Argyle Street, Glasgow

This project involved the refurbishment of an existing building on Argyle Street in Glasgow’s central shopping area. The existing building was constructed in the 1950s, with a three storey superstructure over a single storey basement.

The key structural works required analysis of the existing structural frame and foundations to ensure suitability of proposed new stair and lift cores, and escalator voids to service the primary retail space. Taylor & Boyd retained the original structure and/or carried out strengthening works to minimize the extent of new structure. Openings were cored through the basement raft slab to enable the formation of new lift pits, with new columns to stair cores supported directly on the existing slab. Stone heads were retained along the primary elevation with the introduction of remedial background steelwork, creating an illusion that the stone heads were floating above new double-height curtain walling panels.

A range of surveys and tests were carried out on the building prior to works commencing. Most notably, the surveys included structural visual inspections of the existing frame and GPR surveys on the basement slab. These surveys informed the analysis process and mitigated the required exploratory works on site. Static load tests were also carried out on the existing pre-cast planks to ensure they were capable of supporting the proposed increased imposed loadings, and pull-out tests were performed on the existing perimeter columns to aid the development of a replacement cladding system.

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