Glasgow School of Art is being urged to hand control of its fire-damaged Mackintosh Building to a new independent organisation to oversee its reconstruction.
The Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society has proposed creating a dedicated legal body which would take responsibility for restoring one of Glasgow’s most important buildings.
Its plan would see a Special Purpose Vehicle established to lead the project, bringing together heritage experts, government agencies and other organisations capable of delivering the reconstruction.
The society argues the new body should take over responsibility for the Mackintosh Building once Glasgow School of Art completes an initial programme to stabilise the structure and remove the extensive scaffolding surrounding it.
The proposal is set out in a new 11-page document, Mackintosh Building: The Way Ahead, which calls for an accurate reconstruction of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s masterpiece.
The building was devastated by fire in June 2018, four years after an earlier blaze destroyed its celebrated library and damaged part of the west wing.
A restoration following the first fire was approaching completion when the second blaze swept through the building.
Glasgow School of Art revealed earlier this year that the estimated cost of faithfully reinstating the Mackintosh Building had risen to around £265 million.
The art school said it could not deliver the full reconstruction alone and that a new partnership and funding model would be required.
The Mackintosh Society believes that should now result in responsibility for the building being transferred to an independent organisation.
Director Matthew Williams said the society supported the art school’s immediate work to secure the building.
He added: “However, as an independent critical friend to the Art School we believe that following that first phase an external body should take on the building and get the project finished in the coming years.”
Under the society’s proposals, the reconstructed Mack would be accessible to the public and could combine a visitor attraction celebrating Mackintosh with spaces for arts, culture and creative activity.
The organisation also argues that the reconstruction could become a national programme for developing specialist conservation and heritage skills.
Chair Michael Dale said an independent organisation offered the best route to completing the project and called on the Scottish and UK governments to work together.
He said: “The Society has a mission to protect Mackintosh’s work and believe that an independent body is the best way to take the reconstruction project forward.”
The future of the building has also reached Westminster.
Na h-Eileanan an Iar MP Torcuil Crichton raised the Mackintosh Building during a House of Commons debate this month and urged the UK and Scottish governments to work together to secure its restoration.
He told MPs he was “agnostic about the means but devout about the delivery”, adding that restoring the Mack “simply must be done”.
Glasgow School of Art has already acknowledged that its existing model for managing the project is not sustainable alongside its core role as an art school.
It has said it remains committed to exploring opportunities to rebuild the Mackintosh Building and has begun discussions with potential partners.
Work funded through the settlement of its insurance claim is expected to begin in 2027, with the initial project designed to stabilise the surviving structure and leave open the option of a faithful reconstruction.
The Mackintosh Building was completed in two phases between 1899 and 1909 and is regarded as the defining architectural work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
The society says its restoration should now be treated as a project of national importance, arguing that the decisions taken over the next few years will determine whether the building can finally return to the Glasgow skyline.