Description
A 25-metre high, reinforced concrete water tower built in 1951 and designed by Frank A Macdonald and Partners for Glasgow Corporation. The water tower sits on a concrete base and comprises 16 cylindrical steel columns with mushroom shaped capitals supporting a ribbed, square concrete water tank with a 500,000 gallon capacity. At the top of the tank, there is a glazed lantern with access openings and a telecommunications mast. The tower has a central, square-plan access column with an internal stair and long rectangular window openings in the upper section of each elevation. The tower is prominently located at the eastern edge of Cranhill housing scheme, a short distance south of junction 11 of the M8 motorway, to the east side of Glasgow.
At the base of the tower are five galvanised steel figures and a small fish sculpture by artist Andy Scott, known as The Neptune Project. The sculptures were added to the base in 2001 and depict Neptune, a mermaid and three sirens (these are excluded from the listing).
Historical development
The Cranhill housing scheme developed from the early 1950s alongside other similar schemes in the 1950s and 1960s as part of Glasgow's suburban post-war expansion.
The tower is first shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1956 at the eastern extent of the Cranhill scheme. It was designed by F A Macdonald and Partners of Glasgow and it formed part of the major infrastructure required to provide sufficient pressure water for the residents of Cranhill (The Builder, p.675).
The water tower was refurbished and floodlighting installed in 1998 (Small, p.88). Cranhill Development Trust and local housing associations commissioned The Neptune Project by sculptor, Andy Scott in 2000 (Art UK; Small, p.88).
The water tower was decommissioned around 2010. The structure is illuminated at night with an LED lighting scheme.
Statement of Special Interest
Cranhill Water Tower meets the criteria of special architectural or historic interest for the following reasons:
- It is a major example of a water tower built as part of Glasgow's suburban post-war expansion, designed by one of Scotland's most recognised structural engineering practices.
- Its striking design with sleek tapered steel columns supporting a ribbed, square concrete water tank reflects theidealism of much early post-war architecture and is substantially unaltered.
- It forms a functionally and visually related grouping with the circular-plan Garthamlock and Craigend water towers nearby. It is a prominent landmark in the local area.
- It is the earliest known post-war water tower to survive in Glasgow.
- It contributes to our understanding of the infrastructural changes that took place in the development of new suburbs in the post-war period.
In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: the Neptune Project sculptures at base.
Architectural interest:
Design
A number of reinforced concrete water towers were built as part of the post-war housing schemes built around Glasgow in the 1950s and 1960s. Cranhill water tower was one of the first to be constructed as part of this post-war housing expansion.
Water towers are elevated structures designed to support a tank that holds potable (drinkable) water. Their height is used to pressurise the water by using gravity to create enough water pressure when it comes out of the taps in homes. Water was pumped from Loch Katrine and the tower at Cranhill supplied the local housing with its drinking water.
The need to build on high ground and the awareness that these towers would be landmarks resulted in industrial designs that were also futuristic and aspirational. The water tower at Cranhill is a prominent structure in the landscape which has a distinctive, modern 'space age' appearance. Its construction materials of steel and concrete are exposed, creating a structure that is simple and functional, yet visually striking. The tower, in its dramatic scale and overtly modern design and use of materials, embraces both the engineering possibilities of the period and the idealism of much early post-war architecture (Historic Scotland, p.53). Its highly practical design is combined with stylistic flourishes to the narrow steel columns, for example the mushrooming heads, and the sectional 4x4 grid of the water tank itself.
The design of water towers for public supply varies widely across the United Kingdom during this period and most appear to be individually designed structures in terms of their shape and form however most are constructed in reinforced concrete. Cylindrical or drum-shaped tanks are more commonly seen across Glasgow, for example those at Garthamlock and Craigend, Bishopbriggs, Drumchapel and Tannochside, and those at West Netherton and Whitecross in East Kilbride and Carrickstone in Cumbernauld. Square-shaped towers are less common with a small number built in Glasgow. The Cranhill water tower is the only surviving one of this shape. Regardless of its particular shape, both its scale and detail add to the interest of this example of a post-war water tower.
