Wasps is very pleased to be taking part in this year’s Doors Open Days Festival at our buildings in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness.
Wasps’ buildings across the nation are taking part, with members of the team excited to show visitors around The Briggait (Glasgow), Granton Station (Edinburgh) and Inverness Creative Academy.
Inverness Creative Academy – formally the site of Inverness Royal Academy from 1895 until 1980 – was officially reopened in 2022 as the first cultural and artistic hub for the Highlands. Restored by Wasps Studios, the building now provides upwards of 60 workspaces to the artists and makers of the region. The old Assembly Hall and Gym Hall rooms have been transformed into new events spaces, hosting exhibitions, symposiums, screenings, markets and even ceilidhs. Located in the historic Crown area, Inverness Creative Academy is a short walk from the city centre.
Book a spot for the tour at Inverness Creative Academy on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 September here.
The Briggait – formerly Glasgow’s fish market of over a century – is made up of a series of soaring market halls that date from 1873, 1899 and 1904 respectively. It is a recognisable landmark on the city’s skyline, as the halls incorporate the Merchant’s Steeple Clocktower, dating back to 1655. In the 1970s, the fish merchants relocated to the Blochairn area, leaving The Briggait empty before it fell into disrepair. Slated for demolition by Glasgow City Council, the Bridgegate Preservation Trust (now known as Glasgow Building Preservation Trust) was founded in 1982 to save the building, which proved to be successful in its mission. Wasps Studios, the UK’s largest provider of creative spaces, redeveloped The Briggait in 2009 to open a complex of artist studios and creative offices for Glasgow’s innovators. Today, the building serves as the organisation’s headquarters, and offers upwards of 150 cultural producers workspaces. In 2023, Wasps Studios began the redevelopment of the remaining market halls at The Briggait, to bring the entire building back into public use for the first time in nearly 50 years. Working alongside Clark Contracts, the charity is restoring these historic sites to provide more space for creativity, more markets, more places to meet and more things to do, for the people of Glasgow and visitors to the city.
Book a spot for the tour at The Briggait on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September here.
Granton Station is a former gas workers station, which opened formally in February 1903 as a transport link for the workers of the Granton Gasworks. Granton Station Creative Works is a £4.75m project led by Edinburgh City Council who acquired it in 2018, to restore and adapt the B-listed Granton Station. It is one of the first projects to begin as part of the Granton Waterfront Redevelopment Project. Wasps took over the lease for the station, opening our doors in Autumn 2023. The building offers 4 offices for Creative/Cultural Businesses, open plan Co-working spaces with daily hot-desking or monthly fixed-desk memberships, a professional meeting room to hire and a gallery space to hire for exhibitions and workshops. The vision for Granton Station is as a hub for Creative Industries, where creatives can come to work, and expand their network by fostering a creative community with other likeminded individuals.
Book a spot for the tour of Granton Station on Saturday 28 September here.
