Buck's Head Building, 63 Argyle Street, Glasgow

The Buck's Head Building, located at 63 Argyle Street in Glasgow, was designed by Alexander Thomson in 1863 and extended in 1864. This commercial building features a four-storey structure with an attic, showcasing a fine example of wood-encased, masonry-concealed cast-iron framing, adorned with Egyptian details and finished in painted ashlar. The ground floor has modern shop fronts, accompanied by a frieze and a cill course at the first floor.

The original design from 1863 includes ten bays with a curved corner. The first-floor windows are pilastered and feature Anthemion detail, with chip carving on the lintels. Between the first and second floors, there are applied, tapering cast-iron columns with wing-like capitals. A decorative cast-iron balcony juts out at the third floor, where the windows are divided by stone pillars with tapered necks, chip-carved and topped with capitals. The frieze includes discs, and there is a cornice above it. The parapet is adorned with square finialled dies, separated by decorative cast-iron railings. An ashlar panel at the angle is inscribed with "Buck's Head Buildings" and is topped by a statue of a buck in a resting position. Each bay features gabled dormer windows that are set back between the dies.

The 1864 extension adds three more bays to Dunlop Street, which is a remnant of a warehouse and is slightly advanced from the original structure. This extension is detailed similarly to the original but features a giant pilastrade between the first and second floors, with anthemion necking and Greek-key chip-carving in the frieze on the second floor, lacking the balcony. The windows on the third floor are narrower than those above, with broad, chip-carved pilasters that divide them and paired capitals for each. The second and third floors have casement windows, while the first floor has top hoppers.