Ramshorn Theatre, 98 Ingram Street | Restoration Case Study

Our role: Main contractor
Client: University of Strathclyde
Architect: Sheppard Robson
Value: Under £0.5m
Programme: April to September 2011
Scope: Railings and gates, gate piers, stone repairs, mullion conservation, leadwork, stained glass

The Ramshorn was built as a church on Ingram Street in 1824, in pale sandstone from the quarries at nearby Cowcaddens, and stands in its own graveyard behind railings and gates on the street. Now the Ramshorn Theatre of the University of Strathclyde, it needed its railings and historic fabric repaired. Working with architect Sheppard Robson and with support from the Merchant City Initiative, we carried out the railing and fabric repairs to the church, its tower and the graveyard boundary.

The challenge

The weight of the iron gates had cracked the gate piers and dragged the stonework and railings out of line, and some railing details had bowed or lost their heads. The sandstone mullions were laminating and crumbling, the tower's lead roof had reached the end of its life, and old repairs to the stained glass needed replacing. All of this was in a city-centre graveyard open to the public on weekdays, beside a working theatre whose performances had to go on undisturbed.

Our solution

The railings, six gates, lanterns and handrails were taken down and removed off site, where they were stripped of their lead-based paint, repaired and repainted before going back with new hinge and pivot details. The six gate piers were carefully dismantled, their iron cores treated and new padstones cast, then rebuilt. Following petrographic analysis by the British Geological Survey, new stone for the boundary wall copes, indents and a replacement pinnacle was cut in Stanton Moor sandstone. The walls were washed at low pressure and repointed in lime mortar to a minimum depth of 30mm. Decaying mullions were consolidated with Silres BS 100 OH, pinned with stainless steel dowels and built back in tinted lime mortar or Paraloid B72 fills. The tower roof and gutters were relined in new leadwork, the main roof slates were repaired, and specialists replaced the old repairs and missing panels in the stained glass. Noisy work was scheduled around the theatre's performance times.

Outcomes

Railings restored

Gates, railings and lanterns repaired off site and rehung straight on rebuilt gate piers.

Matched stone

Replacement stone chosen through British Geological Survey analysis of the original masonry.

Considerate site

Awarded a Considerate Constructors Scheme certificate of compliance while the theatre stayed open.

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