28-38 Union Street, Glasgow

28-38 Union Street in Glasgow is a five-storey, three-bay L-plan Art Deco building, originally designed as a tea room, restaurant, and shop by Whyte & Galloway between 1929 and 1931. The street-facing elevation features sandstone ashlar, while the rear and sides are primarily red brick. A cornice runs along the ground floor, and the building has steel casement windows with margined panes, separated by a deep panelled metal band that divides the first, second, and third floors.

On the west elevation, there is a modern shop front at ground level. From the first to the third floor, a slightly advanced shallow canted bay window section is flanked by stylised pilasters. The fourth floor features a recessed tripartite window separated by a pair of stylised foliate mullions, topped with a block pediment. The outer bays have bipartite windows that are recessed with stone mullions.

The east elevation consists of six bays, with the first two bays being five storeys high and the last four bays rising to six storeys. There is a large off-centre area of later brick infill.

The north and south elevations are concealed by adjacent buildings.

Inside, the building has been somewhat altered, but much of the original Art Deco decoration remains intact on the first, second, and third floors. Some staircases feature timber dado panelling, with some sections incorporating tensioned metal wire panels. The stairways have large timber panels, some of which now include mirrors. On the first floor, there is a sectioned ceiling with original plasterwork that includes a shallow flora motif. The second floor has a sectioned ceiling with wall pilasters, and large panels that are now obscured by shop displays. The ceiling and wall panels feature a simple geometric diamond pattern in plasterwork. The third floor boasts an impressive curved two-leaf pedimented entrance doorway, flanked by a triple light stained glass screen with a highly stylised organic design. The sectioned combed ceiling here has shallow Grecian-style pilasters, with large panels also obscured by shop displays. The ceiling and wall panels display shallow 'Jazz-age' plasterwork. Throughout the building, there are some original timber doors with a simple stepped design.

The building retains predominantly original metal-framed casement windows, with those on the street elevation featuring margined panes. A flagpole is located at the centre of the west elevation.