Taking Care of Your Tenement

Saturday 1st March | 11:30am – 1:00pm | Reidvale Neighbourhood Centre | 13 Whitevale Street, G31 1QW 

Worried about a leaky roof? Concerned about damp in your flat? Not sure how to talk to your neighbours about joint repairs? 

Join GCHT and Under One Roof for a free and informative event aimed at owner-occupiers, landlords or anyone who wants to learn more about maintaining and managing their historic tenement flats. 

Topics covered will include tenement maintenance and management, communal repairs and what to consider when undertaking works. There will also be a chance to hear about GCHT’s historic environment grants programme and whether you might be eligible for funding. 

We’ll finish with a Q&A session where you can ask us your top tenement questions! 

Free, booking required

You might also be interested in…

Glasgow Historic Environment: A Snapshot – 2019

Ever wondered which buildings in your neighbourhood are listed, or even on Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register?

Our new interactive map shows data collated between February and April 2018 which gives a snapshot of the current state of Glasgow’s historic built environment.

Blog Post: Ghosts and Zombies

Read our latest blog post about our Ghost Signs of Glasgow project, pondering the nature of ghost signs and what they tell us about the urban landscape.

Enjoy Family Fun with our Kids Trails!

Download our Kid’s Heritage Trails!

Become a Friend of Glasgow City Heritage Trust

Each year, our events help over 2000 people to understand and appreciate Glasgow's irreplaceable built heritage. Can you help us to reach more people?

We are hugely grateful for the support of our Friends whose subscriptions help cover the costs of these events, thereby ensuring accessible pricing for everyone in Glasgow in these challenging times.

The easiest way to support the Trust’s work is to join our Friends scheme. Our tiered loyalty scheme means you can choose the level that’s right for you.

Designer Brief – Lens on Legacy: Saving Glasgow’s Architectural Heritage

Pale blue square with an illustration of a person reading a book and "Call for Designers!"

GCHT is inviting tenders for the design of our upcoming exhibition, which will work in partnership with Queens Park Camera Club to highlight Glasgow’s at-risk buildings, celebrating the city’s architectural heritage while inspiring conservation efforts.

Click here for the full design brief

Drawings of our exhibition space

Deadline: 14th Feb, 2025 at 9:00am

Enquiries and submissions should be made by email to: info@glasgowheritage.org.uk

Celebrating 20 Years of Scotland’s City Heritage Trusts

2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the first City Heritage Trusts in Scotland. Over two decades, Scotland’s seven City Heritage Trusts have made a significant contribution to the historic environment through the distribution of funding for building repairs, outreach and education. They have become an integral part of the Scottish heritage sector, recognised for their local knowledge and expertise and their ability to be creative and innovative, using public funds wisely to deliver on projects which make a difference to the cities where they operate.

This report showcases the Trusts’ achievements and highlights their ongoing importance in caring for the historic built environment and contributing to a more sustainable Scotland.

GCHT’s Window Display

Photograph of front of GCHT office with brightly coloured painted buildings and wooden cutouts of tenements
A colourful screen print of a historic Glasgow tenement

"The Greenest Building is the One That is Already Built"

This idea was the jumping off point for Glasgow City Heritage Trust’s new window display from students in the Design Practice BA(hons) course at the City of Glasgow College. With the World Economic Forum estimating that the building sector creates almost 40% of the world’s carbon emissions, the students wanted to focus on how properly repairing and maintaining Glasgow’s historic buildings is a key part of a sustainable future and trying to reach net-zero. 

By incorporating the colours of thermal imaging the design playfully contrasts the technological with the creative, merging the precision of modern building diagnostics with artistic expression to deliver a message about sustainability and built heritage.

Glasgow’s tenements are a major part of the city’s historic built environment, providing the city both with housing and a unique urban landscape. These older building, however, do require care and maintenance to avoid issues of damp, draughtiness and structural failures. As part of our window display, GCHT has put together some helpful resources and information about looking after tenement flats. We also regularly host “Taking Care of Your Tenement” events for homeowners, landlords and tenants to find out more about managing their flats. As a grant-funder GCHT might be able to help with the cost of repairs – see the section below about the Trust and its work. 

The repair and maintenance of Glasgow’s built heritage is essential to preserving the city’s identity and ensuring it is able to meet goals around sustainability and lowering carbon emission. However, they require proper upkeep to ensure they remain functional, energy-efficient and appealing as spaces to live and work in.

Important Points to Consider 

  • Maintenance is an ongoing process and buildings should be checked regularly. Dealing with smaller issues in the short-term (such as blocked gutters or poor ventilation) will prevent much larger issues that require more intensive and expensive solutions in the long-term. 
  • Traditional buildings, typically those built before 1919, are designed to “breathe,” using vapour-open materials like lime, stone, and timber that allow moisture to move freely. When modern, impermeable materials (such as cement) are used for repairs they can trap moisture, leading to mould, rot, and structural damage. Therefore, it’s essential to use materials and techniques compatible with their original design. 
  • Owners in tenements have a legal duty to maintain the parts of the tenement that provide support and shelter. 

Resources 

Under One Roof is a Scotland-wide charity that provides free and impartial information to tenement flat owners, and housing professionals, on issues related to tenement maintenance, common repair management, and retrofit.

Their website can walk you through the ins and outs of taking care of a tenement flat, including the types of repairs you might need to undertake, working with neighbours to do repairs and how to find the right contractors to do the works.

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is the lead public body established to investigate, care for and promote Scotland’s historic environment. They regularly publish free guides on properly repairing and maintaining historic buildings.

