Glasgow man upcycles old subway seat into his living room sofa

The old subway seats were one of the most recognisable sights in Glasgow, forming the backdrop to decades of commutes, shopping trips and nights out for generations of Scots.

But for one Glasgow man, this iconic sight is now his living room sofa.

Matt McCallum, 30, has upcycled one of the subway seats after finding it on Facebook Marketplace for £150.

Matt McCallum shows off his new sofa. | Matt McCallum

The architect knew as soon as he saw the advert that he had to have a piece of his city’s history for himself.

Speaking to The Scotsman, he said: “The person who was selling the seat had saved it from the scrap and was wanting to raise their own funds to buy themselves a whole carriage.

“The fabric is just so iconic and quite chic and trendy with a 70s look.

The upcycled Glasgow subway seat sofa. | Matt McCallum

“I always like getting second hand pieces on Marketplace and charity shops, so when I saw this I knew it was an opportunity and would find out what to do with it later.”

After finding a second-hand Ikea sofa from a couple in Glasgow for £80 a few weeks later, he immediately knew what he was going to do with his old subway seat.

Mr McCallum said: “I’m from Glasgow, but I’ve lived in different cities before like Vienna and London which have their own subway systems.

“But there’s something unique and cute about the Glasgow subway - it is simple and one of the oldest in the world.

“I have 100 per cent probably sat on this seat in the past.

“This makes you realise how often you used these seats.”

Upcycling the old subway seat has been no small task however, and one of the biggest jobs of the project has been cleaning decades of dirt off the seat.

A photograph of the old Glasgow subway carriages from 1993. | Getty Images

The Glasgow subway opened in 1896 and was renovated with the well-known orange carriages in the 1970s.

Even though the system was electrified in the 1930s, Mr McCallum believes he has found traces of coal and soot in his chair that have been blasted into the carriage from the Victorian-era underground tunnels.

He said: “I have been constantly cleaning it and the more work I did, the more I found.

The renovation works. | Matt McCallum

“It was clearly used for a long time and I’ve found traces of coal down the back and the bottom of the seat where it would have been fixed into the subway carriage.

“The fabric itself was velcroed on so you are able to take that off and put it in the washing machine.

“But I kept seeing dust clouds of soot kicking up, so that has obviously got into all the nooks and crannies.”

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His new sofa is already getting a lot of people talking, and Mr McCallum says it is nice to see his new project being appreciated.

He said: “It is nice to have this piece of history in our flat.

“This seat would have been used for decades and been the backdrop to a lot of people’s lives.

“Without realising it, people have become quite sentimental about them”