2010 MEDIA COVERAGE

EVENING TIMES Tuesday February 9 2010 367,000 WEEKLY AUDIENCE IN PRINT AND ONLINE 11 EVERY DAY THIS WEEK DON’T MISS SATURDAY’S

WORTH £1000 WIN £1000 OF IKEA VOUCHERS A VALENTINE’S

TO BE WON TREAT FOR TWO TERMS AND TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY CONDITIONS APPLY

n Talks on the Egyptian Halls’ future are advanced Deal close for A-listed landmark Egyptian Halls to get developer

By GRAEME MURRAY THE owner of Alex- ander “Greek” Thom- son’s Egyptian Halls is in talks with four interested parties who could secure the n Derek Souter is future of the A-listed optimistic the halls’ landmark in weeks. future will be secure The identities of those of Union Street Proper- involved are being kept ties, said: “Everybody secret until a preferred wants to see the Egyptian developer is confirmed, Halls saved and it’s now but the firms involved are getting close to that.” believed to be “serious Dundee-based USP has and well-financed”. been involved with the The property’s owner halls for 11 years and has Union Street Properties invested £5.5million in says a winning firm could the building. be appointed in four to But because of legal six weeks allowing the issues over ownership, project to end 30 years of the company only took stalemate. full possession of the 136- Once a developer is year-old property last chosen, the historic halls year and began market- will be transformed into ing the halls to potential a 136-150-room hotel with developers. restaurant, bar and retail Mr Souter added: “All provision. parties know the dead- The firm also wants to lines and we are benefit- create a Mackintosh- ing from support from Thomson Mews linking Glasgow City Council, C h a r l e s R e n n i e Historic Scotland and our Mackintosh’s Lighthouse funders Dunfermline building with Thomson’s Building Society.” Egyptian Halls. graeme.murray@ Derek Souter, director eveningtimes.co.uk N OBO DY KN OWS G L AS G OW B E TT ER

45p Wednesday June 9 2010

PICTURE SPECIAL PART 2

BREAKING NEWS Cops hunt EXCLUSIVE Hotel plan for derelict site gunman as shots fired A GUNMAN is on the run after a man was shot in a house in North Lanarkshire. Police descended on Inverkip Drive, Shotts, M after neighbours reported £18 TO hearing gunfire around 7.30am today. The victim, who was apparently shot at close range, was rushed to Wishaw Hospital. He is said to be in his early 30s. It is understood four shots were heard and one nearby resident said a man was seen running SAVE from a house. Police have cordoned off the area. HOSPICE CITY Campaign LENNON hits £15.5m AN Evening Times backed LINES UP campaign for a new Glasgow hospice has hit the £15.5million mark. By VIVIENNE NICOLL Staff and patients CENTRE BELLAMY DERELICT Alexander Greek celebrated the Big Build Thomson building in Glasgow milestone, just £600,000 city centre is to be trans- short of the target. A formed into a 136-bedroom hotel. The new Marie Curie RETURN The owners of the A-listed Egyptian Hospice was officially Halls have signed an £18million deal that opened at Stobhill will end decades of stalemate and secure Hospital five months ago. SEE BACK PAGE the future of the 139-year-old halls. n PAGES 6-7 GEM full story – pages 4, 5 PAGE 10 NEWS THE HERALD THURSDAY 10.06.2010 Pope visit to Glasgow is finalised Cancellation fears allayed as plans for Mass in Bellahouston Park go ahead

