Union Savings Bank Of Scotland, 42 Virginia Street, Glasgow is a Grade A listed building in the Glasgow City local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 15 December 1970. Commercial building. 1 related planning application.

Union Savings Bank Of Scotland, 42 Virginia Street, Glasgow

WRENN ID
stubborn-spire-mallow
Grade
A
Local Planning Authority
Glasgow City
Constituency
Glasgow East MP: John Grady (Lab)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
15 December 1970
Type
Commercial building
OS grid reference
NS 592 651
Coordinates
55.8585, -4.24973
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

Also on this page: related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Union Savings Bank of Scotland, located at 42 Virginia Street in Glasgow, is a commercial building designed by R G Melvin and W Leiper in 1867, showcasing a Late Italian Renaissance palazzo style. This three-storey and basement structure features seven bays and is constructed of painted ashlar with channelled quoins and a moulded plinth. A moulded cill course is present at the first floor, above a guilloched band course, and the building is topped with a decoratively bracketed main cornice.

The entrance is located in the central bay, characterized by a heavily blocked architrave and a consoled canopy adorned with acroteria. The round-arched ground floor windows in the flanking bays have moulded architraves, while the first floor displays Mannerist aedicules supported on consoles. The smaller second floor windows also feature moulded architraves. The sash and case windows are fitted with a plate-glass glazing pattern. The northern return elevation is finished with stugged, painted ashlar.

To the north, there is a gateway leading to a court, constructed of painted ashlar with coping and a classical pilaster on the gatepier, complemented by wrought-iron gates.

Local climate

Union Savings Bank Of Scotland, 42 Virginia Street, Glasgow sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,250 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 93% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 80% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 58 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 97% of listed buildings. Of these, 34 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

Sign in or create a free account to unlock:

  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 1 application
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Create free account

Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.

Similar buildings

The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.

Nearby listed buildings

  1. Hotel, 52 Virginia Street, Glasgow Grade B 25 m
  2. 37, 41 Virginia Street, Glasgow Grade A 32 m
  3. 43, 45 Virginia Street, Glasgow Grade A 42 m
  4. Virginia Court, Virginia Street, Glasgow Grade B 49 m
  5. Facade Of Warehouse, 44 Glassford Street, Glasgow Grade B 54 m
  6. 68 Virginia Street, Glasgow Grade B 67 m
  7. Police Call Box, Wilson Street, Glasgow Grade B 68 m
  8. 59, 61 Virginia Street, Glasgow Grade C 72 m
  9. Baillie Craig's House, 42 Miller Street, Glasgow Grade A 75 m
  10. Ralston And Mccoll, 60 Glassford Street, Glasgow Grade B 81 m