Trades House

The stunningly beautiful Trades House in Glasgow’s Merchant City was first completed in 1794 and now operates as a registered charity helping support the people of Glasgow. They raise funds by holding events such as weddings, meetings, conferences and other larger celebrations throughout the multiple halls that are part of the buildings internal layout.

As with so many historic buildings in Glasgow, when it came time to upgrade their electrical wiring and lighting system, they turned to HF and our electricians for our expertise in dealing with historic building electrical work.

We were tasked with upgrading electrical wiring and lighting in the Grand Hall, Saloon, Stairwell and Entrance Hall while completing complete general electrical work throughout the building.

The Grand Hall is the jewel in the crown of Trades Hall. Our electrical work included the illumination of the frieze above picture rails around the walls of the whole perimeter of the hall using LED tape lighting that was discreetly hidden yet provided a powerful lighting statement.
In the central cupola dome, we completed led lighting and illumination for the 14 crests that proudly sit around the inner perimeter of the cupola dome using micro LED pin spots fixed to a barrel strap that was secured to the existing chandelier.

In the Saloon, we installed an outreach projector spot light to back light over the 6 Coat of Arms. This created a stunning visual feature for the room.

In the stairwell, we installed LED lighting around the perimeter of the Atrium and illuminated the ‘Tree Plaque’ feature above the entrance doors to the Grand Hall.  To complete the stairwell upgrade work, we designed, manufactured and installed 2 bespoke 400mm brass banded globe lights with finials to the bannisters at mid level.

In the Entrance Hall, we installed LED tape up lighting in the high level trough and replaced the 3 central lights with Georgian bell jar lanterns that better kept with the heritage of the buildings architecture.

All of the lighting systems in the Grand Hall and Saloon were connected through a multi channel programmable dimming system that allowed the lighting to be controlled both automatically and manually.

Project Challenges: As with any electrical work in a historic listed building, care and precision were required in equal measure.  With decades of experience dealing with electrical installations in historic buildings, we are very experienced in this type of electrical work and the project was completed without any issues.  The main challenge we found in this project was coming up with the best solution to lighting problems.  We are particularly proud of the led lighting work we completed for the Cupola Dome in the Grand Hall.  Our electricians were able to think outside of the box to come up with a lighting solution that over delivered on our clients expectations yet was well hidden and did not detract from the aesthetic of the beautiful original features of the buildings interior.

NB: Following the successful electrical installation work completed on this project, we returned a year later to complete the full rewiring, lighting design and electrical installation of The Robert Adam Room in the building.

A Company Well Connected

We are NICEIC and Select Approved Electrical Contractors providing Manned electrical 24 hour Call-out Service nationwide and are the first choice for some of the country’s leading businesses when it comes to electrical services in buildings old and new.

From Electrical Installations to Planned Maintenance Contracts, quality service and peace of mind are the principles on which the Fulton family founded the company as electrical contractors all those years ago, and it’s just as important today.