GERRY BRAIDEN and THAT HAS A GREAT RESONANCE FOR DAVID ROSS 3COTTISH #ATHOLICS MANY OF WHOM REMEMBER THE WONDERFUL 4(% 0OPElS OPEN AIR -ASS IN DAY IN  WHEN 0OPE *OHN 'LASGOWlS "ELLAHOUSTON 0ARK 0AUL )) SAID -ASS THEREn HAS FINALLY BEEN OFFICIALLY CON 4HE BISHOPS SAID THEY FIRMED ALLAYING FEARS THE ENTIRE EXPECTED MORE THAN HALF OF THE "RITISH VISIT WAS IN JEOPARDY DUE   #ATHOLICS WHO ATTEND TO SPIRALLING COSTS MOST OF WHICH 3UNDAY SERVICES ACROSS 3COTLAND WILL BE PICKED UP BY THE 5+lS TO ATTEND "ELLAHOUSTON WITH THE #ATHOLIC POPULATION  PARISHES NORTH OF THE "ORDER 4HE VENUE FOR THE #ATHOLIC RECEIVING A PRO RATA ALLOCATION CEREMONY IN 3COTLAND WAS FOR OF PLACES BASED ON THEIR -ASS MALLY ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY AFTER ATTENDANCE FIGURES A MEETING BETWEEN 'LASGOW #ITY 4HOUSANDS MORE ARE EXPECTED #OUNCIL AND THE "ISHOPSl TO LINE THE ROUTE OF THE 0OPElS #ONFERENCE OF 3COTLAND MOTORCADE THROUGH %DINBURGH (OWEVER THE &REE 0RESBYTER EARLIER IN THE DAY ! 3T .INIANlS IAN #HURCH OF 3COTLAND SAID IT $AY 0AGEANT IN %DINBURGH IS WAS OFFENSIVE THAT THE 5+ 'OV ALSO PLANNED PLANNING AHEAD: Derek Soutar of owners USP said the development was great news for Glasgow as it would mean 80 jobs when the hotel was up and running. Picture: Lenny Warren ERNMENT WAS HOSTING THE 0OPE "ENEDICT IS TO BEATIFY %NG AS A HEAD OF STATE LANDlS MOST FAMOUS CONVERT TO 0RIME -INISTER $AVID #ATHOLICISM #ARDINAL .EWMAN #AMERON HAS DRAFTED IN FORMER WHO FOUNDED THE FIRST %NGLISH Greek is the word: £18m plan to transform 4ORY GRANDEE ,ORD 0ATTEN TO /RATORY IN "IRMINGHAM IN  OVERSEE "ENEDICTlS 5+VISIT ,ORD 4HERE HAS BEEN SPECULATION THE 0ATTEN A CABINET MEMBER IN THE PLANNED BEATIFICATION CEREMONY S AND FORMER GOVERNOR OF AN OPEN AIR -ASS BEFORE   Thomson’s derelict masterpiece into hotel (ONG +ONG IS TO BE THE 0RIME PILGRIMS AT #OVENTRY AIRPORT -INISTERlS PERSONAL REPRESENTA COULD BE REPLACED BY A SMALLER TIVE FOR THE VISIT IN 3EPTEMBER EVENT ALTHOUGH THE #HURCH HAS VIVIENNE NICOLL and m4HE INITIAL APPRAISAL AND AS A #ATHOLIC AND EXPERI INSISTED THE VISIT TO #OVENTRY WILL GRAEME MURRAY SUGGESTS THE DEVELOPMENT ENCED DIPLOMAT IT WILL BE HIS TASK GO AHEAD WILL COST APPROXIMATELY TO GET THE FIRST EVER PAPAL STATE ! PRAYER VIGIL WAS TO TAKE PLACE /.% OF 'LASGOWlS {M BUT WILL SHOW A LOSS VISIT TO "RITAIN BACK ON TRACK AFTER IN ,ONDONlS (YDE 0ARK BUT ARCHITECTURAL GEMS IS TO OF {M BASED ON THE A SERIES OF DIFFICULTIES 2OYAL 0ARKS SAID NO SUCH EVENT BECOME A  BEDROOM ESTIMATED RETURNS 4HERE IS 4HE 0OPE WILL ARRIVE IN %DIN HAS BEEN BOOKED HOTEL IN AN { MILLION THEREFORE NO PROSPECT OF BURGH ON 3EPTEMBER  THE FEAST 4HE 0OPElS 5+ VISIT HAS UPSET REDEVELOPMENT PROCEEDING WITHOUT OF 3T .INIAN p THE SAINT WHO THE &REE 0RESBYTERIAN #HURCH OF &OR  YEARS THE %GYP EXTERNAL FUNDING SUPPORTn BROUGHT #HRISTIANITY TO 3COTLAND 3COTLAND WHO SAID m7E DENY TIAN (ALLS IN 5NION 3TREET 530 IS IN THE PROCESS OF p AND WILL MEET THE 1UEEN AT THAT HE IS THE HEAD OF THE #HRIS HAVE LAIN MOSTLY EMPTY RAISING {M AND HAS ASKED (OLYROOD (OUSE BEFORE MAKING TIAN CHURCH OR THAT HE HAS ANY AND PARTLY DERELICT "UT ALL THE CITY COUNCIL TO PROVIDE HIS WAY TO 'LASGOW CIVIL POWERWHICH SHOULD RECEIVE THAT IS ABOUT TO CHANGE THE REMAINING {M ! STATEMENT FROM 3COTLANDlS RECOGNITION BY ANY STATE PARTIC WITH PLANS TO CONVERT THE 3TEVE )NCH THE COUNCILlS #ATHOLIC BISHOPS SAID m4HE ULARLY ONE WHICH HAS RENOUNCED ! LISTED !LEXANDER m'REEKn EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF #ATHOLIC #HURCH WELCOMES THE HIS PRETENDED JURISDICTION 4HOMSON DESIGNED FORMER DEVELOPMENT AND REGEN CONFIRMATION BY 'LASGOW #ITY m7E FIND IT OFFENSIVE THAT THIS WAREHOUSE SLEEPING GIANT: The Egyptian Halls in Glasgow’s Union ERATION SAID m4HE COUNCIL #OUNCIL THAT "ELLAHOUSTON 0ARK VISIT WILL START IN %DINBURGH 5NION 3TREET 0ROPERTIES Street is considered by many to be the finest building of HAS BEEN ANXIOUS TO SEE WILL BE AVAILABLE AND SUITABLE FOR WHERE  YEARS AGO UNDER THE 530 OWNS THE HISTORIC architect Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson (left). THIS IMPORTANT ! LISTED THE VISIT OF 0OPE "ENEDICT BRAVE AND 'ODLY LEADERSHIP OF BUILDING WHICH IS NOW Picture: Nick Ponty BUILDING RESTORED AND m4HE PARK PROVIDES A WONDER *OHN +NOXAND OUR OTHER REFORM REGARDED AS BEING AT RETURNED TO PRODUCTIVE USE FUL VENUE FOR WHAT WILL BE A ERS THE JURISDICTION OF THE 0OPE RISK 4HE FIRM HAS AGREED FOR MANY YEARS TREMENDOUS EVENT )T IS A PLACE WAS FOREVER ABOLISHEDn THAT $ERBYSHIRE BASED BEHIND IT ADDING A ROOFTOP SHOPS AT BASEMENT AND m7E HOPE OUR PROPOSED ,ONGROSE "UCCLEUCH EXTENSION OR FLATTENING THE GROUND FLOOR LEVELS AND A FINANCIAL SUPPORT WILL WILL MANAGE THE BUILDING BUILDING AND REDEVELOPING HOTEL ON THE FIRST TO FOURTH BOLSTER THE REGENERATION OF WITH THE HOTEL FRANCHISE THE SITE FLOORS WITH THE ADDITION OF 5NION 3TREETn BEING TAKEN OVER BY THE ! REPORT TO COUNCILLORS A ROOFTOP EXTENSION 'ARIN $AVIES OF !CCOR GROUP SAYS m'IVEN THE STATUS OF 4HE PART OF THE HOTEL IN ,ONGROSE "UCCLEUCH SAID $EREK 3OUTER OF 530 THE BUILDING AND ITS THE EXISTING BUILDING WOULD m7E ASSESS MANY PROJECT SAID m4HIS IS FANTASTIC NEWS IMPORTANCE TO THE HERITAGE BE THREE STAR WITH THE NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND THIS IS FOR 'LASGOW AND 5NION OF 'LASGOW 530 HAS BEEN EXTENSION FOUR STAR ONE WHICH IS NEAR THE TOP 3TREET !S WELL AS CREATING ADVISED DEMOLITION 4HE REPORT ADDS OF THE LIST WE WANT TO MORE THAN  CONSTRUCTION REDEVELOPMENT WOULD NOT m(ISTORIC 3COTLAND APPEARS BECOME INVOLVED WITHn AND  FULL AND PART TIME BE SUPPORTED BY (ISTORIC TO ACCEPT COMPROMISE IS .EIL "AXTER SECRETARY OF JOBS WHEN TRADING IT WILL 3COTLAND OR THE COUNCILn NECESSARY AND THAT WITHOUT THE 2OYAL )NCORPORATION OF PRESERVE 3COTLANDlS "UT STUDIES SHOW NO SOME RADICAL DESIGN !RCHITECTS IN 3COTLAND SAID ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGEn OTHER OPTIONS ARE FINAN CHANGES TO THE BUILDING NO m4HIS IS A BUILDING OF THE 4HE %GYPTIAN (ALLS ARE CIALLY VIABLE 4HE OPTION REFURBISHMENT WILL TAKE FIRST IMPORTANCE NOT SIMPLY CONSIDERED BY MANY TO BE THAT SHOWS THE SMALLEST PLACE AND THE DETERIORATION IN 'LASGOW OR 3COTLAND BUT SAVE £50 ARCHITECT 4HOMSONlS FINEST FINANCIAL LOSS INVOLVES WILL CONTINUE IN %UROPEAN TERMSn BUILDING /VER THE PAST THREE DECADES VARIOUS Architect’s legacy PLANS TO REFURBISH THE HALLS HAVE BEEN FRUSTRATED BY THE FACT IT HAD A LARGE NUMBER L The A-listed St Vincent Now owned by the National condition and opened to the OF INDIVIDUAL OWNERS Street Church (right) was Trust for Scotland, the public. 4HE CITY COUNCIL EVENTU designed by Greek Thomson Victorian villa has been L Caledonia Road Church in ALLY STEPPED IN ON BEHALF OF in 1859 for the former United restored to its original Gorbals was Thomson’s first MAJORITY OWNER 530 AND Presbyterian Church of church in Glasgow and was BEGAN PREPARING COMPUL Scotland. It is owned by built in 1857. It was severely SORY PURCHASE ORDERS FOR Glasgow City Council and damaged by fire in 1965. A YEAR THE REST OF THE BUILDING currently used !S A RESULT ALL THE OTHER by a congregation of the Free L An elegant row of two- OWNERS AGREED TO SELL UP Church of Scotland. storey terraced townhouses AND THE COMPANY NOW in Millbrae Crescent, OWNS THE ENTIRE BUILDING L Holmwood House on the Langside, Glasgow, are 530 (ISTORIC 3COTLAND south side of Glasgow is among Thomson’s other AND THE COUNCIL LOOKED AT considered Thomson’s designs and also use OPTIONS THAT INCLUDED finest and most original Egyptian-style columns and KEEPING THE FACADE AND residential property. ornamentation. DEMOLISHING EVERYTHING Sarah Payne killer’s MSPs back national jail term is reduced children’s panel body 4(% KILLER OF SCHOOLGIRL TENCE ON7HITING p WHO WAS BRIAN CURRIE ING SYSTEM 7HILE THE CUR 3ARAH 0AYNE HAD HIS  YEAR NOT IN COURT p REMAINED ONE POLITICAL EDITOR RENT SYSTEM HAS INDIVIDUAL MINIMUM JAIL TERM CUT BY  OF IMPRISONMENT FOR LIFE AND LOCAL AUTHORITY PANELS THE YEARS BY THE (IGH #OURT IN HEWOULD BE DETAINEDmUNLESS ! 