Thermal imaging is a diagnostic technology that uses thermal cameras to detect infrared radiation, which helps show heat patterns and changes in temperature. By looking at heat patterns, we can identify and address building issues such as heat loss, dampness or insulation gaps.

Energy efficiency means improving the way buildings work. More efficient buildings stay warmer in winter and cooler in summer, providing better thermal comfort for those inside while using less energy. This both lowers energy bills and, as the vast majority of households use gas to heat their homes, also reduces carbon emissions. 

Sympathetically retrofitting historic buildings to improve their energy efficiency is a major part of making the historic built environment as sustainable as possible.

Glasgow City Heritage Trust is an independent charity and grant-funder that helps people access funding and expertise which will ensure the sustainability of Glasgow’s heritage for current and future generations.

We do this by:

  • Grant-aiding historic building repairs, project development, traditional building skills training, education and outreach projects and other historic environment focussed projects.
  • Giving technical advice
  • Running a series of talks, events and other activities designed to engage people and communities with Glasgow’s heritage. 

Recording: Glasgow’s Gaelic Place Names

Recording: Brutal Glasgow Talk

***In person tickets SOLD OUT, online still available*** Talk: Glasgow’s Gaelic Place Names

Wednesday 20 November 2024 | 7-8pm | GCHT, 54 Bell Street, G1 1LQ and online via Zoom 

Join Dr Alasdair C. Whyte – Scottish Government Gaelic Ambassador of the Year 2019 & 2020 and Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow – for this talk on the place-names of Glasgow.

Showcasing cutting-edge research from his new book Glasgow’s Gaelic Place-Names (Birlinn), Alasdair will tell the story of Glasgow through its place-names – in particular, its Gaelic story, which began around 1,000 years ago. Come along and hear about how and when Gaelic became the main community language in Glasgow and what Glasgow Gaelic sounded like in the past. Learn about the deep Gaelic roots of places like Auchenshuggle, Barlinnie, Cathkin, Cessnock, Garthamlock, Gartnavel, Shettleston and Yoker, to name a few!

You might even hear a Gaelic song or two composed on the banks of the Clyde. Glasgow hasn’t suddenly ‘gone Gaelic’; the language has been spoken in this city for around a millennium. Come along and hear for yourself!

This event will be held both in-person at our office on 54 Bell Street, Glasgow and streamed online via Zoom. Please pick the appropriate ticket option for you below.

Free, donations welcome, booking essential.

You might also be interested in…

Glasgow Historic Environment: A Snapshot – 2019

Ever wondered which buildings in your neighbourhood are listed, or even on Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register?

Our new interactive map shows data collated between February and April 2018 which gives a snapshot of the current state of Glasgow’s historic built environment.

Blog Post: Ghosts and Zombies

Read our latest blog post about our Ghost Signs of Glasgow project, pondering the nature of ghost signs and what they tell us about the urban landscape.

Enjoy Family Fun with our Kids Trails!

Download our Kid’s Heritage Trails!

Become a Friend of Glasgow City Heritage Trust

Each year, our events help over 2000 people to understand and appreciate Glasgow's irreplaceable built heritage. Can you help us to reach more people?

We are hugely grateful for the support of our Friends whose subscriptions help cover the costs of these events, thereby ensuring accessible pricing for everyone in Glasgow in these challenging times.

The easiest way to support the Trust’s work is to join our Friends scheme. Our tiered loyalty scheme means you can choose the level that’s right for you.

***SOLD OUT*** CPD: Scaffold Tour of a Historic Tenement

Photograph of a cracked tenement building

Thursday, 14th November | 12:00pm (noon) – 1:00pm | On site at 43 Queensborough Gardens, Glasgow, G12 9QP

This CPD offers a training opportunity for built heritage professionals to view the repair works currently underway on a historic tenement. 

The building presents complex structural challenges that John Gilbert Architects (with grant assistance from GCHT) are working to fix. Participants will learn about how these challenges are being tackled, as well as how JGA is addressing ongoing maintenance needs and increased rainfall due to the climate crisis. 

The CPD will involve climbing scaffolding and PPE (site boots, high vis jacket & hard hat) will be required. If you don’t have the appropriate PPE please contact events@glasgowheritage.org.uk for assistance. 

£10 per person / £5 for students

 

All sessions are recognised by the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) as being capable of contributing to the obligatory CPD requirements of Full Members (see www.ihbc.org.uk)

You might also be interested in…

Glasgow Historic Environment: A Snapshot – 2019

Ever wondered which buildings in your neighbourhood are listed, or even on Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register?

Our new interactive map shows data collated between February and April 2018 which gives a snapshot of the current state of Glasgow’s historic built environment.

Blog Post: Ghosts and Zombies

Read our latest blog post about our Ghost Signs of Glasgow project, pondering the nature of ghost signs and what they tell us about the urban landscape.

Enjoy Family Fun with our Kids Trails!

Download our Kid’s Heritage Trails!

Become a Friend of Glasgow City Heritage Trust

Glasgow City Heritage Trust is an independent charity and your support is crucial to ensure that our charitable work promoting the understanding, appreciation and conservation of Glasgow’s historic buildings for the benefit of the city’s communities and its visitors continues now, and in the future.

The easiest way to support the Trust’s work is to join our loyalty scheme. Our tiered loyalty scheme means you can choose the level that’s right for you.

Recording | CPD: Conserving Concrete

Recording: Taking Care of Your Tenement – Getting Repairs Done