A new £3 million home for some of Scotland's leading artists has officially opened its doors in Glasgow.

The Whisky Bond at Speirs Locks has undergone a multimillion-pound conversion from a derelict structure with no windows, surrounded by bleak overgrown wasteland, into the new home for more than 60 artists and the first permanent base for Glasgow Sculpture Studios (GSS).

The premises, built in 1957 and formerly owned by British Waterways, had been empty for more than 10 years, and were last used as a mushroom factory before falling into disuse.

Now, as the largest cultural workshop in Scotland, the seven-storey, 100,000sq ft red brick building sitting next to the Forth and Clyde Canal features a gallery, 66 artists studios, wood and metal workshops, ceramics kiln, meeting rooms, a plaster room and spaces for small companies.

Some of Scotland's leading contemporary artists, including Turner Prize-nominated Nathan Coley, David Shrigley, Alex Frost and Claire Barclay, are now based at the Whisky Bond.

David Watt, director of GSS, said: "This is the best – I have not seen another facility like this in Europe for artists and sculptors.

"We finally have a space that suits the quality of the artists who work here."