0,!. TO REPLACE LOCAL "ILL PROPOSES A NATIONAL ,ONDON YESTERDAY AND UNTIL THE PAROLE BOARD IS CHILDRENlS PANELS WITH A BODY CALLED #HILDRENlS 0AEDOPHILE 2OY 7HITING SATISFIED HE NO LONGER PRES SINGLE NATIONAL BODY HAS (EARINGS 3COTLAND THOUGH  WAS JAILED FOR LIFE IN  ENTS A RISK TO THE PUBLICn BEEN BACKED BY A (OLYROOD HEARINGS WOULD STILL TAKE FOR THE KIDNAP AND MURDER 4HE JUDGE ADDED m) INVITE COMMITTEE PLACE IN COMMUNITIES OF EIGHT YEAR OLD 3ARAH EVERYONE PRESENT IN COURT TO (OWEVER -30S EXPRESSED #OMMITTEE CONVENER FROM 7EST 3USSEX PAUSE AND REMEMBER 3ARAH SEVERAL CONCERNS INCLUDING +AREN 7HITEFIELD SAID m7E )N  THE THEN HOME 0AYNE WHO WOULD NOW BE THE PROBLEM OF CHILDREN AGREED TO SUPPORT THE GEN SECRETARY $AVID "LUNKETT  IF SHE HAD NOT BEEN MUR CARRYING A CRIMINAL RECORD ERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE "ILL ORDERED HIM TO SERVE AT LEAST DERED AND REFLECT THE GRAVE INTO ADULT LIFE ALTHOUGH THERE WERE CON Only £5.30 per week and that’s not all, you TO TAKE UP THIS  YEARS BEFORE BECOMING LOSS HER DEATH HAS CAUSED TO )N THEIR REPORT INTO THE CERNS THAT MUCH WOULD ELIGIBLE FOR PAROLE HER FAMILY AND OTHERS WHO #HILDRENlS (EARINGS 3COT DEPEND ON THE VIEWS OF can now spread the cost with our continuous EXCELLENT OFFER "UT YESTERDAY HIGH COURT LOVED HERn LAND "ILL MEMBERS OF THE WHOEVER IS APPOINTED AS THE JUDGE -R*USTICE 3IMON SAID 3ARAHlS MOTHER 3ARA %DUCATION ,IFELONG ,EARN NATIONAL CONVENER Direct Debit payment method or you can pay OR FOR MORE THE APPROPRIATE MINIMUM 0AYNE WHO WAS IN THE ING AND #ULTURE #OMMITTEE m/UR MAIN CONCERN IS TO TERM WAS  YEARS AND THAT PACKED COURTROOM LINKED AGREED THE SYSTEM HAD TO BE ENSURE THE STRENGTHS OF THE monthly, quarterly, and annually, whatever INFORMATION CALL FROM THAT MUST BE DEDUCTED HANDS WITH A MAN SITTING MODERNISED CHILDRENlS HEARING SYSTEM THE TIME SPENT ON REMAND NEXT TO HER BUT WAS OTHER 4HE NEW LEGISLATION IS ARE BOLSTERED AND DECISIONS suits you best. Simply hand the vouchers to US ON 0141 302 7300 CALCULATED TO BE  DAYS WISE IMPASSIVE AS THE JUDGE AIMED AT STRENGTHENING THE CONTINUE TO BE MADE IN THE (E STRESSED THAT THE SEN MADE HIS COMMENTS  YEAR OLD CHILDRENlS HEAR BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILDn your newsagent instead of money. MON-FRI 9am - 5pm ALISON ROWAT REVIEWS THE LATEST MOVIE RELEASES – PAGE 15  NOBODY KNOWS GLASGOW BETTER Wednesday June 9 2010 EVENING TIMES FACES £18m plan for derelict ‘Greek’ Thomson building IN THE NEWS New crown for mag Queen Cole Cheryl Cole’s status as the nation’s celebrity queen was cemented after being crowned Woman of the Year. The TV and singing star, 26, scooped the Glamour magazine award at a glitzy ceremony in London last night. It’s been a busy year for Cole, but both her X Factor role and her solo album were overshadowed by her split from husband Ashley. Cowell tribute to Bethany, 5 Britain’s Got a-LISTED Talent judge Simon Cowell has paid tribute to a “very special little girl” who died of a brain tumour days after fulfilling her “big ambition” to sing for him. Bethany Fenton, 5, from Gloucestershire, performed hALLS TO Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for him on Saturday. She died yesterday with her family at her side. Birthday blues for Kym’s beau BE Hbeing at risk.OTEL The firm has all the other owners agreed EXCLUSIVE agreed that Derbyshire- to sell up and Union Street CorRIE star By VIVIENNE NICOLL Kym Marsh based Longrose Buccleuch Properties now owns the has put her and GRAEME MURRAY will manage the building entire building. wedding to N £18 MILLION with the hotel franchise The company, Historic former being taken over by the Scotland and the council plan will see the Accor group. It already looked at options for the Hollyoaks transformation of actor Jamie operates 850 hotels in nearly Halls including keeping the Lomas on hold due to work one of Glasgow’s 100 countries. facade and demolishing commitments. architectural Derek Souter of Union everything behind it, adding The former Hear’Say gems into a 136- Street Investments said: a rooftop extension, or singer said: “The wedding bedroomA hotel. “This is fantastic news for flattening the building and was to take place during the For 30 years the Egyptian Glasgow and Union Street redeveloping the site. same week as Coronation Halls in Union Street have and would also be a signifi- Street’s 50th birthday, lain mostly empty and partly cant boost for Glasgow’s which would have meant I’d derelict. construction industry. have been very busy.” But all that is about to “As well as creating more The council is anxious change with plans to convert than 60 construction and 80 to see this Grade A building the A-listed Alexander full and part-time jobs when returned to productive use Fortuna waltzes ‘Greek’ Thomson designed trading, it will preserve The part of the hotel in the without external funding former warehouse into a Scotland’s architectural A report to councillors, existing building would be support.” swish hotel. heritage.” says: “Given the status of the three star with the new Union Street Properties is off dance show Cash will come from the The Egyptian Halls are building and its importance extension four star. in the process of raising Better Glasgow Fund which considered by many to be to the heritage of Glasgow, The report adds: “Historic £17m and has asked the US star Brian was set up two years ago to architect Alexander ‘Greek’ city council to provide the Fortuna is to USP has been advised Scotland appears to accept fund regeneration and the Thomson’s finest building. demolition/redevelopment compromise is necessary other £1m. quit the BBC’s protection of historic Over the past 30 years, Steve Inch, the council’s Strictly Come would not be supported by and that without some buildings. It is hoped the various plans to refurbish the council or Historic radical design changes to executive director of Dancing show hotel will act as a spring- the Halls have been frus- development and regenera- after changes Scotland.” the building no refurbish- board for the wider regen- trated by the fact it had a But studies show no other ment will take place and the tion, said: “The council has to the format. eration of Union Street. large number of individual deterioration will continue. been anxious to see this The BBC has recruited options are financially On Friday, Glasgow owners. viable. The option which “The initial development important Grade A listed three new male dancers to councillors will be asked to The city council eventu- building restored and the show this year, with shows the smallest financial appraisal suggests the contribute £1m towards the ally stepped in on behalf of loss involves shops at development will cost returned to productive use Fortuna offered a role in a cost of the scheme from the majority owner Union Street for many years. new professional group, basement and ground floor approximately £18m but will Better Glasgow Fund. Properties and began levels and a hotel on the first show a loss of £5m based on “We hope our proposed which would have seen him preparing compulsory financial support will removed from the mentoring Union Street Investments to fourth floors with the the estimated returns. own the historic building purchase orders for the rest addition of a rooftop “There is therefore no bolster the regeneration of role which saw him of the building. As a result Union Street.” partnered with celebrities. which is now regarded as extension. prospect of proceeding EVENING TIMES Wednesday June 9 2010 367,000 WEEKLY AUDIENCE IN PRINT AND ONLINE  aims to put new heart into city centre site Probe told of pressure on inspections But care home had more than 20 visits

