Offices

Former Gasworks Offices and Workshops

This entry describes three connected buildings on the eastern edge of the Provan gasworks site, all dating from 1898 to 1904.

The offices building is a two-storey, five-bay structure designed in plain classical style. It is constructed of red brickwork with red ashlar sandstone used for window and door margins, quoins, and a projecting base course. A smooth ashlar sandstone frieze and projecting cornice run along the parapet wallhead and at first floor level on the west entrance elevation, continuing around the north and east elevations. Plain ashlar sandstone pilasters flank the main entrance on the west elevation. The entranceway and ground floor windows are finished with ashlar sandstone cornices. Red facing brick is used on the west elevation. The windows have been replaced with non-traditional modern units.

Inside the offices, the general layout remains largely unaltered. The contemporary, plain interior retains panelled wooden doors, decorative architraves, and deep skirtings. The entrance hall features original plaster plain coving and a wide staircase with a half-turn; the handrail remains exposed with balusters boxed in. An interior inspection was carried out in 2017.

Immediately north of the offices stands a two-storey, eleven-bay former workshops building, originally built as a staff recreation and ablutions building. A single-storey section extends further north, containing extensive former workshops and a small locomotive shed.

The two-storey and single-storey sections are built in plain classical style using red brickwork. Both feature projected rounded quadrant brick courses forming cornices and plain friezes above ground floor window level and below wallhead level on all elevations. The single-storey section's cornice includes projecting alternating bricks forming a dentil detail. The building's corners are edged with projecting bricks forming piers. Window and door openings on the south and west elevations have red brick margins. The west elevation of the two-storey section uses facing brick for openings, including round arches and plain concrete cills. The south elevation features a metal forestair leading to a first floor entrance, enclosed by corrugated metal covering. The north elevation displays five round-arched openings (now blocked) at ground floor level—formerly small locomotive entrances—with four blocked roundels set above and between them. The rear elevation contains various window and door openings, some blocked, all arched, with some featuring projected and rounded corner margins. Some windows have been replaced with non-traditional glazing. The roof has been replaced.

The interior of the former workshops was inspected in 2017. The ground floor of the two-storey section now serves as a store. The first floor features a long central corridor running the length of the building, with office suites on either side. A straight-run staircase at the north end of the corridor descends to the ground floor. Machinery wall mounts remain in place, and at least one example of wheeled machinery or pulley system survives; the space continues to be used as stores and workshops. Some original windows with drop-down opening hoppers on guide rails remain. Exposed metal trusses form the roof structure.

The gasworks site also contains two further listed structures: a gasholder (No. 1) and a gasholder (No. 2), both listed at category B.