CHARLES Rennie Mackintosh’s original Glasgow School of Art (GSA) should not be rebuilt and an iconic contemporary building should replace it, one of Scotland’s leading architects will tell a parliamentary inquiry.

Later this month, Professor Alan Dunlop is to make the case to MSPs for an innovative new design which would continue to function as a working art school in the city centre.

He will warn Holyrood’s Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee, which is holding an inquiry into the future of the GSA, that the desire for an exact rebuild may be a knee jerk reaction to the blaze which destroyed the world famous Glasgow building in June. The blaze broke out while the building was being restored after an earlier fire in 2014. Dunlop suggested a decision on future plans should only be made once the shock of the devastating event has eased.

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Ahead of the evidence session, he said Mackintosh’s ideas about architecture lead him to believe he would not want his masterpiece recreated.

“Macintosh was an innovator. He argued against replication. He pioneered a new form of architecture in Scotland and I believe were he alive today he would not want a replica rebuild,” said Dunlop, a former GSA student.

“I believe an international competition should be held to design a new building. A shortlist should be drawn up with designs submitted from six of the best architects around the world. It would be fantastic if that could include a young talented Scottish architect. This would be good for Glasgow, good for Scotland, good for Scottish architecture, and better than simply replicating a design from the past.”

He added: “Such was the feeling of anger and hurt provoked by a second fire in four years, there was a knee jerk reaction that it had to be rebuilt brick by brick and replicated exactly as it was.

“Instead the creation of a new art school, to meet the needs of a school of art in the 21st century should be considered and be part of a national conversation and debate. “

Dunlop is a fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland and is currently visiting professor at Robert Gordon University. His designs include the internationally recognised Radisson SAS hotel and Hazelwood School, both in Glasgow.

He spoke out days after Muriel Gray, the broadcaster and writer who is chair of the board of the GSA, revealed the GSA board had resolved to rebuild the structure from Mackintosh’s original designs and dismissed any notion a contemporary, newly-designed building. Gray said it could be rebuilt within four to seven years. It has been estimated the rebuilding project could cost around £100 million,

But Dunlop, who said a new building could cost around £80m challenged her approach, adding: “I believe we should take the opportunity to think about the regeneration of the whole city block, to include a reinvigorated ABC O2 and the possibility of a Mackintosh Gallery similar to the Miro Gallery in Barcelona, which would also include the work of Margaret Macdonald and all of Mackintosh’s remaining interiors now held in storage by Glasgow Life.

A GSA spokesman said: “The GSA consulted extensively about the future of the Mackintosh Building following the fire in 2014 and had concluded it had to stick by Mackintosh’s design and that determination has not changed. As far as we are concerned that decision made in 2014 has just been interrupted following the fire in June. The Mackintosh Building was commissioned and designed as an art school and GSA is fully committed to it returning as a working art school.”