A BUILDING control expert told the inquiry into the deaths of 14 OAPs at a care home the process of inspect- n The plan would create a hotel from the building ing buildings had ROSEPARK which has lain derelict for almost 30 years become “devalued” by pressure to rush INQUIRY through applications. But Thomas Sorbie processing applications. s a i d R o s e p a r k Ca r e “There just isn’t the Home in Uddingston same emphasis on inspec- – wh e r e t h e d e a t h s tion as there was before,” occurred in 2004 – had he said. received more than 20 Mr Sorbie said the site inspections, an unu- inspections at Rosepark sually high number. appeared mainly to have Mr Sorbie had told been early in the con- a Fatal Accident Inquiry struction process, mean- i n M o t h e r w e l l t h a t i n g m o st t o o k p l a c e council league tables before ventilation and p u t p r e s s u r e o n other fire-stopping inspectors. measures would have He said site visits by been in place. inspectors had reduced He had earlier told the dramatically over the inquiry that a site inspec- years from the early tor appeared to have 1990s and this was a missed problems with major problem by the the building’s ventilation start of this century. syst e m , su c h a s t h e One chief executive he absence of any fire damp- knew had quipped that ers, the automatic clos- “warrants (for new build- ing systems that could ings) mean jobs”, the have blocked the passage inquiry was told, and o f h e a t a n d s m o k e t h a t w i t h l i m i t e d through the premises. resources inspectors T h e i n q u i r y , i n w e r e p u s h e d i n t o Motherwell, continues. Autism link to babies born a week early BABIES born a week The results “suggest early are more prone to deliveries should ideally develop a series of learn- wait until 40 weeks of ing difficulties such as gestation because even a autism, and deafness. baby born at 39 weeks... A study of more than has an increased risk of 4 0 0 , 0 0 0 c h i l d r e n by special educational needs researchers at Glasgow compared with a baby University showed that born a week later”. those born at 39 weeks Around a third of UK The council is likely to were more likely to need births take place at 37 to draw up a legal agreement help at school compared 39 weeks as mothers allowing it to claw back cash with babies who spent 40 choose earlier deliveries if the building costs are not weeks in the womb. for non-medical reasons. as high as expected or if it is sold on for above its estimated cost. Garin Davies of Longrose I WILL BUY Buccleuch said: “We assess I WILL BUY many project opportunities YOUR PROPERTY and this is one which is near the top of the list we want to YOUR become involved with.” Neil Baxter, secretary of n the Royal Incorporation of Derek Souter PROPERTY says the project Architects in Scotland, said: Phone Janice at “This is a building of the first will create more importance, not simply in than 60 Glasgow or Scotland but in construction Property Freedom European terms.” jobs and 80 jobs once completed 0141 404 7844  /0#0%:
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49 Alexander Thomson

