Sail Loft - Fairley St.
GalGael moved to our current workshop in December ‘04 after years of ‘making do’ with cold, dark and wet spaces. So we were bowled over by the facilities that Fairley Street offered us. And thanks to the phenomenal support of the public agencies, we were in a position to purchase and upgrade the building early in 2005. The result is an inspirational working environment placed right at the heart of a community that has experienced generations of unemployment. Walking through the doors, you’ll find a warm welcome and, if you want it, a place of work within a supportive community.
On moving in, we were even more taken aback when we realised that the central part of the building was over 100 years old, with timber framing not unlike the structures we had built in previous projects. Although the building is noted on ordnance survey maps from the turn of the century as being an iron foundry, it’s of the type known as a Sail Loft and we believe, the last of its kind in Glasgow; telling of a time when ship building on the Clyde was in its heyday. Through a happy twist of fate we now build sail boats here.
Unfortunately, the older parts of the building need to be restored and renovated to be of proper use and upstairs is currently out of bounds because there is no fire escape.
Restoration of the upper and ground floor areas will allow GalGael to extend and improve current facilities and expand on the range of activities already taking place in the building, especially the ‘light crafts’ such as leather work, basket-making, spinning and weaving. Planned building improvements include full disabled access to both floors, toilet facilities, proper fire escape and improved kitchen and dining area.
Our current workshop space is mainly, though by no means exclusively, used by men and has more of a ‘heavy industry’ feel to it; with boat building, metal forges, and saw mills. We envisage that upstairs will provide a space which is more conducive to activities our women participants wish to engage in, as well as creating a more family-friendly space than the workshop downstairs.
So, we plan to create a beautiful craft and events space on the upper floor by stripping out all the modern internal walls to make visible the ‘hammer beams’ that run the full length of the building. They’re even visible from the street but need restoration to reveal them fully.
