Visitors to get a glimpse inside design studio saved from ruin

The dilapidated studio of renowned textile designer Bernat Klein is to open its doors to the public for the first time since a consortium stepped in to save it from ruin last year.

The group secured the site near Selkirk in the Borders at auction and now has ambitious plans to bring it back into use at a cost of more than £3m.

Visitors are being offered a chance to see the building at the very start of the process of bringing it back to life as part of two Doors Open Days this weekend.

It has a special focus on the modernist work of Peter Womersley who designed the studio and also Klein's nearby home at High Sunderland and the cantilevered stand at Gala Fairydean Rovers' Netherdale ground.

The Bernat Klein Studio Coalition - made up of the Bernat Klein Foundation (BKF), the National Trust for Scotland and the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust (SHBT) - was set up to save the building from ruin.

The first phase of work will aim to secure the property, which has been on the Buildings at Risk Register since 2002 and is in a severely dilapidated state.

Once completed, the coalition plans to return The Studio to its original use as a design studio, as well as providing a base for the BKF and its exhibitions, workshops and talks.

The public will get a chance to see the current condition of the building this Saturday and Sunday - and the scale of the task ahead.

Dr Samuel Gallacher, SHBT director, said: "The Bernat Klein Studio, designed by architect Peter Womersley, is one of the most significant modernist buildings in Scotland, yet for more than 20 years it has sat empty and out of use.

"Opening the doors, even for a handful of tours, as part of our National Lottery Heritage Fund project to save the building, reminds people that the Studio belongs to Scotland's story and has a future ahead of it.

"It has earned a real affection, locally and internationally, and we wanted people to see it as it is today, at the very start of its restoration, so they can feel a part of our longer-term project to bring it back to life."

Klein, who died in 2014, collaborated with major European fashion houses such as Dior to design some of the most beautiful textiles of the 20th Century.

His studio was built as a workspace for design, weaving and exhibiting samples.

It lies adjacent to his home, High Sunderland, which was built by Womersley in 1958 and is also a listed building.