The Burrell – adopting a fabric first approach

The Burrell – adopting a fabric first approach by Graeme DeBrincat. Graeme is an Associate at Arup in Glasgow, specialising in façade design and delivered the Burrell Collection recently. He will talk about how they managed to return more than 16 tonnes of existing glass to remanufacture into new glass, a first for a public building.

Tuesday 20 June at 6.00pm – Mackintosh Queen’s Cross – Tickets Free at Eventbrite

The Burrell Collection comprises a vast array of precious art from around the world. First opened to the public in 1983, the museum in Pollok Country Park, Glasgow, is one of Scotland’s few Category-A listed post-war buildings. Unfortunately, a steady deterioration of the building fabric over recent years and declining visitor numbers meant that essential intervention would be required to bring it up to contemporary museum standards and guarantee its future.

When tasked with refurbishing this iconic structure, Arup adopted a fabric first approach centred on reusing and recycling the original materials from the museum’s façade. To do this, a new network was established across the glass industry, spearheaded by Arup, from manufacturers to research institutions and recycling facilities. Over 80 tonnes of usable material were recovered, and all the glass was recycled. They returned 16 tonnes directly to architectural glass production- a rare achievement for this kind of project whilst the rest was used in other construction products.

The end result has improved the building’s energy performance, as well as delivering significant carbon savings.