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Summary

Description

John McIntyre, 1907: altered and extended by Wylie, Shanks & Underwood, 1958. 2-storey Edwardian Baroque former church with raised basement and attic, 5-bay nave and angle tower on corner site, ground falling to S. Banded pilaster/quoin strips flanking 1st floor of former nave; moulded string course at basement to S (Martha Street) elevation; eaves cornice. Predominantly moulded architraved surrounds.

E (JOHN STREET) ELEVATION: 5-bay gable to left of centre with architraved windows at ground floor all under moulded string course with semicircular pediment to centre; tall keystoned and corniced Venetian window above; gable flanked by broad corniced pilasters each with tall narrow corniced recess at ground floor; small corbelled panel rising into semicircular pediment at gablehead. Slightly set-back, lower entrance bay to right of centre with steps up to deep-set panelled timber and glazed door in broad moulded and keystoned architrave, giving way to corbelled pane, round-arched window breaking eaves with corbelled pediment; moulded cornice and blocking course. Further 3 bays to outer right with Gibbsian rybats to openings., and side of forestair (tower entrance, see below) wall with round-headed basement window abutting at outer left.

SE ANGLE TOWER: 3-stage, square-plan tower in re-entrant angle. Round-arched opening to S (Martha Street) elevation with timber entrance door and semi-circular fanlight; glazed arrowslit above and corbelled string course to top of 1st stage. Forestair leading to round-arched pedimented and architrave entrance with 2-leaf panelled timber door and semi-circular fanlight; narrow pedimented opening to 2nd stage. Tabbed panel clock face below deep cornice forming pediments breaking into top stage. Set-back belfry, cill course to paired round-arched, keystoned and louvered bipartite openings with hoodmoulds below corniced and finialled dome.

S (MARTHA STREET) ELEVATION: 6-bay elevation with later raised wallhead (see Notes). 5-bay nave; tripartite windows (narrow outer lights) with stone mullions at ground floor and rounded angle to outer right; Venetian and corniced windows at 1st floor, those to outer bays with Gibbsian rybats; bays divided by plain pilasters and all flanked by broader pilaster/quoin strips with moulded panel close to cornice. Later attic level with full width windows; taller window to centre bays. Further later bay to outer right of dark stone and contrasting dressings except to third stage, bipartite window to each stage.

Predominantly small-pane glazing patterns in timber sash and case windows. Pitched roof, later linear rooflight; pyramidal roof over entrance bay with finial at apex. Later rainwater goods.

INTERIOR (seen 2011): subdivided into interdenominational university chaplaincy centre, including small barrel-vaulted chapel in original clerestorey.

Statement of Special Interest

Place of worship no longer in use as such. A well-detailed example of Scottish church architecture prominently sited on steeply sloping site in city centre, and now part of the University of Strathclyde's campus. Later alterations by the prominent architectural practice of Wylie, Shanks and Underwood. The design is well-proportioned with good stonework details, such as Venetian windows with stone mullions and landmark clocktower. St Paul's Church was constructed to replace St Paul's (Outer High) Parish Church, John Street (1836) which was demolished for the Royal College building (1910-1910) (see separate listing). The college paid £15,000 for the old church, of that sum £5,000 was expended on a site for the new church and the balance of £10,000 for its design and construction. John McIntyre won the competition for its design.

In the 1950s the rapidly expanding Royal College (later to become University of Strathclyde) wanted to provide a range of welfare services for its students. The disused St Paul's church was sold to the college in 1953 and subsequently converted to an interdenominational centre by Wylie Shanks and Underwood in 1957-8. These alterations included the removal of dormer windows to S and slightly raising the wallhead to allow for insertion of curtain windows.

The building continued to be used as a chaplaincy after the college became the University of Strathclyde, following the granting of a Royal Charter in 1964. The origins of the university began in 1796 when Professor John Anderson left instructions in his will for the provision of an institution that was 'founded for the good of mankind and improvement in science'. By the 1890s this institution had developed rapidly and in 1903 built the Royal College building, George Street (see separate listing). The student population continued to grow, particularly following WWII and in the 1950s the area immediately to the N of the Royal College was developed to provide further facilities including a new engineering building, student union and chaplaincy centre. In 1964 the enlarged Royal College was granted the Royal Charter and became the University of Strathclyde. Keen to maintain a presence in city centre the renowned Modernist architect Robert Matthew drew up plans for the expansion of the campus to the E of the Royal College building, to provide additional buildings for science and technology disciplines as well as accommodation for the newly introduced arts and social sciences subjects. This original masterplan has been continually developed as land became available for the campus, following the demolition of tenements and other public and commercial buildings. The University has also acquired and adapted existing building adjacent to the campus for their use, such as the Barony Church and the Ramshorn Theatre (see separate listings).

John McIntyre and was articled to Alexander Hunter Crawford of Edinburgh in 1895 working mainly on domestic work in Trinity and Morningside in Edinburgh, but assisted in the preparations of drawings for the restoration of Paisley Abbey (see separate listing). In 1900 he left to become a draughtsman in the Royal Engineers Scottish District Architects Office. After the completion of St Paul's Church, Glasgow, he formed his own architectural practice undertaken domestic and commercial work in Edinburgh and numerous memorials. In 1910 he moved to Canada and in 1915 joined the Powell River Company and designed a major part of the Powell River development, British Columbia, including the community centre, Dwight Hall and the Brooks School.

The architectural practice of Wylie Shanks & Wylie established in 1936 when Edward Grigg Wylie and his nephew Frederick Robert Wylie took George Ferguson Shanks into partnership. Walter Underwood joined this partnership in 1946, however the firm's name was not changed to Wylie, Shanks & Underwood until some time after. The firm, which had specialised in industrial architecture, branched out to educational, medical and commercial, as well as exhibition design, during the 1950s. Their educational buildings include College of Building and Printing and Central Office of Commerce (see separate listings), as well as the University of Strathclyde's Students Union and the James Weir building (see separate listing).

List description updated as part of University of Strathclyde Review 2010-12.

References

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