The interest of the designer in relation to the structure's design is of particular significance. F A Macdonald and Partners (now known as Fairhurst) established in Glasgow in 1902 are recognised among Scotland's foremost structural engineering practices. They specialised in reinforced concrete constructions and provided many major infrastructure projects including bridges, hydro schemes, motorways, housing schemes including numerous works for the Glasgow Corporation (Fairhurst). F A Macdonald and Partners also designed the nearby Garthamlock water tower in 1953-6 (Dictionary of Scottish Architects) and Bishopbriggs water tower in 1959.
The interior was not seen (2025).
Setting
The water tower is prominently located on rising ground and can be seen from various vantage points around the city. It is a landmark structure in the wider area which also forms a good grouping with the circular-plan Garthamlock and Craigend water towers nearby to the northeast (listed at category B, LB52097).
The suburban housing in the immediate context of the Cranhill water tower helps to illustrate its original purpose within the urban landscape and its place within Glasgow's suburban post-war expansion. While a significant proportion of the 1950s housing has now been demolished and in some areas replaced, the water tower survives in its original position at the eastern edge of the scheme, and this setting continues to show the tower's function.
Historic interest:
Age and rarity
Cranhill water tower is the earliest known post-war water tower to survive in Glasgow and is a major surviving example from the unrivalled programme of reinforced concrete water tower construction in the city and its environs during the 1950s and 60s.
Glasgow and its suburbs were notable for their coordinated programme of reinforced concrete water tower construction in the early post-war period. Water towers were an essential functional component of residential estates to adequately supply water pressure to all the homes. In Glasgow, at least 15 examples were built, 8 of which survive (2026). These are Cranhill, Garthamlock (designed 1953-6 and built 1956-8) and Craigend (built circa 1966, listed together at category B, LB52097) and the unlisted examples at Barloch (built 1959), Bishopbriggs (built 1959), Drumchapel (built 1954), Tannochside (1950s/early 1960s) and Auchinairn (built 1960s).
Barton notes in Water Towers of Britain that square or rectangular water towers were always less common, but regularly appeared until the 1950s, with a cluster of four in Glasgow (Barton, p.90). Cranhill now stands out as the only surviving example designed with a square plan. The other square plan examples at Priesthill, Pollock and Ruchazie have all been demolished. The water tower in Barloch is octagonal, but most of the other water towers in Glasgow and the wider suburbs have cylindrical-style tanks.
F A Macdonald and Partners (established 1902) completed at least four concrete water towers in Glasgow: Milton (built around 1949, now demolished), Cranhill (built 1951), Garthamlock (built 1956-8) and Bishopbriggs (built 1959). Cranhill is one of the earliest surviving postwar reinforced concrete water towers in Scotland designed in the Brutalist style. Others of a similar date are Gallow Hill water tower in Dundee (built around 1953) and Drumchapel in Glasgow (built 1954).
Other significant water towers in Scotland include: one of the earliest cast-iron water tanks in the world at the former Perth Water Works (built 1832, listed at category A,
LB39341); the earliest surviving municipal water tower in the UK at Montrose (1841, listed at category B, LB37989); and the earliest known reinforced-concrete water tower in the UK at Garmouth (built 1899, listed at category B, LB14838).
Social historical interest
Social historical interest is the way a building contributes to our understanding of how people lived in the past, and how our social and economic history is shown in a building and/or in its setting.
The Cranhill housing scheme was built in the early 1950s. Like the much larger housing schemes of Castlemilk, Drumchapel, Easterhouse and Pollock, Cranhill was comprised of tenement blocks, tower blocks and maisonettes.
The water tower was built to supply the Cranhill housing estate. The suburban housing context of the water tower illustrates its purpose within the urban landscape and its place within Glasgow's massive suburban post-war expansion. The intact water tower is a tangible reminder of the change from pre-war tenement living to the new suburbs, and the infrastructure needed to accommodate this change.
Association with people or events of national importance
There is no association with a person or event of national importance.