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(24 votes, average: 3.63 out of 5)
Loading ...Notre Dame College of Education (Latterly St Andrew’s College, Bearsden) was completed in 1969, 38 years later the teaching blocks and sports hall were demolished to start the building of Bearsden Academy, a new Local Authority school, built on a PFI contract. Of the five category A listed residential blocks two were demolished and three retained with plans to convert to housing, and more housing to be built on the north side of the site.
Andy Macmillan architect with Gillespie Kidd and Coia said: “There’s no reason why they couldn’t convert the existing college which had excellent space and facilities including a swimming pool and gym. It seems to me odd that a building built in decent materials with maple flooring and Oregon pine finishes, should be knocked down.
“They don’t think to ask the architect what his views are and you can get terribly philosophical about these things but unless they demolish me, I’m happy!”
Images taken by Rich Ford at flickr, http://www.flickr.com/photos/rich_ford
What a hideous creation! How anyone could mourn its passing, other than by virtue of its being a “fine” example of brutalist 1960s architecture, is beyond me.
That cubist expression, the pallid grey concrete are enough to cause depression on a fine day; what the hell must it be like on a dark, dank one? Where is the architecture in that? How difficult a concept was that to evolve? Seven years of training by someone, to come up with *that*?
Good riddance, I say. Philistine? Of course I am: I’m a structural engineer!
It looks to me (untrained as I am in architecture…) as a mix of Orwellian nightmare and East German fantasy. Sadly missed? Probably not.
Look at the state of that building!
You narcissistic architects need to get out more — that building resembles some sort of 60s nightmare for normal humanity. Maybe you should be less concerned with your ego and more concerned with the buildings you force upon us, the general public!
The picture you are using above actually shows buildings that are still there which is a little misleading. Perhaps rather than complaining about what has been torn down somebody should be working on a scheme to preserve what is left and bring it back into practical use.
Any building with the lack of maintenance and boarded up as in the picture would never look good. It’s this kind of blinkered attitude that means this country risks never having architectural heritage that doesn’t fall into the ’standard’ old building ideal.
Just remember in the 60s they were tearing down Victorian buildings as the thought they were ‘dark’ and ‘dirty’, and there was no different mindset then, just what was fashionable as glass and steel seems to be in today’s ephemeral buildings.
When I read about this in the Guardian, it gave the impression of a recent building. Having seen this, however, it thoroughly deserves to go the same way as the Tricorn Centre and the Gateshead car park. These buildings are thoroughly depressing to work in and around.
Personally I love this building and have just been reading about it on hiddenglasgow.com where there are many more pictures.
perhaps PFI ’s have too much to gain to care.
Not so much Burnham Woods as Cumbernauld Town Centre is on the march! I admit to doing a project not disimilar at the AA in ‘63. Long live Corb!
Notre Dame in Bearsden was a truly grotesque pile of concrete blocks. No imagination or sense of form were apparent in its childishly boxy appearance and it should have been demolished years ago. Its architects are responsible for many other abominations in Scotland that are either falling down of their own accord or deserve speedy deomolition.
Those buildings shown in the pic are STILL there, so WHAT IS THE FUSS ABOUT???
I think, correct me if I am wrong, you are talking about the main college building and not the hall of residence per the pic. Get your facts correct.
I like the GKC style but have to admit they have been built with uttermost lack of understanding of the Scottish climate: wafer thin single leaf concrete walls, steel frame windows, cheap DPM (or lack of it), fragile flat roof with no falls and “inventive” external materials that does not even last for a single winter season before 10 times more of its capital cost need to be poured in to maintain them. And they are all GREY!! How apt for the grey Scottish winter! Long live the ideaology of GKC – but better in sunny south of France and not in baltic Scotland!
Oh purleas! did the architect not realise that rainwater doesnt run off a flat roof? And that all flat roofs eventually leak? and that it rains a heck of a lot in Scotland????? This building deserves to die!
Sorry Mr McMillan. Excellent facilities with maple flooring and oregon pine finishes are just not enough.
Ted! You should see this mad priest housing they’ve built in Glasgow. Do you think that’s where they send priests who’ve done something reeeally bad? Ted? I’m frightened! Ted! Down with this sort of thing!(Well, can I at least take the old rollerblades then?)
I don’t know how they looked on the inside, but the outside view reminds me a lot of a holocaust memorial site if you know what I mean.
They built something similar
here
Yep, the buildings above are still there as of yesterday.