A STRUCTURAL problem with some of the glass panels in the new £50 million Glasgow School of Art building has left several splintered, cracked or broken.
The geometric matt glass panels covering the exterior are one of the key architectural features of the Reid Building, which was designed by Steven Holl architects of New York and JM Architects of Glasgow.
However, a fault in several of the greenish-tinged panels, which provide the building with its "skin" of glass, led to them breaking after they were fixed in place.
Contractors who have been carrying out the work will now replace them before the new school building, which is home to design students, officially opens. The school said the problem would not add to the project's cost or affect the building's official opening date.
The glass panels were specifically created for the building, which is currently open to students but remains under construction until its official opening on April 9.
Some of the glass panels look to have been almost completely shattered, while others have more limited damage.
A spokeswoman for the Glasgow School of Art said: "There were structural problems with some of the panels and they will be taken off and replaced. It is a painstaking process and will take place as the streetscape is completed.
"The faults in the glass led to them breaking and we are getting new panels to replace them - it does not alter the cost or the opening date."
The Reid Building replaces the Foulis Building and Newbery Tower, which were demolished after being judged no longer "fit for purpose", and is phase one of the campus developments at Glasgow School of Art.
It houses offices and design studios, workshops, media labs, a lecture room, exhibition spaces and student areas.
It encompasses the student union building, which has been retained but upgraded, as well as a refectory, an "infinity" pool and a garden terrace.
The building is made of concrete and has five storeys above ground and two basement levels. Its key internal design feature are three large "driven voids of light", internal voids which run from the roof to the basement and are designed to filter natural light through the building.
It was named after Professor Seona Reid, former director of the art school, and stands on Renfrew Street in Garnethill.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article