Project Description
When fire struck St Columbkilles Church hall in Rutherglen, Glasgow in July 2004 it dealt a severe blow to many of the church’s spiritual and social activities. The building was relegated to a crumb of its former self and the disintegrated, smouldering rubble was a painful and distressing sight. It marked the end of an era but it also declared the beginning of a new chapter.
Where do you begin, to whom do you turn when you are faced with such a ruin? To the innocent eye it was like gazing upon a 5000-piece jigsaw puzzle of charred portions spread over the ground; there were few straight edges and no obvious starting points.
In a remarkable display of unity, loss adjusters, insurers, surveyors, architects and construction personnel have shown tremendous endeavour to rebuild the church halls. The job of putting St Columbkilles church hall back together was entrusted to CRGP Ltd, a Glasgow firm of architects and surveyors, by the Diocese of Motherwell. Early meetings with Canon Gibbons of St Columbkilles and the Diocese initiated a plan of action.
“Although it is not a listed building,” says Derek Brown, an architect with CRGP, “it is an important feature in the town and everyone is anxious to see it replaced. The building is quite imposing because of its height and the beautiful red sandstone used in the construction. But perhaps the interesting fenestration is its most outstanding feature.”
St Columbkilles church hall was originally the parochial school, the areas of glazing are immense and this is the outstanding feature of the building. When the sun is streaming in through the high windows it feels extremely light and airy. Another interesting aspect is the wide granite stairwells that carry indelible evidence of the erosion caused by millions of feet passing over them.
Before any restoration work could be carried out, the building had to be first stripped out and any unstable masonry made safe. Specialist stonemasons were employed to replicate the stonework that had been damaged. Externally, the building looks no different from what it was, however, alterations to the inside have been made. As the requirements of the church unfolded it became clear that the halls were an important part of their life and that the facility would be a great loss.
“We held discussions with Canon Gibbons, the halls manager and some members of the congregation to find out how the community and different organisations used the buildings,” said Derek. “We wanted to give them church halls that fitted with their need to cater for weddings, christenings and family parties as well as other church activities.”
With the reinstatement work now completed, St Columbkilles has church halls, which through minor alterations are much enhanced. The ground floor has been altered to provide more usable and versatile space. Leading from the main hall where the majority of activities will take place are social and recreation areas and a kitchen. On the first floor are smaller rooms used for the many other events that take place connected with the busy life of the church such as the bowling club and women’s guild.
“We have tried to create a more flexible area for functions by redistributing the available space,” said Derek. “The stage has been moved and there’s now a much larger dance floor and with different size rooms, all finished to a high specification. The completed work represents a beautiful and up to date building.”
Colin Dair of CRGP was project manager and he was quite confident that the reinstatement of the church hall would go smoothly: “Fleming, the contractor has vast experience in this type of work and the job has been completed on time. I fully understand how upsetting it is for the 1000 worshippers but they have shown great patience and we wanted to repay this by giving them a church hall that will more than meet their requirements.”
The Rev Thomas Canon Gibbons is happy to see the work complete. “The restoration has gone very well and to time. We had our first public function in the halls on January 21when 150 young people attended a 21st birthday party. Everyone was very pleased with what had been done following the damage caused by the fire.”
St Andrews Demolition and Dem-Master did the emergency and strip-out works and Fleming Buildings Limited did the reinstatement. Structural engineers were McLay Collier, Glasgow.
