Adam Smith Building – Glasgow
Construction: 1967
Architects: David Harvey Alex Scott & Associates

Rankine Building – Glasgow
Construction: 1969
Architects: Keppie Henderson & Partners

The Boyd Orr Building – Glasgow
Construction: 1972
Architects: Dorward Matheson Gleave & Partners

A part of the University of Glasgow, the Boyd Orr Building houses several different functions including a variety of lecture theatres, seminar rooms and offices. The interior rooms of the building, indeed any of the University’s buildings, can be seen using their handy room photo service. The shape of the lecture theatres on the ground floor is clear when viewing the exterior, while several interconnected blocks rise 7 stories above. The building is clad in two different colours of rough aggregate concrete panels, giving it an uncompromising look. As you climb the staircase to the main entrance, you notice that the corners of the square blocks on the ground floor are absent and replaced by thin piloti. Where the piloti join the blocks on the first floor, the rough cladding is stripped back to reveal a nice bit of functional detailing. Some of the connected buildings are heavy square blocks, supported on long rows of piers, a modernist take on the classical colonnade. While there are a lot of windows, many are of an unusual translucent glass. Perhaps there were concerns about students being distracted by the views the building offers over the wonderful city of Glasgow.

Queen Margaret Union – Glasgow
Construction: 1968
Architects: Walter Underwood and Partners

This building is home to one of the University of Glasgow’s two Students’ Unions and contains a music venue, various bars, food outlets and offices. The highlight for me is the fantastic concrete staircase around the rear of the building. It has certainly seen better days. The graffiti and collection of bags of sand at the bottom give it a dismal appearance, while the bars preventing roof access at the top make it look angry and imposing. Yes, sand needs to be stored and dangerous student hijinks need to be prevented, but in my opinion it would be worth cleaning this up and making a bit of a feature of it.

If you are into Scottish Brutalism then have a look at the excellent Scottish Brutalism website. It was a useful resource for planning my Glasgow trip and for some details of the buildings.