The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) is very pleased to announce that it has awarded new Project Viability Grants in Scotland, providing early-stage support to three different projects seeking to find and develop varied sustainable uses for historic buildings in their communities.
Following on from the announcement of a £2 million partnership funding boost from Historic Environment Scotland (HES), these grants were some of the first awards to be made through the AHF’s renewed grants and project support programme in Scotland. They were also among 10 awards to be given out in the April grants meeting, where projects across Scotland and England were awarded funding totalling £119,181.
You can find out more about the three projects in receipt of new HES-supported Project Viability Grants by reading on.
Sail Loft, Lower Voe, Shetland
Voe Community Development Association SCIO
Images: The exterior of the Sail Loft, Voe. Credit - Voe Community Development Association.
Dating back to the mid-19th/ early 20th century, the Sail Loft is part of a historic group of buildings clustered around a pier and marina in Lower Voe, Shetland. Originally built for fish curing purposes and then extended to form a sail loft, the Category B-listed building was later used as a knitwear factory and backpacker accommodation. Until the late-20th century, it formed part of the Adie family business - a significant and diverse commercial operation employing many local people over several generations. The building is currently out of use and in need of some repair.
Voe Community Development Association is now exploring the possibility of taking on ownership of the Sail Loft. It wishes to look into different options for the building’s reuse and is presently considering redeveloping it into a multi-purpose space, with potential uses including a community history centre, an exhibition space, a workshop for local artists and craft workers, a water sports centre to complement the adjacent pier and marina, and a basic café offering hot and cold drinks together with products from the local bakery, as well as the reinstatement of backpacker accommodation.
Another key priority of this project is to improve the building’s energy efficiency, making it fit for future use.
The AHF grant will fund a feasibility study and the development of a business plan, enabling Voe Community Development Association to determine the viability of the project before deciding whether to pursue the acquisition of the building.
St Marnock’s Church, Fowlis, Dundee
Fowlis Easter Hall Committee
Images: (From left to right) The exterior, door canopy, and interior of St Marnock's Church, Fowlis.
Dating from 1453, the former St Marnock’s Church is a highly significant Category A-listed medieval building that exhibits rare architectural detailing from the pre-Reformation period. Much of its exterior remains largely unaltered since construction, displaying carved gable skewputts, gothic windows and an elaborate door canopy. It is typically aligned on an East-West axis and shows many masons’ marks, an early form of piece work. Its internal decoration illustrates 15th century links between Scotland and Europe. The rood screen is thought to have been dismantled in the 1840s but the tracery doors survive, exemplifying late-medieval carved woodwork.
Last year, in response to the planned closure of St Marnock’s Church, a steering group named ‘Fowlis Forward’ was established to engage the local community around potential future uses. There was particularly strong support for a new use based around arts, culture and heritage, which would also enable public access to the building.
The group now aims to acquire the church; the AHF grant will contribute towards a valuation, a condition survey, project management, and further historical research.
The Art Department, Paisley
The Art Department Paisley Ltd.
Images: A historic photograph of MacArthurs circa 1955 (left) and The Art Department (right).
Situated in the Paisley Central Conservation Area, this three-storey, art deco retail store was originally built in 1931 for MacArthur Bros Outfitters. Constructed from Northumberland Darney sandstone, with marble and granite embellishments, the new building appeared at a time of profound economic upheaval - just after the 1929 Wall Street crash – and was ahead of other later developments in the same area. It has been out of use since 2020.
Paisley is currently undergoing a cultural regeneration, with plans to re-imagine former retail units in this deprived town as places of cultural, community and social congregation.
As part of this, The Art Department Paisley now aims to bring this former retail store in the heart of the town centre back into use for creative and community purposes. The revitalised building will provide new affordable community spaces, including exhibition galleries, creative learning and meeting space, offices and artists workshop space, an art shop offering unique goods to local consumers, an art gallery, and event space for local groups to hire. Additionally, it will deliver key services that address local and evidenced need, playing host to a year-round programme of creative learning workshops for children, older adults, LGBTQ+ people, ethnic minorities, schools and community groups, plus vulnerable adults from care settings.
The AHF grant will fund an architect-led feasibility study, business planning and associated development work to help progress the project to planning permission stage.
