Eight projects receive funding boost to adapt buildings to mitigate climate change impact

A new National Lottery-funded programme is helping organisations across Scotland adapt the buildings they own to the impacts of climate change.

The fund, co-designed and managed by Creative Scotland and the Scottish Futures Trust, is providing eight organisations with a total of £347,520 to make improvements to buildings and adapt to the impacts of climate change while generating learning to inform future investment in Scotland’s cultural and creative estate.

The fund focuses on adaptations that will increase the resilience of properties facing growing risks from heavier rainfall, stronger winds, rising temperatures and changing weather patterns.

When launched earlier this year, the programme attracted 38 expressions of interest from 37 organisations spanning 19 local authority areas. Following a two-stage process, 16 organisations were invited to submit full applications, with eight projects selected for funding.

The eight projects are:

1. Community Circus Paisley, Renfrewshire – £11,200 – An automatic accessible entrance door will reduce exposure to increasingly extreme temperatures, wind and rainfall, helping keep the building comfortable, accessible and usable during changing weather conditions.
2. Dance Base, Edinburgh – £57,556 – Draught proofing, insulation and heating improvements will help Dance Base manage increasingly variable internal temperatures and keep studios comfortable and usable for dancers, artists and participants.
3. The Highland Council with Eden Court, Inverness – £69,600 – A heat transfer system will help manage overheating in the cinema projection room and cold conditions in adjacent studio space, supporting more stable temperatures and continued use.
4. Scottish Historic Buildings Trust with Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh – £79,994 – Basement works at the Glasite Meeting House will help manage moisture, damp and water ingress linked to heavier rainfall, reducing risks to the building fabric and gallery use.
5. WHALE Arts, Edinburgh – £50,500 – Rainwater harvesting will help WHALE Arts respond to heavier rainfall and periods of water scarcity, improving the resilience of a community-owned arts centre.
6. Bothy Project – Sweeney’s Bothy, Isle of Eigg – £4,506 – New drainage will help protect the access path from increasingly wet weather, frost and surface water damage, supporting safe year-round access to the remote artist residency.
7. Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre, Dundee – £24,145 – Window protection works will strengthen the listed building’s original glazing against increased storm exposure, wind and temperature fluctuations, helping maintain safe use of the venue.
8. Forgan Arts Centre, Newport-on-Tay – £50,020 – Roof and rainwater goods improvements will help the building cope with more intense and prolonged rainfall, reducing water ingress and supporting continued community arts use.

Culture secretary Màiri McAllan said, “As climate change brings more frequent extreme weather to Scotland, we are feeling the impacts of conditions such as floods, droughts, wildfires and accelerating coastal erosion. Adapting cultural buildings to these conditions is an important part of safeguarding Scotland’s heritage, economy and community wellbeing. This fund will help preserve vital spaces for creativity, culture and community – to ensure they are more resilient to our changing climate, and can thrive for generations to come.”

Marc Cairns, associate director at the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), added, “Climate change is already affecting Scotland’s cultural and creative buildings, from increased rainfall and damp to overheating and temperature fluctuations. Through this pilot, SFT has been working with Creative Scotland to help organisations take practical action now, while generating valuable learning to inform future investment in Scotland’s cultural estate. These projects demonstrate that adaptation can take many forms – from improving drainage and making gutters and downpipes bigger to reimagining approaches to heat and introducing better ventilation. Together they will help ensure cultural spaces remain open, accessible and resilient for the communities that depend on them.”

Karen Ridgewell, climate emergency & sustainability lead at Creative Scotland, said, “It’s clear that the changing climate is already impacting cultural and creative organisations and their communities. These eight pathfinder projects will respond to climate risk in their own unique way, and the lessons learnt from them will be impactful and far reaching. They highlight the increasing need for us all to adapt to the impacts of the changing climate. We’re grateful to everyone that submitted an Expression of Interest and Stage 2 application and look forward to sharing the findings of the monitoring and evaluation of the project to further develop the future of climate adaptation in the culture and creative sector.”