Greek Revival?

above An unapologetic intervention could soon be bedfellow to Thomson’s masterpiece

Glasgow’s decaying architectural legacy has long been waiting for appropriate benefactors to pull up. Now Alexander “Greek” Thomson has long after a wait of near half a century, those prayers look to have been answered for the former Caledonia Road been overshadowed by the cult of Church. Hot on the heels of the Egyptian Halls and St Vincent Street Church, this forelorn relic of bygone glory Mackintosh, however with a recent hat is to be pulled belatedly into the 21st century. Riding the crest of Glasgow’s commercial prosperity Thomson was able to channel the city’s trade wealth into trick of proposals, that may change. totems of architectural grandeur by drawing upon diverse influences from synomonous Greek homages to haunting burned out skeleton. Despite the international from a central location and intact interiors. Mark Baines Egyptian, Romanesque, Persian and Indian influences. significance of Thomson and being structurally sound, explains the decision: “The depths of connection The Church, at the time keen to assert its influence and this shell has been closed off to visitors since 1965 and Thomson had with the Gorbals are clear, he was an elder identity, provided a rich architectural seam for Thomson hints only obliquely at past grandeur. Reduced to a of the church, worshipped there, built a lot of tenements to sow, landing him a string of commissions that included romantic ruin the church carries all sorts of memories as between Eglinton St and Caledonia Rd and is buried in St Vincent Street Church and Queen’s Park Church one of the few surviving 19th century buildings in the the nearby Southern Necropolis. Saint Vincent Street on (sadly since destroyed). Gorbals and makes a highly memorable impact, the other hand is compromised in the eyes of the society As religion receded from the city however a litany of particularly from the north. by already having a number of other church related architectural marvels were left in its wake, purposeless, This situation has not gone unnoted by the Alexander activities going on in the meeting hall and disabled vandalised and in decline. Now Gholami Baines Architects Thomson Society who wish to put this historic wrong to access is problematic. Egyptian Halls was not necessarily in association with the Alexander Thomson Society have rights by transforming the crumbling structure of the a permanent location either as we would be renting intriguing plans to re-instate the full splendour of the existing A listed ruin into a custodian of Thomson’s work, space in the building as a commercial development Caledonia Road edifice in a contemporary fusion of old an archive to better communicate what was special which didn’t seem appropriate. It then dawned as and new. Of the many hurdles facing a scheme of this about his contribution to the city, which numbered some obvious that Thomson’s first public building, not so at magnitude it was the fact that Caledonia Road Church 140-160 projects since he first hooked up with John risk but still essentially isolated, was best placed to does not actually reside upon Caledonia Road that Baird in 1849. This is envisaged to take shape in similar house the collection.” presented one of the earliest head scratchers for the fashion to Le Corbusier’s Villa La Roche and Centro Sally White, secretary of the Alexander Thomson sites custodians. After some deliberation however it was Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio, Society added: “In one sense we’re lucky at Caledonia decided to rename the church One Alexander Thomson Vicenza. Rd that we don’t have the responsibility of working with Place (ATP), to best articulate their new ethos. Nevertheless selection of ATP by the Alexander interior schemes. An ongoing debate with many buildings ATP has long sat sentinel over an important transport Thomson Society for such a home proved a thorny issue is do you recreate what was existing previously? Do you corridor between the south side and city centre, a for backers of St Vincent Street Church, which benefits peel away more of what remains? Do we touch up 50 Alexander Thomson Prospect

decoration or leave it the way it is? The destruction of the fundraising appeals, there is still a lot of work to be done similar vein to Cooper Cromar’s g1, is also planned, Caledonia Road interior makes that no longer an before the this building can provide a roof over the head though Morrison is wary of heritage body reaction: “an issue.” of the Thomson Society. inordinate amount of time and energy goes into trying to By reaching out to a still somewhat moribund swathe One Alexander Thomson Place will be built by a team promote such ideas and I feel that as a principle there of city, despite the intervention of New Gorbals which comprising Gholami Baines Architects, David Narro should be less of a presumption against it. That said, itself is walled off from neighbours, it is hoped the Associates, Buro Happold, Ross & Morton and WHITE such challenges are not new. Even Greek Thomson development can be a catalyst not only for Thomson but Design. spoke out against such resistance to new ideas. Given Glasgow as a whole, establishing a meaningful Greek Thomson’s progressive thinking I wonder if he partnership with the Mackintosh Society for cross Walk like an Egyptian would be more inclined to encourage the evolution/ collaboration, perhaps even realising a long held ambition The Morrison Partnership have unveiled long awaited change of his buildings to meet today’s demands or of bringing tourist buses south of the Clyde. plans to restore Alexander “Greek” Thomson’s Egyptian would resist all such thoughts.” Early on it was recognised that a gallery alone Halls for Union Street Properties. The £6.5m development Interminable delays and protracted negotiations have wouldn’t be sufficient to attract large numbers of people, represents culmination of 11 years investment directed witnessed considerable deterioration in the fabric of the different uses were needed to enrich the space with towards securing 100% ownership of the crumbling Egyptian Halls, notably the collapse of one of the main meeting, rooms, studios, apartments and museum. Halls, despite challenging and sometimes perplexing cupolas and the loss of much of the internal plasterwork Entrance to the building begins at a public space, obstacles. on the upper floors due to water ingress, which has defined by granite setts and a statue of Thomson Restoration of the famous A listed cast iron framed badly rotted the timber floors. Now the question is how strategically sited to greet visitors. A tall narrow slot on warehouse will reinvigorate a down at heel Union St by much of the building can be reasonably retained and can axis with the tower leads visitors uder the new building returning to prominence its most famous architectural those solutions be practical, economic and sustainable. and into a central courtyard lined with planting derived landmark, potentially initiating many spin off benefits as Morrison states: “The intention is to reinstate internally from classical decoration. The courtyard acts as a haven Soutar exclaims: “this project could be the linchpin of a those features where it is appropriate and practical in the from nearby noise and pollution and is the main source Townscape Heritage initiative for Union Street, similar to context of the proposals, as well as financially viable of natural ventilation. Within the courtyard a stone the Merchant City project”. bearing in mind the need for Planning and Listed doorway rescued by the Thomson Society from a George Morrisson of the Morrison Partnership said: Building Consents. Externally we will be endeavouring to warehouse on Watson Street leads into the Thomson “The current outward appearance is so dirty and forlorn retain principal features such as the front elevation and Gallery and Study Centre. that I guess the building does not register with most of where detail has been overlaid with more recent finishes Most dramatically the site will witness the construction the passing public.” Behind a thirty years in the making we will endeavour to reverse that work. Elsewhere inside of five storey new build accommodation on land coat of soot, grime and guano however resides one of the building we may discover other features hidden by adjoining the partial church gable, this satisfies the dual the most striking facades in Glasgow, with potential to more recent works. These will be recorded and where aim of recalling the scale of original tenements whilst make a real and lasting contribution to Union Street. possible and practical we will endeavour to retain in reinstating a northern frontage with ten serviced flats. Thomson’s heritage is subject to a belated revival in some form.” A minimalist facade of polished silver grey granite to fortunes of late and Morrison is happy that the famed Amongst the key steps still to be crossed are the north uses glazing sparingly to create a smooth structures now may be subject to strong and viable confirming a technical and practical solution, conveying geometric sheen that will reflect the light and weather. solutions but professes unease at any wider hook ups in the merit of such a solution; having those proposals South facing conservatories to the apartments view the the short term: “I would be concerned that early joint accepted, getting adequate funding for those proposals; tower. Baines describes: “Thomson’s buildings are all promotion of these buildings as a form of holy trinity getting the right type of contractors and getting funders monolithic, even timber detail is made to look like might appear to complicate matters and frighten off the to understand the project and providing the necessary masonry, so we didn’t want a mix of materials but very people (and their money) who might save the funding on reasonable terms something that was sharp, precise and machine cut.” buildings. As the future of these buildings becomes The tortuous timetable thus far traversed indicates Sedum roofs with solar panels will be incorporated with identified and on their way to being established then it that the road ahead will be by no means clear, a problem built in roof level lanterns and floor to ceiling glazing may be appropriate on the back of the increasing further compounded by the present economic climate. drawing in light. confidence and their individual success to establish Any new applications for Planning Permission and Listed As the City Council is providing financial support for some sort of cross promotion and reference. Building Consent will only happen once discussions with the planning application we can probably assume that Indicative proposals call for reinstatement of original the Authorities are complete but it is hoped that works permission will pass without a hitch. The same cannot motifs at ground level alongside standardised signage could be underway on site in 2010, though this is be said for funding however, which is still not in place. across the presently cluttered streetscape. Most predicated on parties executing their roles timeously to The city council have agreed to partner the Trust in any dramatically a contemporary roofscape intervention, in a establish and maintain momentum. www.architecturescotland.co.uk 51

