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Summary

Description

Norman A Dick (Burnet Son and Dick), 1935. Sculptor A Dawson.

3-storey, 11-bay rectangular-plan interwar Beaux-Arts medical building arranged 2-7-2. Central bays recessed and raised. Snecked, squared rubble with ashlar dressings and quoins and plinth. Moulded cill course at 1st floor; corniced eaves course, raised to central 7 bays. Central entrance with lintel relief tablet "THE TENNENT MEMORIAL 1935" and flanking escutcheons supported on barley-sugar columns with richly sculpted capitals. Relieving arch with ashlar blocks and carved key block, flanking seated figures, elliptically-headed window in arch. Regular fenestration with rectangular windows in moulded surrounds, those at 1st floor with relieving arches. Relief tablet above single outer bays.

Metal casement windows with glazing bars, 8-light to ground floor, 4-light horizontal above. Some lying pane glazing at 1st and 2nd floors.

INTERIOR: plain interior with some later alteration providing office and patient accommodation. Central stair opening off lobby behind main entrance.

BOUNDARY WALLS: stepped snecked rubble, ashlar coped boundary wall with wrought-iron railings.

Statement of Special Interest

38 Church Street is a good example of an interwar Beaux-Arts medical building designed by the prominent architectural practice Burnet Son and Dick and it makes a significant contribution to the streetscape of Church Street. The building is well detailed including Neo-Baroque elements such as the richly detailed door surround with a bold outline and American influenced articulation of the façade (see below).

38 Church Street was built as part of the expansion of the Western Infirmary in the 1930s. The Western infirmary was opened in 1874 with 150 beds, which increased to 350 in 1881 and 630 in 1906. The Western Infirmary has a long tradition of pioneering work, particularly in radiology and laboratory space was always a key factor on the site, including in the pathology block (see separate listing). The site was subject to a development plan in 1960, with a two phase redevelopment proposed. The 256 bed Phase I block was completed in 1974, but phase II was indefinitely postponed following the completion of the nearby Gartnavel Hospital in 1973.

Burnet Son and Campbell was a prominent Scottish architectural practice including Sir John Burnet and Sir John James Burnet. Sir John Burnet retired from the practice in 1889-90 following John Archibald Campbell rejoining the practice in 1896. The designs for the pathology block in 1894 exhibit a characteristic combination of Scots Renaissance detailing with Neo-Baroque (or Burnet Baroque as it became known) detailing, particularly evident in the detailed window surrounds to the Church Street elevation and the use of advanced and recessed blocks to provide texture to the streetscape. The practice experimented widely with this style, in particular with the Glasgow Athenaeum Theatre of 1891-3 (see separate listing) and Burnet toured Italy in 1895 to further his understanding of the Baroque. The practice worked extensively on the Western Infirmary site and were responsible for a number of buildings including the pathology building, outpatients and dispensary and latterly the Tenant Memorial Building (see separate listings) as Burnet Son and Dick with Norman A Dick joining the practice in 1907. The increasing influence of American architecture, following the Burnet's visit to the United States in 1896 can be seen in the design of the Tenant Memorial Building with a bold rectangular outline and rhythmically articulated façade and use of bold horizontal glazing patterns. The use of advanced corner blocks and a tall central entrance bay is also characteristic of American office and commercial design from this period.

(List description updated as part of review of the University of Glasgow Hillhead Campus, 2012).

References

Bibliography

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