Castlemilk Stables consists of a quadrangle grouping of circa 1790 buildings located in Castlemilk, a large housing estate dominated by social housing on the southern periphery of Glasgow. The Category B Listed buildings represent a fine and rare example of a grand late Georgian stable block and are one of the few remnants of the old Castlemilk House and estate.

The whole agricultural estate was originally bought by Glasgow City Council in the 1940s in what was then amongst the biggest of post-war public procurement exercises. The Council aspired to turn the area into a neighborhood of high quality social housing along the lines of the Garden City movement popular at the time. However, by the 1970's Castlemilk was in serious decline due to the decline in employment in traditional industries and the estate's isolated position. In response there gradually developed a growing local demand for resident control and during the 1980s through government and local authority intervention Housing Co-operatives and Housing Associations were established. Since then for the last 3 decades these organisations have flourished and expanded. The local management boards and staff of the housing organisations have participated in years of high quality capacity building education resulting in best practice on every level and an appetite to expand and improve the estate beyond the realm of housing alone.

As the fortunes of the estate changed so did The Stables. For many years it was used as a plant nursery by the City Council. When it was finally closed in the late 1980s it was boarded up, then subsumed in vegetation and in 1994 was set on fire.

The historic and social importance of the derelict Stables had long been recognised not least by residents based in the local library who had established a local history group examining the past of Castlemilk. As the last of the old Castlemilk estate buildings, The Stables became the subject of a range of studies which sought to identify funding and appropriate reuse. Some ideas were promising but proved too expensive, for example, they involved capital costs of more than £5 million and annual deficits of some £160,000.

The engine of community concern finally drove the project forward. Despite the socio-economic problems that are still faced by the area, Castlemilk residents have a strong sense of place, heritage and civic pride. Dispirited by their then housing conditions, in 1984 a group of residents formed Castlemilk East Housing Co-operative and gradually built up its capacity over the years to convert to charitable status becoming Cassiltoun Housing Association in 2004. The Association realised that the stables had galvanised the community and saw the potential to turn the derelict buildings into community-owned assets, so they mounted a 10 year campaign to bring them back into sustainable use. The Association was well equipped to deal with house building and repair, but recognised they needed a new approach bringing in different expertise to deal with the Stables.

In 2004 Cassiltoun entered into a partnership with the Glasgow Building Preservation Trust (GBPT) to purchase the building from the Council, fundraise and restore The Stables and then transfer ownership of the buildings to the community through the formation of a new charity Cassiltoun Trust -a subsidiary of the Housing Association. Glasgow Building Preservation Trust (GBPT) is a well established Glasgow based organisation with a successful track record, that finds and delivers sustainable solutions to “market-failure” historic buildings, many of which have originally been obsolete council assets. Glasgow City Council was fully behind the partnership because they were convinced of the economic case for regenerating the historic building i.e. driving up the land value and leading to a better community mix through making the area attractive to investors. It was also a solution which didn't entail any consequent long-term revenue commitment from the tax payer.

In 2005, GBPT acquired The Stables from the Council for a nominal £1 as they were valued as market-failure buildings in 'exclusion zones' of investment. In total over £4.2 million of funding was secured to enable the construction and restoration project to succeed. This funding came from 23 different public and private sources including Glasgow City Council, Historic Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund. After the restoration project was completed in 2007, the buildings were valued at a depressed price of £280,000 due to the burdens of community use (i.e. the building was to be run for community enhancement and benefit) and the funding grant conditions in terms of public access and maintenance burdens. On completion, the buildings were handed over to the Cassiltoun Trust which now owns and manages them on behalf of the community.

The Stables are now home to Cassiltoun Housing Association, a preschool nursery, a “Fab Pad” project to help local people sustain their tenancies and meet new people. Langside College, Glasgow Library Department and other agencies also use the facilities to provide access to training and learning facilities and programmes.

The Stables are used as a focal point for community activities and events such as family days, Doors Open Days, Community Achievement Award presentations, book launches, and fun days. A stables engagement group has been formed that is made up of local groups, schools and agencies all working to improve the quality of opportunities for local people. Such forums have the added benefit of developing and sustaining leadership with local volunteer leaders gaining skills in corporate governance by serving on various management committees.

The rental income generated is re-invested to maintain the building, its interpretation, and to develop the community benefits created by those based in the building. One notable innovation in this project is the use of a ground source heat pump to provide the heating and hot water for the new building with running costs kept low due to use of this renewable energy.

This remarkable project has won a number of local and national awards including the Civic Trust Award (2008); Anthony Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award, GIA Supreme Medal and Conservation Award (2007); GIA Award for 'Best Reuse of a Listed Building' (2007) and Georgian Group Architectural Award for 'Reuse of a Georgian Building' (2007).

• Due to the specialist nature of the development, the appointment of Glasgow Building Preservation Trust as ethical not for profit building developer was invaluable. GBPT has a track record in undertaking such specialist projects and brings together the skills of assembling funding packages for restoration projects and conservation in house expertise required for such projects.
• Cassiltoun Housing Association acted as an intelligent client for GBPT. The complex financial package involving multiple funders, the requirements for properly documented and auditable reporting and the need to achieve consensus meant that the strong governance arrangements and professionalism that the Association had built up over the years were vital to the project's success.
• Seed funding of some £110,000 from Glasgow City Council and other regeneration agencies in the run up to the commencement of the restoration and construction work was critical to ensure the initial momentum behind the project was sustained.
• Respect and good working relationships with partner organisations was essential to the success of this project.