clockwise Structural beams at St Vincent St have been clad in steel, a lead roof offers protection; One Alexander Thomson Place from the air; Egyptian Halls restored

St Vincent Street thin steel plates which span full length and tie the three designed by Mark Baines to include a similar facility is St Vincent Street Church, a recurrent entrant in the World truss-beams into the wallheads at both ends. currently being championed by the Thomson Society on Monuments Fund’s top 100 most endangered buildings, Hamilton voiced Page \ Park’s dilemma: “was it really the site of the former Caledonia Rd Church. stands a forlorn relic of past architectural glories, the only right to leave the structure in that condition if there is an Hamilton recalls: “these are parallel ideas but the surviving substantially complete church by Alexander opportunity to consolidate with minimum intervention? Caledonia Road proposals are obviously quite advanced. “Greek” Thomson remaining in Glasgow. Until recently it The Sanctuary space had to be preserved at all costs and St Vincent Street Church’s location is certainly more was imperilled by leaking roofs but these have finally been in themselves these interventions - the new lead roof central and accessible but it’s all about joined up thinking. addressed in a second phase of an ongoing programme finish and the structural strengthening have gone a The idea of a ‘Thomson Trail’ starting from his finest of restorative works by Page \ Park on behalf of owners, substantial way towards securing the building’s future.” surviving building and leading around his other city centre Glasgow City Council. Outlining the resultant attention to detail Hamilton works, perhaps out to Caledonia Road and deeper into The shallow pitching roofs to the main sanctuary and continued: “Each plate is only 10mm thick and has been the south side beyond to include Holmwood House (an lower side aisles were reslated in the early 1990s with engineered to follow precisely the bow on the individual earlier Page \ Park conservation project for The National slates insufficiently sized to protect the church in its truss beams which they support. The sides of the original Trust for Scotland) could be tempting to visitors. exposed location on Blythswood Hill and wind driven rain timber beams are decorated and extreme care was taken “Caledonia Road Church is a shell but it’s had the led to many leaks over intervening years. Ian Hamilton, to recreate that decoration on the faces of the steel plates essential repairs carried out to secure its future, albeit as Associate Director at Page \ Park explained that “much to the extent that it is impossible, even at close quarters, a shell. St Vincent Street Church is still a functioning time was spent soul searching and discussing with to tell the difference.” church and whilst relatively unchanged since its completion Historic Scotland and the Planning Department the issue Wider discussions are ongoing about the church’s it still needs significant amounts spent on it. The unique of changing the original roof finish. In the end it was long-term sustainable future. The World Monument Fund decorative scheme of ornate stencilled work and plaster agreed that a change from slate to lead-finished roofs chaired a recent workshop at Page \ Park’s Glasgow detailing within the main sanctuary must be restored as it would offer the best long-term protection to the valuable offices to discuss ideas for new possible uses of the is of world-class significance. That will be an enormously building fabric and finishes.” building. Included were representatives from Glasgow important, and costly, future phase of work.” Despite having stood for over 150 years without City Council, the Alexander Thomson Society, the St. The current economic climate makes conservation obvious distress structural engineers called into question Vincent Street Milton Free Church and ‘Chanan’ (both work ever more difficult to effect with Glasgow City whether the original slim, exposed timber structure of the current tenants), Historic Scotland, Glasgow Building Council strung out in so many different directions with main sanctuary roof had sufficient inherent strength and Preservation Trust, Visit Scotland and Page \ Park. Outline pleas for funding. The hope remains however that St lateral restraint, even without the additional loads imposed proposals for conversion of part of the church to provide Vincent Street Church could once more be a stunning by the new roof finish. The only strengthening option open an interpretation centre for Thomson’s work were monument to Glasgow’s forgotten genius- Alexander to the design team was the unorthodox approach of fixing discussed even though a more advanced development ‘Greek’ Thomson.”

