Artists spark new lease of life for Glasgow whisky warehouse

For more than half a century it has been a fixture on Glasgow’s skyline. The striking red brick building on the banks of the Forth and Clyde Canal started life in 1957 as a whisky bond before becoming a mushroom factory.

Now, a decade after being left to fall into decline, the seven-storey warehouse at Speirs Locks, just off the M8, has undergone a dramatic transformation into what is claimed to be Britain’s biggest single creative industries hub.

In recent weeks, dozens of artists have moved into the building, which has been taken over by Glasgow Sculpture Studios, after undergoing a £3 million transformation over the last year.

Yesterday saw the formal unveiling of the latest addition to the growing culture quarter in the area, which is hoped to become one of the most important hubs for the creative industries in the country.

The National Theatre of Scotland, Scottish Opera and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the city’s music and drama school, already have bases by the canal banks, while the area is also home to The Glue Factory arts complex.

For Glasgow Sculpture Studios, which has taken up three of the seven floors in The Whisky Bond, the move from its former cramped – and bitterly cold, by all accounts – premises at Kelvinhaugh Street, which it was renting on a temporary basis, could not have come quickly enough.

The new venue has allowed it to increase studio space for sculptors by more than half, lease out other space to artists, designers, architects and post-graduate students, and create gallery spaces for special events.

Three floors of the building are still to be developed, offering the potential for The Whisky Bond to eventually house more than 500 artists. Nathan Coley, Jacqueline Donnachie, Alex Frost and David Shrigley are among the initial wave of artists to move in.

David Watt, director of Glasgow Sculpture Studios, said: “We had been looking for somewhere suitable pretty much since 2006 until the chance to take on The Whisky Bond came up.

“The premises we were in before during our previous 23 years were not suitable at all, but this has really allowed us to expand what we do as well as allow the artists to work in proper conditions.

“Fortunately, we’ve not had to do too much to the building, and the layout is still much as it was when it was a mushroom factory.

“The actual construction work has only taken around ten months and the main work involved putting in a new central stairwell and lift shaft, as well as heating and lighting.

“We have permanent studio space for 66 artists and space we can hire out for another 60, but there will be hundreds more people working here when the whole building is completely finished early next year.

“We also have quite a bit of space outside the building which we are hoping to develop with the local community, including a sculpture garden, and help with the regeneration of the canal.”

The advent of The Whisky Bond is part of the Glasgow Canal Regeneration Project, a long-term initiative pursued by British Waterways Scotland, Glasgow City Council and development outfit Isis.

The growing cultural hub at Speirs Locks is seen as one of the major anchors of the regeneration project, which has also seen the recent transformation of Maryhill Burgh Halls, 50 multi-coloured “metal petals” installed in the M8 underpass, and the staging of events like the Big Man Festival.

Gary Watt, development manager with Isis, told The Scotsman: “Although Scottish Opera has had a base in the area for more than a decade, all of the other cultural developments have been in the last four years or so and there has already been a real transformation in the area.

“We are gradually building up a leading centre for the creative industries and culture here. With the addition of The Whisky Bond and the mix of artists who will be based there, we feel it will be one of the most important in the whole country.”