Why do Glasgow's historic buildings keep catching fire?

For 10 years Michelle Cohen would look out from her Glasgow art studio and feel inspired.

“- Published For 10 years Michelle Cohen would look out from her Glasgow art studio and feel inspired”

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Her view was of a domed Victorian building on the city's Union Street, that hosted businesses and cafes next to the hustle and bustle of Central Station.

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Over the decade she was based there, Cohen photographed and painted the building numerous times - but after a devastating fire spread through the building last weekend the view is gone, likely forever.

Although shocking, this is a situation people in Glasgow have become familiar with.

A spate of fires and disasters has befallen the city's historic architecture over the years, raising questions about whether these are freak accidents or a symptom of wider issues.

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"Each time these collapses or fires happen, the same conversations happen and everyone agrees it's terrible and we should do something about it," says Matt Loader, co-founder of architecture firm Loader Monteith.

"Then 18 months later it happens again somewhere.

"Our Victorian city is disappearing, a piece at a time."

Demolition of the remains of the Union Street building began on Friday.

“- Published For 10 years Michelle Cohen would look out from her Glasgow art studio and feel inspired”

BBC

Niall Murphy, director of Glasgow City Heritage Trust, told BBC Radio 4's PM programme, "there is definitely a perception that Glasgow has more than its fair share of fires."

"They're very high profile fires in main streets," he added, "and that has an impact on the psyche on the city."

The Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed School of Art is the most famous casualty, having caught fire twice, in 2014 and 2018.

The second of those blazes also wiped out the O2 ABC venue - a building which had existed in various guises since 1875.

B-listed tenement blocks at the Albert Cross in Pollokshields on the south side of the city caught fire in 2019 and 2020, while the India Buildings on Bridge Street on the south bank of the River Clyde had to be demolished in 2024 after general decay resulted in the roof collapsing.

Another listed building on Sauchiehall Street in the city centre - which housed popular nightclub Victoria's - was destroyed in 2018, following a fire blamed on an electrical fault.

In 2004 the Shack night club - based in another building dating back to the 19th Century - burned to the ground.

For Cohen, the latest loss was painful.

She says she's taken photographs of the dome on top of the Union Corner building in every season, and every weather.

"I grew up in Canada and the oldest buildings would maybe be 100 years old, " she tells BBC Scotland News.

"Coming to Glasgow and looking out at the architecture, the stonework, it was incredible.

We had nothing like that at home.

"Glasgow has this history in a relatively small area that I find fascinating.

It's going to change a lot of people's ideas of the area.

The whole G1 [postcode] area had this vibe - it's still my favourite place and I feel that's irreplaceable.

It feels like these historic buildings are just not being looked after.

"These reasons might not dampen vivid conspiracy theories being shared when a disaster occurs, and which are \"more popular during times of crisis, when people feel anxious,\" according to Dr Yvonne Skipper, a lecturer in psychology at the University of Glasgow.

"They help us make sense of chaos. It might not be a good explanation, but it offers something, and gives you something to be certain about.

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"They're very clear and reduce an issue to a simple thing - that people are doing things rather than chaotic chance."

Yards away from the Union Street fire site the A-listed Egyptian Halls have been covered by scaffolding for years.

In 2025 Glasgow City Council launched a compulsory purchase order (CPO) process to take over the building from the current owners, and in February property firm Ediston was approved to advance plans to bring the site back into use.

Loader would like such methods to be used more frequently.

"There has to be a big stick and a big carrot here," he argues.

"If these buildings aren't fully in use, then why not? You should encourage people to either develop them, or, if they're not in a financial situation then sell or give them to people who can.

Maybe that means an enormous empty buildings tax."