ABC owners hit back at Glasgow art school amid redevelopment row

The owners of the O2 ABC have hit back at Glasgow School of Art in a row over plans to redevelop the Sauchiehall Street site, saying it is “standing in the way of progress” and claiming they ignored a warning ahead of the second fire at the Mackintosh building.

Planners at Glasgow City Council are recommending that Vita Group’s bid to replace the music venue with a public food hall and student flats be approved on Tuesday, but Historic Environment Scotland and the art school (GSoA) are among 130 objectors.

They have claimed the project would have a “significant adverse impact” on views from the fire-damaged Mackintosh building — a position that has been supported by the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society.

Now James Patterson, director of property investment firm Urban Pulse, speaking on behalf of the ABC owners OBARCS, has said the art school is attempting to “block a viable, respectful redevelopment plan”.

He said: “In 2016, we warned the GSoA that another fire would be catastrophic for the entire block. That warning was ignored — and the result was total devastation of the entire city block including the much-loved ABC.

Vita Group is planning to redevelop the old O2 ABC site on Sauchiehall Street. There would be student beds and a publicly-accessible foodhall and courtyard. LDRS

“Now, the very organisation whose building caused that destruction is standing in the way of progress.”

The owners point out there are no concrete plans or a timeline for the refurbishment of the Mackintosh building. Mr Patterson described it as a “burnt shell” held together scaffolding and steel”.

He said the O2 ABC plan would “bring safety, life and architectural integrity back to this part of Glasgow”. “We are not just rebuilding. We are protecting the future — including GSoA’s own. The current proposal enables a realistic, safe, and potentially glorious return for the Mackintosh.

“Their refusal to engage constructively with us since the fire is a dereliction of basic neighbourly duty. GSoA can’t have it both ways. They’ve contributed nothing but delay, while the community around them has paid the price. It’s time to move forward.”

A spokesman for the GSoA said any concerns should have been raised with Glasgow City Council, when planning permission and building warrants were sought for the initial Mackintosh restoration, as well as with the contractor, Keir Construction (Scotland) Ltd, which was responsible for the building at the time of the 2018 fire.

“We have been clear that we recognise the redevelopment of the site is complex but that a solution can be found that delivers financial viability without detriment to the A-listed Mackintosh building,” he added.

The art school “tried to work with Vita to find a solution”, the spokesman said, and to suggest it had refused to engage constructively was “factually incorrect and disingenuous”.

He said GSoA has been “clear on our commitment to the rebuilding of the Mackintosh building” and the planners’ recommendation to approve the proposal for the ABC site puts that “at significant risk”.

“The former Jumping Jaks/ABC site proposals fundamentally compromise the Mackintosh building’s heritage significance as a purpose-designed art school and with it, the building’s future use as a working art school with the economic, social, cultural and wider regeneration benefits this will bring to the city.”

Stuart Robertson, director of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Our view is that this is an overdevelopment of the site, which will result in the loss of important views up to the south façade of the Mackintosh building.”

He said daylight was an essential part of the original decision, and this would reduce it into the studios and museum corridor and “drastically affect views” out from the Hen Run and west stairwell.

“The juxtaposition with the art school is jarring,” he added. “Its mass, scale, box design and materials will undermine the setting of the art school within the conservation area.

“This will have a detrimental effect on the ‘Mack’ and, if approved, will set a dangerous precedent for our built heritage. GCC is missing a trick here.

“They have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create something truly special on this site, but they cannot see the wood from the trees.

“We have no objections to the development of the site if done sympathetically and welcome the attempts by GCC to regenerate Sauchiehall Street.”

He wants to see a new design which has “empathy with an A-listed building of such world importance”.

Planners at Glasgow City Council agree the proposal would have a “negative impact on the historic environment”, but believe the current “derelict” site is having a “negative impact… on the viability and vitality of the city centre as a whole”.

The ABC venue was damaged by the fire at the Mackintosh building in 2018 and, along with the former Jumpin’ Jaks nightclub, has been vacant since.

The council issued a dangerous buildings notice in July last year due to an “immediate threat,” and parts of the ABC, including its façade, have been knocked down.

Vita Group wants to deliver its ‘House of Social’ project, which includes 356 student beds as well as a publicly accessible food hall that would become an events space at night and a courtyard.

Glasgow’s chamber of commerce has backed it, saying the project would “transform this blighted space into a dynamic and attractive environment.”