Barony Hall Steps, Barony Hall, Cathedral Street, Glasgow

Sandstone steps renewal:

Barony Hall Steps

Glasgow · 2011

Our role
Specialist stone masonry contractor
Client
University of Strathclyde
Value
Under £0.5m
Programme
Autumn 2011
Scope
Supply and fitting of new sandstone steps and thresholds to three entrances, anti-slip nosings, making good of surrounding paving

Barony Hall is the red sandstone former Barony Church in Glasgow, now a University of Strathclyde venue. Its main entrances are reached by broad flights of stone steps that take heavy daily foot traffic. The University instructed us to renew the steps at three entrances: the east door, the south east corner and the south entrance, with new masonry cut and fitted to suit the existing building.

Barony Hall Steps, Barony Hall, Cathedral Street, Glasgow — photograph 1
Barony Hall Steps, Barony Hall, Cathedral Street, Glasgow — photograph 2
Barony Hall Steps, Barony Hall, Cathedral Street, Glasgow — photograph 3
Barony Hall Steps, Barony Hall, Cathedral Street, Glasgow — photograph 4
Barony Hall Steps, Barony Hall, Cathedral Street, Glasgow — photograph 5

The challenge

Years of use had worn the treads and nosings and left the steps uneven, and the angled and curved plan of the corner flight meant that no two steps were the same length. Every stone had to be measured on site and cut to suit, with angled joints where the flights turn. The steps lie directly beside public pavement and road, so the works needed permits, careful set-up and a programme that kept at least one entrance usable and the surrounding streets safe for pedestrians.

Our solution

The steps were surveyed and each stone measured and scheduled individually, then ordered as new sawn Locharbriggs sandstone, with the top bed and front face seen and all angles cut to fit on site. The work was phased entrance by entrance: the east door steps first, then the south east corner and finally the south entrance, so the building stayed accessible throughout. Worn steps and thresholds were cut out and removed, and the new stones were bedded and jointed to the existing flights and thresholds. Anti-slip nosing strips were fitted to the leading edges of the treads to meet current accessibility requirements, and the pavements and surrounds were cleared and made good at the end of each phase.

Outcomes

Worn steps renewed

New sandstone treads and thresholds fitted at three entrances.

Safer, more accessible entrances

Anti-slip nosings added to the step edges for visitors and students.

Phased around the building

Each entrance was dealt with in turn, keeping the hall in use.

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