Tuesday August 25th 2026
Plans to revamp Springburn Winter Gardens have been submitted to Glasgow City Council (image from plans by Collective Architecture, taken in 2018)
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Drew Sandelands
A project to save the derelict Springburn Winter Gardens has taken a step forward after plans to repair the A-listed structure were submitted.
The Springburn Winter Gardens Trust — a charity formed in 2013 — intends to bring the ruin back into use, and has received a grant of over £1m from the Scottish Government.
Glasgow City Council has now received applications for planning permission and listed building consent, which would allow repairs to get underway.
They describe the plan to create a ‘living ruin’ as a “stepping stone towards the future, more ambitious goal, for a complete restoration”.
“Springburn Winter Gardens Trust’s ambition is to bring this extraordinary building back into the life of Springburn after more than four decades of closure,” the plans state.
“The ‘living ruin’ is an important first step: safeguarding the historic structure, making it accessible and creating a flexible community space where people can gather, learn, grow, make and celebrate.
“Rather than waiting for the resources required for complete restoration, our ambition is to put the winter gardens back into use now, allowing activities and ideas to develop with the community while protecting the possibility of full restoration in the future.”
Plans to revamp Springburn Winter Gardens have been submitted to Glasgow City Council (image from plans by Collective Architecture)
Plans add the project “aims for minimum intervention to the category A listed structure, while providing maximum flexibility to create a functional space for community events”.
They show the site could be used for public events and activities, such as market stalls, educational events and exhibitions.
Temporary features, like seating or tables, would be installed and removed when necessary to “increase the flexibility of the space depending on the use required”.
One of five Victorian glasshouse structures in the city, it was built in 1900 and was in use until 1983, when it was damaged in a storm. A planned demolition was stopped in 1985 when the building was granted listed status.
The trust is chaired by Labour MSP Paul Sweeney, who previously said the “breakthrough” funding had been secured after 13 years of “sustained effort” to save the “remarkable building”. He added the trust is building up match funding.
Funding for the revamp is coming from the Scottish Government’s regeneration capital grant fund, which aims to provide financial support to “deliver large-scale improvements to deprived areas”.
A previous council report stated the project is expected to be complete by March 2027.
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