplier.

Our solution

A full scaffold gave access to the whole elevation. Once the bay windows were opened up, the extent of rot in the timber lintels and mullions was recorded window by window, measured and photographed. Decayed timber was cut out and the structural members were repaired or replaced, and the frames were made good before the sashes were refitted. Selected sashes and frames came back to our workshop and joinery partners for repair, then were returned and refitted. At the upper levels we installed a new window, reformed the soffit and ceiling details around it, and levelled and finished the cills. On the roof, new Welsh slates were installed. At the rear, defective stones were taken out and replaced with new stone built and pointed in lime mortar to match the existing. Internal finishes affected by the work, including ceiling tiles, plasterboard patches, cills and decoration, were made good floor by floor, and the scaffold was taken down in stages as the facade was completed. Once the paint had been stripped, the historic gilding on the crest was exposed, and regilding it was added to our scope.

Outcomes

Structural timber repaired

Rotted lintels and mullions to the bay windows cut out and repaired so the facade is sound behind its finishes.

Facade clear of scaffold

Scaffold taken down in stages from the busy Argyle Street frontage as the elevation works were finished.

Occupied building protected

Works sequenced floor by floor with internal finishes made good as each area was completed.

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