2 Great Western Terrace, Great Western Road, Glasgow

2 Great Western Terrace is a long Grecian terrace of houses designed by architect Alexander Thomson in 1869. The terrace features 52 bays arranged in a pattern of 6-8-30-8-6 and consists of two storeys with three-storey, eight-bay intermediate pavilions, as well as an attic and basement. It is constructed of polished ashlar stone, which is droved at the basement and has been stone cleaned. The entire terrace is built on a raised platform above the level of Great Western Road, accompanied by a complex of terraces and steps leading down to ground level.

Each house at the end pavilions has three bays, while the three-storey range has four bays per house, and the central two-storey range features six bays per house. Steps oversail the basement and lead to fluted Ionic porches; the two-storey ranges have paired columns, while the three-storey pavilions boast columned porch fronts with two doors and two central windows. The doorways are recessed and flanked by wide glazed sidelights, leading to vestibule doors with glazed panels, which may be acid etched or leaded. The sash windows are fitted with plate glass glazing.

The terrace showcases continuous moulded strings over the ground and first-floor cills, an incised frieze, and a moulded band course at the second-floor cills, along with a moulded eaves course. Carved modillions support the cornice, which features antifixae. The axial stacks are topped with decorative cans. The polished ashlar flanks of Nos 1A and 19 Westbourne Gardens are symmetrical, with rectangular projecting windows in the outer bays that are pilastered at the first floor. The wallhead stacks are treated as a pilastrade.

The rear of No 1 is finished in polished ashlar, channelled to the second-floor level. On the first floor, there is a single light leaded, coloured glass window to the left, and to the right, a circular tower rises three floors, topped with a conical roof and spike finial. The remaining rear elevations are made of droved ashlar with occasional bay windows. The entire terrace is set on a raised podium with stugged ashlar retaining walls, which are topped with cast-iron railings designed by Thomson. Access is provided by flights of steps and ramps to the east and west, along with a carriage entrance from Great Western Road.