Architectural practice Threesixty Architecture and digital services provider Incremental Group have been confirmed as the first occupiers for The Garment Factory, a unique and contemporary office development in Glasgow’s city centre currently undergoing an extensive renovation project.
Threesixty Architecture, which has studios across Scotland, is taking the entire top floor of The Garment Factory, comprising 8,374 sq ft of space, on a five year lease. The firm will relocate from its current premises on St Vincent Street in Glasgow upon completion of the refurbishment project.
Alan Anthony, managing director at Threesixty Architecture, commented: “After years of continued growth we are excited to confirm we are moving our Glasgow studio to The Garment Factory, a unique building in a great location in Glasgow’s thriving Merchant City area.
“We have achieved considerable business success over the past few years which has led to the need to expand our operations. We therefore required a larger premises to accommodate this growth and also allow us the flexibility for future expansion.
“The upgraded building, alongside our ambitious fit-out plans, will offer an outstanding and stimulating setting for our staff in which to work.”
Incremental Group, which provides digital transformation services to both the public and private sector, has also acquired space in the building. The consultancy will occupy the whole of the fifth floor, extending to 8,353 sq ft, following completion of the works. Incremental is moving from its current base in the Tontine Building at Trongate due to significant growth this year.
The Garment Factory, a B listed building, is located at the corner of Ingram Street and Montrose Street in the Merchant City area and will provide 47,382 sq ft of office and leisure space over six floors when the works complete.
The refurbishment project, undertaken by a team which includes lead contractor ISG, project manager PMP and architect Morgan McDonnell Architecture Ltd, involves combining the restoration of the original features, including exposed ceilings, steel and brickwork, wooden flooring and ornate staircases, with the introduction of contemporary finishes throughout to provide a 21st century workplace.
An impressive over-sized entrance lobby with on-site café and breakout space is being created on Montrose Street to serve the office floors above. Two new retail/restaurant units on Montrose Street and Ingram Street have been created and offer quirky features including covered outdoor dining areas and a triple level spiral staircase attracting good interest from leisure operators and boutique breweries.
The development is being undertaken by Castleforge Partners (formerly Mercer Real Estate).The building will also benefit from a high specification with features including a new contemporary double height entrance, event space and games room, new high speed lifts, plus a dedicated cycle lift, basement cycle storage and shower facilities with LED lighting throughout.
Rachael Pittaway from Castleforge Partners said: “It is great news that we’ve secured our first occupiers for The Garment Factory. It really is a beautiful building with huge floor to ceiling heights that provide a light and spacious feel throughout.
“Our aim is to create a flagship office and leisure development in Merchant City and to provide a fantastic working environment for creatives and corporates alike. It is rare to find large, efficient floor-plates in a building with such character and quality specification in Glasgow. It really is testament to this that successful organisations such as ThreeSixty and Incremental have decided to relocate to The Garment Factory.
“We have invested significantly in the upgrade project and are confident the high quality space, coupled with our unique features, will appeal to a wide variety of occupiers including start-up companies and those from the technology and creative industries. We want to restore the building’s original industrial aesthetic and emphasise the warehouse/factory origins by making features of the original cast iron columns and leaving services exposed to allow the original fabric of the building to shine.
“Our letting agents Ryden are currently in detailed discussions with more potential occupiers and we’ve been encouraged by the positive nature of these negotiations.”
Tim Jacobsen from Ryden, letting agent for The Garment Factory, added: “These lettings are significant pre-commitments which are rare in the current Glasgow market and therefore epitomise the appeal of the building and the area. Merchant City is enjoying a rise in popularity, particularly for occupiers operating in the creative industry. The Garment Factory is a unique product for Glasgow and despite the refurbishment works being a couple of months off completion, we are attracting further early interest and we are in fact in talks with more occupiers regarding other floors in the building.”
Ryden represented the developer Castleforge Partners in the transactions whilst Phil Reid Associates acted for Threesixty Architecture and Montague Evans for Incremental Group.
