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Summary

Description

John Keppie and Henderson, 1927-30. 2 and 3-storey over basement, rectangular-plan assembly building, now used as a student centre. 6 bays to Renfrew Street and 7 to Scott Street. Sandstone ashlar. Prominent vertical mullions dividing elevations into bays, decorative details to eaves. Entrance to E through recessed bay, 2 secondary entrances to W elevation.

12-pane timber sash and case and centre- pivot windows to Renfrew Street. Large predominantly fixed-pane metal windows to Scott Street. Slated piended roof. Truncated ashlar stacks. Cast iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: the general layout, with offices on the ground floor and assembly hall and offices above, has survived. Section of ground floor along Scott Street converted in late 1970s to form bar, within which is part of interior of a 1930s café from 445 Victoria Road.

Statement of Special Interest

The Assembly Hall for Glasgow School of Art is important as part of the ensemble of School of Art buildings on Garnethill. It is notable for both its obvious borrowing from the Mackintosh Building, only 20 years after the completion of the W block, and the contribution the building makes to the streetscape, situated as it is on this prominent corner site. It is a good example of Modern Beaux-Arts architecture and a notable example of the work of Keppie and Henderson, a practice which continued to be one of the most important of Glasgow practices through the inter-war period.

Although there are important similarities with the mackintosh building, such as the pattern of glazing, materials and overall verticality, the Assembly building is much more regular in its division into vertical bays and is more closely related to Modern Beaux-Arts style used by the firm in buildings such as their 1930-32 Bank of Scotland on Sauchiehall Street. The building was a re-building of a series of tenements along Renfrew St, only a single bay of which now survives as the recessed entrance bay on Renfrew Street. Since its construction, prominent stacks on either side of the Renfrew Street elevation have been truncated.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh left Honeyman, Keppie and Mackintosh in 1913, after which the name reverted to Honeyman and Keppie. After the First World War Andrew Graham Henderson joined the firm, which became Keppie and Henderson. The firm remained the architects to Glasgow School of Art through the inter-war period. While the Assembly building was being built, the firm were also working on repairs to the Mackintosh Building.

References

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