WORK to reinstate fire-damaged flats at Lancefield Quay, Glasgow, starts next week and is expected to take nearly two years.

Glasgow-based multi-disciplinary practice Nixon has been appointed to provide quantity surveying, architectural and civil and structural engineering services for the project.

The landmark riverside apartments were badly damaged when a blaze broke out at the end of last year, affecting more than 200 residents. Occupants of 24 of the 92 apartments remain displaced.

Originally a quayside transit store built in 1947, the building was converted in the late eighties as part of an urban renewal plan for the city.

The first phase of repair work starts with partial demolition on Monday (2 March). Reinstatement will begin in the summer, with estimated completion  expected towards the end of 2021.

Nixon director Dominic MacConnell said: “We understand this is a sensitive and anxious time for the residents. Our priority is to begin the first phase of works and to ensure we work together with residents and contractors and all those affected by the fire. The building is loved by its residents and we look forward to returning it to them and to the city.”

Ken Robertson, a director of Lancefield Quay Riverside Limited, the self-factoring company which manages the building, said: “Our priority is first and foremost to restore our landmark building for our residents. We have appointed Glasgow-based multidisciplinary company Nixon to lead the engineering, architectural and project management works. We look forward to working closely with them to complete the project and to see our residents returned to their homes.”