The Garment Factory office development in Glasgow city centre has been completed, with its first tenants due to move in early next year. A category ‘B’ listed building at the corner of Ingram Street and Montrose Street in the Merchant City Central, it is one of Glasgow’s most notable buildings. The refit provides 47,382 sq ft of retail and design-focused office space over seven floors.
The £6 million refurbishment project involved combining the restoration of the original features, including exposed ceilings, steel and brickwork, wooden flooring and ornate staircases, with the introduction of contemporary finishes throughout to provide a 21st century workplace.
An impressive over-sized entrance lobby/reception with two new high-speed lifts, on-site café and breakout space has been created on Montrose Street to serve the office floors above.
Two new retail/restaurant units on Montrose Street and Ingram Street have been formed and offer quirky features including covered outdoor dining areas and a triple level spiral staircase, which is attracting interest from leisure operators and boutique breweries. The basement area has shower and changing facilities as well as lockers and a cycle storage area, event space, games room and communal kitchen.
Rachael Pittaway from Castleforge Partners said: “It’s great news that we can announce we’ve achieved practical completion at the Garment Factory; it really is a beautiful building in a great location and we’re very proud of the finished result. We wanted to restore the building’s original industrial aesthetic and emphasise the warehouse/factory origins by making features of the cast iron columns and leaving services exposed to allow the original fabric of the building to shine.
“Our aim was to create a flagship office and leisure development in Merchant City and to provide a fantastic working environment for creatives and corporates alike. We have invested significantly in the upgrade project and are confident the large, efficient floor-plates, which are rare to find in a building with such character and quality specification in Glasgow, will appeal to a wide variety of occupiers.”
Architectural practice Threesixty Architecture and digital services provider Incremental Group were confirmed as the first occupiers for The Garment Factory earlier this year.
Guy Morgan from Morgan McDonnell Architecture Ltd added: “It has been a privilege to work on the revitalisation of this Victorian mercantile gem. We have been able to liberate the original layout and character of the building which had been hidden under years of unsympathetic alterations and subdivisions. We are very proud of the 21st century office and retail environment we have managed to create within.”
Originally built in 1898 as the garment factory of J&W Campbell, the building is the original design of Glasgow architect James Thomson. Previously owned by Glasgow City Council, it was empty until it was purchased by Castleforge Partners in 2016.
