A campaign to rescue Glasgow’s Egyptian Halls.

“Egyptian Halls is Thomson’s finest commercial building and has what is arguably the most splendid facade of any mid-Victorian commercial building in Britain.”

Dr Gavin Stamp, Founder of the Alexander Thomson Society

Our Story

The Egyptian Halls working group is a new organisation which has been established with the aim of seeing the Egyptian Halls on Union Street restored and fully brought back into use.

Egyptian Halls is an A-listed building in the heart of Glasgow, designed by the prominent Victorian architect Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson. Yet, despite its importance and its advantageous location it has lain largely empty for over 40 years.

The condition of the building has deteriorated significantly in that time and it is now permanently shrouded in scaffold awaiting repair. But whilst the condition of the building has suffered, a recent independent structural assessment found it to be sound.

The current ownership group has held an interest in the buiding for over 20 years, and 100% ownership for over 10 years. Whilst a number of schemes have been produced in this time, none have so far proceeded. The current owners are currently marketing the building for sale and previously applied to demolish the building in 2011.

The working group has been established in order to take on a more proactive role in identifiying a future use for the building, and funding to support its restoration and reuse.

In 2022 the group successfully secured funding from Glasgow City Heritage Trust and the Architectural Heritage Fund to undertake a feasibility study for the building.