Fight to protect Glasgow's Architectural Heritage
- last year
GLASGOW.
Heritage story.
GV of buildings around Glasgow city centre that have fallen into a state of disrepair.
"Fight is on' to protect Glasgow heritage as skywards city changes face again
Lead
Decorated with carved lion heads, cherub faces and hanging fruit, the once opulent office for a carting company emerged at the height of Glasgow’s industrial powers, just a short walk from the Clyde.
Today, it stands vacant and weather worn, a fragile trace of the city’s past. In a sooty fourth-storey window hangs a sign for a private investigator, but he too has long gone.
Soon, this five-storey building in Robertson Street will be completely overshadowed as the city continues to evolve and redefine itself beyond its Victorian core. Its new neighbour will be American banking giant JP Morgan & Chase, who will employ up to 3,000 staff over 13 floors in a prime site in the city’s International Financial Services District.
Two listed 19th Century buildings, a warehouse and a tenement, both which sit in the Central Conservation Area, were demolished to make way for the bank, their condition deemed too poor to save in the end. Historic Environment Scotland agreed that their demolition was justified. Construction of the bank building has moved to seven days a week.
Iain Wotherspoon, chairman of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland (Strathclyde branch), said there was a “tremendous amount” of development going on in the city.
The scale and height of buildings, particularly in conservation areas, was a concern to the society as was the number of applications to demolish existing buildings to make way for new builds, he added.
“Buildings aren’t just being mothballed, they are being nudged out of the way,” Mr Wotherspoon said.
“I can’t stand here and say ‘I am against development, it has got to stop’ because that is not the case, but in the city centre we have a real problem where there is no control over the height of buildings. A conservation area really is about conserving scale and mass of buildings, the historic feel of a place.”
He pointed to an unlisted 19th Century tenement in Dixon Street in the city centre, which developers plan to demolish and build a 21-storey hotel.
He said: “This particularly annoyed us. It is not the finest building in the world – but if it was done up it would be a really attractive building. "Historic Environment Scotland objected to the demolition, stating that it made a positive contribution to the Conservation Area; Glasgow City Council ignored this advice. HES very rarely offers comments on unlisted buildings, so when they do they should be listened to, but permission has been given for the demolition.”
The society has also objected to the demolition of 11 Oswald Street, an 1840s bonded warehouse in the conservation area, with a 12-storey hotel also planned for the site.
As the city continues to build up, the A-listed Hatrack buildin
Heritage story.
GV of buildings around Glasgow city centre that have fallen into a state of disrepair.
"Fight is on' to protect Glasgow heritage as skywards city changes face again
Lead
Decorated with carved lion heads, cherub faces and hanging fruit, the once opulent office for a carting company emerged at the height of Glasgow’s industrial powers, just a short walk from the Clyde.
Today, it stands vacant and weather worn, a fragile trace of the city’s past. In a sooty fourth-storey window hangs a sign for a private investigator, but he too has long gone.
Soon, this five-storey building in Robertson Street will be completely overshadowed as the city continues to evolve and redefine itself beyond its Victorian core. Its new neighbour will be American banking giant JP Morgan & Chase, who will employ up to 3,000 staff over 13 floors in a prime site in the city’s International Financial Services District.
Two listed 19th Century buildings, a warehouse and a tenement, both which sit in the Central Conservation Area, were demolished to make way for the bank, their condition deemed too poor to save in the end. Historic Environment Scotland agreed that their demolition was justified. Construction of the bank building has moved to seven days a week.
Iain Wotherspoon, chairman of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland (Strathclyde branch), said there was a “tremendous amount” of development going on in the city.
The scale and height of buildings, particularly in conservation areas, was a concern to the society as was the number of applications to demolish existing buildings to make way for new builds, he added.
“Buildings aren’t just being mothballed, they are being nudged out of the way,” Mr Wotherspoon said.
“I can’t stand here and say ‘I am against development, it has got to stop’ because that is not the case, but in the city centre we have a real problem where there is no control over the height of buildings. A conservation area really is about conserving scale and mass of buildings, the historic feel of a place.”
He pointed to an unlisted 19th Century tenement in Dixon Street in the city centre, which developers plan to demolish and build a 21-storey hotel.
He said: “This particularly annoyed us. It is not the finest building in the world – but if it was done up it would be a really attractive building. "Historic Environment Scotland objected to the demolition, stating that it made a positive contribution to the Conservation Area; Glasgow City Council ignored this advice. HES very rarely offers comments on unlisted buildings, so when they do they should be listened to, but permission has been given for the demolition.”
The society has also objected to the demolition of 11 Oswald Street, an 1840s bonded warehouse in the conservation area, with a 12-storey hotel also planned for the site.
As the city continues to build up, the A-listed Hatrack buildin