8 EVENING TELEGRAPH NEWS Monday, May 31, 2010 Egyptian dream nears reality BA may face

A Dundee developer is closing in “summer of on his dream of resurrecting Glasgow’s Egyptian Halls some 30 years after they fell into commercial disruption” decline. Derek Souter, of Union Street British Airways was today warned it Investments, has ploughed £5.5 could face a “needless summer of million into the project so far, but disruption” because of the “hard man” has now reached an important stance of its chief executive over the milestone by signing up a hotel bitter cabin crew dispute. management company that is Tony Woodley, joint leader of Unite, expected to operate a 136-bedroom told the union’s annual conference in hotel in the historic building. Manchester a new ballot for continued He says the chance of saving a strike action may be only a week away. “world class architectural He issued the warning as cabin crew masterpiece” through a £20m-plus take the second day of a five-day redevelopment has never been walkout, with further industrial action closer. planned for next week. Egyptian Halls, now approaching The cabin crew launched their 14th dereliction, is one of the signature day of action today in a dispute which buildings of Alexander Greek Unite said had now cost BA £91 million, Thomson, Glasgow’s chief architect with each day of action adding £7 million. during the second half of the 19th Mr Woodley said the need for the crew Century. to seek a new mandate for industrial The 138-year-old Union Street action lay firmly with BA chief executive edifice, opposite Glasgow’s Central Willie Walsh and his “persistent refusal” Station, is one of the most elaborate to permit a peaceful settlement. in the city but has gradually fallen “With a deal on cabin crew costs into disrepair. already agreed between both parties, the Derek, and co-investors Kelvin airline could be restored to full operation Kerr and Duncan Souter, have been in time for the peak summer season — pursuing a rescue plan for 12 years but only if BA drops its vicious and now believe a deal is just determination to punish crew for striking around the corner. USI is just by removing their travel assistance,” Mr waiting for word on grant aid from Woodley said. funding sources with a decision BA said it had operated more services expected within weeks. than planned yesterday, including the Derek said, “Things are very close reintroduction of all of its services from now and we see June as being a big Heathrow to New York’s JFK airport, month. We are on the way to adding that it would continue to add to its schedule where possible. achieving our goal.” USI recently signed an agreement with Longrose Buccleuch to manage the proposed hotel. The Egyptian Halls in Glasgow’s Union Street. Breast cancer breakthrough hopes raised Hopes summer — turn to P11 Crash pilot is here to stay was ‘very By Graeme Bletcher lot of sunshine and temperatures reaching 19C in Scotland. competent’ Dundonians swapped sweaters for sunscreen today as a sunny Bank “The end of the week is also looking good, but into the week after we may see the weather become A pilot who died with his son in a more unsettled and a bit more cloudy. light aircraft crash on the Spanish Holiday Monday sparked high hopes that summer is here to stay. island of Menorca was a “very “We are expecting next week to be fairly mild, Aside from an unwelcome blip of rain tomorrow fingers crossed that British summertime has finally competent” flyer, a family friend said. but a bit more unstable.” morning, temperatures look set to stay steady arrived. Former RAF man Bruce Hook (63) throughout the week, with the Met Office Thursday and Friday may be the best time to An early morning update from a Dundee weather and his 26-year-old son Ian were killed predicting highs approaching 20 degrees Celsius break out the deck chairs this week, as a good observation station showed just a five kilometres- on Saturday as they prepared for an air from Wednesday. amount of sunshine is predicted with little cloud per-hour wind, humidity at 63% and a temperature race at the island’s San Luis aerodrome. of 13C. Sunseekers will be praying for no return of the and, most importantly, just a gentle southerly It is thought the plane had just taken freak conditions of last week, which saw heavy breeze. The 10-day forecast indicates a chance of light off when it nosedived, crashed and hailstone showers followed by the thunder and A Met Office spokeswoman warned that while rain at the start of next week before the sunshine exploded, killing the pair instantly. lightning that ripped through a church spire in breaks back through. Scotland has enjoyed the best weather in the UK Mr Hook senior, from Worcester, Broughty Ferry. today, it may not quite be time to ditch the cardigan This time last year Dundee was enjoying was flying his own plane — a Beech altogether. And after two weekends of glorious sunshine and temperatures of around 18C, with the city’s average Baron 55 in RAF colours — when the soaring temperatures earlier in the month, She said, “It will certainly be a nice day across spring temperature coming in at 14C and the accident happened. most local residents will be keeping their much of country today, with most places getting a average low at five degrees. Mr Hook has owned a village garage in Lapworth in the West Midlands for the past 32 years, where his son also Activists die as commandos worked. Business colleague Stephen Esslemont (44), from Solihull, who rents the garage forecourt, described storm Gaza Strip aid flotilla Mr Hook as a “kind, considerable and helpful person” and said he was Up to 10 pro-Palestinian activists were grabbed a weapon from one of the shocked by his death. reported killed today and dozens more commandos. The weapon discharged, He added, “After all the years he’s injured when Israeli naval commandos though it wasn’t clear whether the done it you don’t expect him to crash. stormed an aid flotilla heading towards activist fired it or it went off accidentally. He was a very competent pilot.” the blockaded Gaza Strip. Dozens of people — both soldiers and The two men are believed to have The Israeli army said the soldiers were activists — were wounded in the fierce been preparing for an air race attacked with knives and clubs as they clashes. They are being airlifted to organised by two branches of the Royal boarded the six vessels in the hospital by helicopter. Aero Club. Mediterranean early today. Israel has condemned the flotilla as a They left the UK on Friday to attend The Israeli military said the violence provocation and vowed to block it from the event in Spain, which Mr Hook turned deadly after one of the activists reaching Gaza. Activists were interviewed by reporters shortly before the attack. went to every year. Demolishing Egyptian Halls is last straw in 30-year development plan

Published on 10 May 2011

Union Street Properties (USP) has been forced to apply to demolish the Egyptian Halls in Union Street, Glasgow, because we cannot fund the Listed Building Repairs Notice (LBRN), which is a legally binding obligation.

An LBRN cannot be varied once it has been served (“Threat to demolish historic Greek Thomson building”, The Herald, May 5 and Letters, May 6). The near-£10 million deficit cannot be funded in the present commercial market, due to the absence of speculative funding and the 80% crash in property values on Union Street. An alternative solution is required.

USP cannot survive with the threat of the LBRN hanging over it. If it was removed there would not be a statutory duty to discharge it. The application to demolish focuses on the financial non-viability of the scheme, which would see the LBRN discharged and a 200-room hotel created. The latter does not relate to or concern USP.

The application to demolish follows to the letter Scottish Historic Environment policy and, according to the criteria laid down USP, qualifies on at least three of the four grounds.

I also have to state this is a 30-plus years problem which has come to a head. It’s bad timing for all stakeholders: Glasgow City Council, Historic Scotland, the Scottish Government, USP and Union Street Investments (USI). A decade ago the deficit would have been £3m. If I was in favour of demolition I’d not be taking to the streets of Glasgow to get signatures for a petition.

To preserve the Egyptian Halls and return it to commercial sustainability the new Scottish Government needs to engage with both USP and USI. No developer in these challenging times can expect any form of a blank cheque. A collaborative private/public sector project can still be implemented; one which is self-financing, accountable and transparent and would see the Scottish Government offered a share of any windfall profits, if they should accrue.

