Glasgow's iconic red sandstone buildings were not always the norm. The city's shift to this vibrant hue began in 1889 with the construction of the Evening Citizen newspaper offices. The popularity of red sandstone from Dumfriesshire, driven by factors like its durability and fashion trend, resulted in a boom in its use across Glasgow architecture.
It is suprise to many when the find out that the pinkish red hues Glasgow 's many tenements and public buildings was not a common sight once-upon-a-time. Prior to the 1880's the city was awash with grey, brown and pale yellow, in accordance with the types of sandstone found in local quarries.
However, in 1889 this all changed with the completion of the city's first Locharbriggs red sandstone building: the former Evening Citizen newspaper offices at 24 St Vincent Place.READ MORE: The Celtic keeper who was banned for life after Britain's biggest match-fixing scandal Aided by the Caledonian Railway Company's Carlisle to Glasgow line, the city witnessed a boom in the red sandstone of Dumfriesshire, which became highly sought after among architects in the late 19th century as the good quality blonde Giffnock and Bishopbriggs stone became more difficult to extract. While red sandstone had already made its way into Glasgow architecture, the Locharbriggs variant proved both highly durable and fashionable and the construction of the Evening Citizen offices, designed by T L Watson, with the assistance of W J Anderson, heralded a bright new era for the city. The Renaissance-style building, which housed the offices and printing works of the Evening Citizen, Glasgow's first evening paper, was an extravagant four-storey block with decorative cupolas, crow-stepped roof features and a handsome clock on its exterior. Sign up to our Glasgow Live nostalgia newsletters for more local history and heritage content straight to your inbox In many ways, the old Evening Citizen building, which is now home to The Citizen bar and restaurant, set the trend for how Glasgow was going to look for generations to come. Dressed in its resplendent red, the building really stood out, and over the next few years it would be joined by scores of other 'red-headed' tenements and public buildings, including the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Charing Cross Mansions and the King's Theatre. To give you an idea of just how sought after red sandstone was, by 1899, Locharbriggs Quarry was employing almost 300 men working long shifts to quarry out an astonishing 20,000 tonnes of the red stuff for the export market every single year. The stone was popular throughout Scotland and even made it as far as New York City, with the steps of the Statue of Liberty originating from the famous Locharbriggs Quarry. For modern-day residents, the architectural quirk provides a fascinating insight into how old certain buildings in the city are. If a building is made from blonde stone, it likely dates from before 1890; if the building is red then it was most likely constructed after 1890.This article was first published on 25/04/202310 of Glasgow's historic landmarks and how much they'd cost to build in 2023The mystery over Glasgow bridge with 'Ancient Greek' message written into stone on the Clyde
GLASGOW ARCHITECTURE RED SANDSTONE LOCHARBRIGGS HISTORY
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