THE world-famous former St Peter’s Seminary in Cardross will open to the public for one weekend as part of the programme for Doors Open Day 2017.

Free walking tours of the abandoned building will take place on September 23 and 24 as part of the Scotland-wide festival.

It’ll be the public’s first chance to officially see round Scotland’s most iconic Modernist building since the hugely successful Hinterland initiative, which attracted 8,000 people to the building and its surroundings over ten days in March 2016.

Built as a college to train Catholic priests in the 1960s, the seminary was only in use for 14 years and has been abandoned for decades. It is celebrated worldwide as a masterpiece of modernist architecture and its decay has only added to its otherworldly charm.

Public arts organisation NVA are set to reclaim the future of this Grade A listed building and establish a major new arts venue and heritage attraction on the west coast of Scotland. The building’s inclusion in Doors Open Day provides a rare opportunity for members of the public to explore the ruin before construction begins.

A spokeswoman for NVA said: “We are delighted to be taking part in Doors Open Day in Argyll and Bute.

“This is an exciting opportunity for members of the public to visit St Peter’s Seminary in its raw and ruined state, before works begin to reclaim the building and its surrounding landscape to create an arts venue and visitor attraction.”

The restoration scheme will partially restore the former seminary and its surrounding Victorian designed landscape, creating the first intentional modernist ruin in the UK. On completion the new venue will host a distinctive programme of events and exhibitions.

Unlike traditional heritage restoration projects, the building will remain in a state of ruin, with a combination of partial restoration, consolidation and new design creating a series of programmable spaces across the 105-acre site, while construction work will partially restore the stunning chapel as an indoor events space.

Through a partnership with Reigart Contracts, significant environmental improvement work has already been carried out to remove hazardous materials and debris from the seminary buildings. Stabilisation works using innovative construction materials have saved 80 of the iconic vaults in the chapel and refectory from collapse. These works have gone a long way towards rescuing the A-listed building from demolition.

Daytime walked tours of St Peter’s Seminary will take place on September 23 and 24.

Free tickets will be released on Tuesday, August 29 - but capacity will be limited, making advance booking essential. For more visit www.nva.org.uk.