Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

17 SHAKESPEARE STREET, RUCHILL PARISH CHURCH HALLS AND JANITOR'S HOUSELB32356

Status: Designated

Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Category
A
Date Added
15/12/1970
Supplementary Information Updated
31/05/2019
Local Authority
Glasgow
Planning Authority
Glasgow
Burgh
Glasgow
NGR
NS 57256 68309
Coordinates
257256, 668309

Description

Charles Rennie Mackintosh 1899. Halls and janitor's house around courtyard to south of Church. Asymmetrical two-storey elevation to street, tall single-storey hall at rear. Grey and snecked ashlar.

West elevation: wide south bay with ground and first floor windows in recessed panel under shallow arch supported on impost blocks, gablet above with symbolic niche. Windows with segmental heads linked in Art Nouveau design. Doorpiece at centre with wide curved margins and lintel supported on plain brackets, shallow segmental window over. Four-light window with shallow swan-neck detail to north. Two first floor windows with projecting curved cills. Curved stair bay at north with three tall narrow lipped windows. Slate roofs behind parapet.

Buttressed elevation to courtyard with asymmetrical east domestic range, two-storeys with stair turret.

Interior: ground floor full-height hall; wide, heavy, bolted, collar and tie beam roof with curved bracing. Canted east end with Art Nouveau curved headed, multi-paned window. Walls two-thirds panelled with deep cornice. Hall extension to south with tall folding doors similarly detailed. All doors with typical Mackintosh detailed glazed panels. Curved stair with stylised cut-out detail in landing balustrade. Quiet Room and Upper Hall on first floor divided by tall doors with ogee design. Both with boarded two-thirds panelling. Upper hall top lit with rafter roof.

Statement of Special Interest

Was initially listed as Ruchill Street then listed as 17 Shakespeare Street following re-alignment of road. Re-numbered again as 26 Ruchill Street (2005). Now (2009) known again as 17 Shakespeare Street. Ruchill Parish Church listed seperately (LB32355).

There are surviving drawings by Mackintosh indicating that he designed the halls. There are also stylistic similarities with the almost contemporary Glasgow School of Art (LB33105) and Queen's Cross Church (LB33764), supporing the view that Mackintosh was responsible for this design at Ruchill (Mackintosh Architecture).

Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) was born in Glasgow and is regarded internationally as one of the leading architects and designers of the 20th century. He became known as a pioneer of Modernism, although his architecture took much inspiration from Scottish Baronial, and Scottish and English vernacular forms and their reinterpretation. The synthesis of modern and traditional forms led to a distinctive form of Scottish arts and crafts design, known as 'The Glasgow Style'. This was developed in collaboration with contemporaries Herbert McNair, and the sisters Francis and Margaret Macdonald (who would become his wife in 1900), who were known as 'The Four'. The Glasgow Style is now synonymous with Mackintosh and the City of Glasgow.

Mackintosh's work is wide-ranging and includes public, educational and religious buildings to private houses, interior decorative schemes and sculptures. He is associated with over 150 design projects, ranging from being the principal designer, to projects he was involved with as part of the firm of John Honeyman & Keppie (Honeyman, Keppie & Mackintosh from 1901). The most important work during this partnership was the Glasgow School of Art (LB33105), which was built in two phases from 1897 and culminated in the outstanding library of 1907.

Other key works include the Willow Tea Rooms (LB33173), the Glasgow Herald Building (now The Lighthouse) (LB33087) and Hill House (LB34761), which display the modern principles of the German concept of 'Gesamtkunstwerk', meaning the 'synthesis of the arts'. This is something that Mackintosh applied completely to all of his work, from the exterior to the internal decorative scheme and the furniture and fittings.

Mackintosh left Glasgow in 1914, setting up practice in London the following year. Later he and Margaret moved to France, where until his death, his artistic output largely turned to textile design and watercolours.

Listed building record revised in 2019.

References

Bibliography

References:

Printed Sources

Brown, A (2018) Charles Rennie Mackintosh Making the Glasgow Style. Glasgow: Glasgow Museums.

Cooper, J. (editor) (1984) Mackintosh architecture: the complete buildings and selected projects. London: Academy.

Crawford, A (1995) Charles Rennie Mackintosh. London: Thomas and Hudson.

Gomme and Walker (1987) p.563.

Howarth, T. (1977) Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Modern Movement. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.

Neat, T. & McDermott, G. (2002) Closing The Circle Thomas Howarth, Mackintosh and the Modern Movement. Aberdour: Inyx publishing.

Robertson, P. (editor) (1990) Mackintosh: The Architectural Papers. Wendlebury: White Cockade Publishing.

Online Sources

Dictionary of Scottish Architects, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=200362 (accessed 30/05/2019).

University of Glasgow, Mackintosh Architecture, M169 Ruchill Free Church Halls, https://www.mackintosh-architecture.gla.ac.uk/catalogue/freetext/display/?rs=6&xml=des&q=ruchill (accessed 31/05/2019).

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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