Buildings & Monuments

Glasgow is full beautiful architecture and monuments, studying them all properly could take a life time! One of Glasgow’s most famous architects and designers is ‘Rennie Mackintosh’, some examples of his works in Glasgow are:

• Balgrayhill Road, 140-142, 1890
• Blythswood Square, No.5 door only, 1908
• Daily Record printing works, Renfield Lane, 1901
• Glasgow Herald building - 1893-95
• Glasgow School of Art, 167 Renfrew St - 1899 & 1910
• Hill House, Helensburgh - 1902-1904
• House for an Art Lover, Bellahouston Park - Andy Macmillan after Mackintosh 1996
• Hunterian Gallery building
• Martyrs' School, 52 Parson St - Honeyman & Keppie (Mackintosh), 1898
• Queens Cross Church, Woodside - 1896-99
• Ruchill Free Church Halls - 1899
• Scotland Street School - 1906
• Willow Tea Rooms, 217 Sauchiehall Street - 1904
• Glasgow Style Room, Art Gallery & Museum, Kelvingrove
• Lilybank house extension - 1890s
• Queen Mary's College, 1895 with John Keppie

Glasgow was one of the centres of powers in the Victorian age, its wealth and prowess displayed in its mercantile buildings, offices, warehouses and factories. But in more recent years the pace has slowed, good buildings need good clients, and so Edinburgh has taken much of the attention, however with the likes of Zaha Hadid, David Chipperfield, Richard Rogers and Foster & Partners the city looks like it will regain its rightful position as a beacon of design in the world.

The Glasgow Art School

The Glasgow School of Art is one of the most well-known Charles Rennie Mackintosh building designs, and certainly one of the most respected. The awe inspiring sandstone blocks, with dark woody interior, include a bright hen run up high on the south façade, perched on a steep incline. The building demands respect and was a powerful influence for Art Nouveau and later for Modernism.

Hill House

Designed originally for publisher Walter Blackie, Hill House is another of Rennie Mackintosh’s best known buildings. His style often viewed as not only related to fin-di-siecle Art Nouveau, but to the immerging Modern Architecture movement. The Rennie Mackintosh building follows Scottish traditional architecture, often referred to as ‘Scot Baronial’.

Royal Exchange Square Glasgow

Now part of the ‘Gallery of Modern Art’, it was designed in 1827 by David Hamilton. The building has an odd ‘wedding cake’ cylindrical cupola on top of the east face, overlooking the Merchant City. The design was commissioned by the Royal Bank who asked Archibald Elliot II in 1827 to design a bank, shop and office space. The north facing terrace was designed by David Hamilton & James Smith (who also designed the McLellan Galleries)