Derek J Souter, Director, Union Street Investments and Union Street Properties,

26 Foundry Lane, Dundee.

Great British architects

Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson 1817–75

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‘Thomson’s predilection for abstract form was the outcome of an

original mind’ Early career architecture rested. They failed to master Sir Albert Richardson, 1914 Alexander Thomson was born in Balfron, their style, and so became its slaves’. Stirlingshire, some 15 miles north of Glasgow. He seems to have been the first to apply Alexander Thomson was known as He was the 17th of the 20 children of a book- Picturesque principles of composition to the ‘Greek’ Thomson because of his tena- keeper at a cotton-spinning mill and part Greek style in his villas, as at his unique Double cious commitment to an idiosyncratic of an extended family that included several Villa at Langside (1856–57) where two iden- interpretation of Ancient Greek archi- Presbyterian missionaries. Thomson moved tical semi-detached houses face in opposite tecture at a time when it was completely to Glasgow with his widowed mother in 1825, directions. Thomson’s finest villa was Holm- out of fashion and Victorian Gothic was and, because of his aptitude for drawing, was wood at Cathcart (1857–58), of which his first dominant. An eloquent thinker as well articled to the Glasgow architect Robert Foote. biographer, Thomas Gildard, wrote that: ‘If as a practitioner, he came to believe For about 10 years, he worked for John Baird, architecture be poetry in stone-and-lime— that Greek architecture was an expres- a leading architect in the rapidly expanding sion of God-given ‘eternal laws’, and city, becoming his chief draughtsman. Thom- Gothic was an irrational, unstable son set up in independent practice in 1848 (Anglo-Saxon) style. However, he was no copyist, and believed that the Greek with another John Baird (no relation), both should be the starting point for a rational architects having married two daughters of modern architecture. His work was London architect Michael Angelo Nicholson. never pure Greek, and Egyptian and The partnership was amicably terminated in other exotic influences may be detected, 1857, when Thomson’s younger brother George as well as that of the Prussian architect joined the practice, until he left to be a mission- K. F. Schinkel. Practical and inventive, ary in the Cameroons. Thomson’s final pro- Thomson was happy to use cast iron fessional partner was Robert Turnbull. and large sheets of glass with tradi- tional stone masonry in his buildings. Villas Although his imagination ranged far Baird & Thomson began by designing villas and wide, he never travelled abroad, in the new suburbs of Glasgow and along and all his surviving work is in or near the River Clyde; these were in a variety of Glasgow. He designed villas, terraces, styles, including Gothic and Romanesque. commercial buildings and Presbyterian However, by the mid 1850s, Thomson had Egyptian Halls, Union Street (1870–72), a sort churches, in which it is possible to developed the refined and abstracted Grecian of bazaar or shopping centre with an exhibi- explore a recondite symbolism inspired manner for which he is known. He was never tion gallery, was Thomson’s largest and by the apocalyptic paintings of John a conventional Revivalist and he argued that most elaborate commercial building. The Martin. Thomson secured a reputation the earlier promoters of the Greek Revival sculptural treatment of the columns articu- beyond Glasgow, too, due to the con- had failed ‘because they could not see through lating each floor is different, rising to an Alastair Hunter/RIBA Library Photographs Collectoin; RCAHMS spicuous originality of his architecture. the material into the laws upon which that ‘eaves gallery’ below the enormous cornice

70 Country Life, January 13, 2010 www.countrylife.co.uk of the dining room either side of the Thomson and specially made by the Holmwood House, Glasgow entrance. Inside, the staircase rises under Garnkirk Fireclay Company What to look for a circular cupola, and most rooms were 3 The square piers dividing the window Thomson’s finest and most elaborate embellished with a scheme of painted openings are a simple abstracted form villa was built in 1857–58 in a rural site decoration. The house is now owned by derived from Greek architecture, but in Cathcart, for James Couper, a paper the National Trust for Scotland. much used by Schinkel in Berlin manufacturer. It is a Picturesque asym- 1 The low-pitched slate roof (not wholly 4 The huge sash windows, which go up metrical composition in Thomson’s Greek practical in the west of Scotland), with and down, are placed behind and deli- style, with the projecting circular bay of generous eaves supported on cast-iron berately separate from the stone piers the parlour balancing the large windows brackets, typical of Thomson’s villas 5 The long wall directly connecting the 2 The terracotta chimneypots villa with the detached coach house is with lotus-flower tops an example of Thomson’s love of con- were designed by tinuous horizontality, which can make his villas prescient of the later prairie houses of Frank Lloyd Wright

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a great temple an epic—this exquisite little more scientifically constructed than York Min- in London must have seemed unfashionable gem, at once Classic and Picturesque, is as ster.’ His most elegant example is Grecian in England to the point of perversity. Only complete, self-contained, and polished as Buildings in Sauchiehall Street (1867–68). in Glasgow, perhaps, could his idiosyncratic a sonnet.’ Thomson designed the furniture and approach and his exotic imagination flourish. fittings, too, plus the painted decoration. Churches Thomson was not well in his latter years, Thomson’s largest buildings were churches. and, had he survived the severe winter of City architect He designed great temples for United Presby- 1874–75, he planned to make his first trip Thomson designed a number of impressive terian congregations, which Hitchcock con- abroad, to Italy, to try to recover his health. terraces in Glasgow, in which single houses sidered to be ‘three of the finest Romantic But this was not to be, and he was buried in were combined in various ways to make power- Classical churches in the world’. All had richly the Southern Necropolis in Glasgow. ful unified compositions. The grandest was decorated interiors. The first was the Cale- Great Western Terrace (1867–77), but, for the donia Road Church (1855–57, now a gutted American historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock, ruin), where a raised-up temple portico was Moray Place in Strathbungo (1859–61) was ‘the combined with an asymmetrically placed finest of all nineteenth-century terraces… tower. The most inventive was the Queen’s and one of the world’s most superb pieces Park Church (1868–69), which was as much of design based on Greek precedent’. In this Egyptian as Greek in inspiration; its destruc- terrace—in which Thomson himself lived tion by fire in 1943 was Scotland’s worst from 1861 until his death—the ‘mysterious architectural loss of the Second World War. power of the horizontal element’ is evident, The only intact survivor is the St Vincent Street achieved through Thomson’s ‘principle of Church (1857–59), with its unprecedented repetition’. His façade treatment for Queen’s exotic steeple, like a modern interpretation Park Terrace (1856–60, dem.) influenced the of the Temple of Solomon, in which the gal- design of Glasgow’s blocks of tenements. leries and clerestory are carried on shaped Thomson designed several commercial cast-iron columns, and plate-glass windows warehouses Glasgow, in which cast-iron struc- were applied directly to the masonry. tures lay behind stone façades that incorpor- Thomson’s contemporaries regretted that ated large plate-glass windows. Their eleva- he was never awarded a commission for tions are remarkable for the way in which he a public building commensurate with his The St Vincent Street Church of 1857–59 is dissolved the wall plane into a sculptural, talents. The decision of Glasgow University to Thomson’s only surviving intact place of dynamic composition of columns, lintels and give its new buildings to Gilbert Scott, without worship. The Ionic portico may be fairly architraves. These were developments of the competition, provoked a searing, eloquent conventional, but the steeple, rising to an trabeated language of the Greeks and reflected attack on the Gothic Revival from the archi- exotic dome, is full of Old Testament allu- his morbid suspicion of the arch, for, as he tect, but Thomson’s designs for the Albert sions and the whole dramatic composition, notoriously once said: ‘Stonehenge is really Memorial and the South Kensington Museum on a sloping site, is without precedent

www.countrylife.co.uk Country Life, January 13, 2010 71