Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

520 SAUCHIEHALL STREET AND 341 RENFREW STREET INCLUDING LAMP POSTSLB49921

Status: Designated

Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Category
B
Date Added
03/08/2004
Local Authority
Glasgow
Planning Authority
Glasgow
Burgh
Glasgow
NGR
NS 58062 66017
Coordinates
258062, 666017

Description

Predominantly David Paton Low, Bruce & Hay, with sculpture by James Ewing, late 19th century multi-period, possibly with earlier fabric, former piano showroom, now bar, with linked frontages to Sauchiehall Street (2-storey, now altered) and Renfrew Street (single storey and basement).

SAUCHIEHALL STREET ELEVATION: to ground, large opening now with modern entrance and window, with circa 1895 red sandstone ashlar surround with Greek detailing by David Paton Low. Single storey addition above of circa 1897 by Bruce & Hay. Dentilled cornice, flanking torch-bearing Ionic order caryatids, eaves cornice and stepped parapet with pipe-playing winged Harmony figure.

RENFREW STREET ELEVATION: circa 1897, Bruce & Hay, single storey and basement 5-bay red ashlar sandstone. Corniced pilasters dividing bays, eaves cornice and parapet with central prominent bust of Beethoven. Piended roof. To right, entrance, to left, 4 single light windows with 2 basement entrances below.

Modern glazing. Grey slates to Renfrew Street building. Pair of cast-iron lamp posts with some railing to Renfrew Street.

INTERIOR: comprehensively modernised

Statement of Special Interest

An idiosyncratic streetscape feature with striking sculpture-embellished elevations to both Sauchiehall Street and Renfrew Street, that to Sauchiehall Street altered.

The building has an extensive and complicated history. On this site was the Georgian terrace Albany Place of which there may still be some remaining fabric. In the late 1890s the Albany Place feus were extended to the north and south to permit frontages on to Sauchiehall Street and Renfrew Street. Thomas Ewing, a piano seller, commissioned David Paton Low to create a single-storey salon fronting on to Sauchiehall Street and linking back to his lodgings at 5 Albany Place. Initially named Albany Galleries, it later became Ewing Galleries.

In 1897 Bruce & Hay were commissioned by Ewing to extend his premises to the rear towards Renfrew Street. A large rooflit hall for performances was linked to the rear of Albany Place. At the same time the Sauchiehall Street elevation was raised by a storey to accommodate a small salon at 1st floor level.

In 1912 the building became a cinema, the Vitagraph (later, the King's Cinema), with major (principally internal) alterations carried out by John Fairweather in 1914. A lounge and tearoom were created within the Sauchiehall side. It is now a bar and nightclub.

The Cinema Theatre Association website notes that "As a cinema, it originally seated around 625 in stalls and circle. Renamed the King's Cinema in 1914, and additional interior renovations were carried out in 1931. In 1954 it was the Newscine, a dedicated newsreel cinema, now seating 450. This venture was shortlived, and it started showing full features again, as the Newscine, from 1955. It became the Curzon in 1960, and the Classic in 1964. The building ended its days as a cinema in 1984 as the Tatler Cinema Club".

References and Notes updated as part of Cinemas Thematic Study 2007-08.

References

Bibliography

Ordnance Survey Maps (1856-9, 1892-7, 1908-11). Mitchell Library, DEAN OF GUILD PLANS, Refs: 1/3032; 1914/352; Worsdall Collection, A142; A137. Williamson et al, THE BUILDINGS OF SCOTLAND - GLASGOW (1990) p243. R McKenzie, SCULPTURE IN GLASGOW (1999) p79. Further information courtesy of Cinema Theatre Association: www.scottishcinemas.org.uk (accessed 12.02.08).

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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Printed: 28/03/2024 20:16