19, 21, 23 West Nile Street, Glasgow

This is a four-storey corner commercial block located at 19, 21, and 23 West Nile Street in Glasgow, designed in relation to J J Stevenson’s buildings at 67-79 St Vincent Street from 1875 to 1878. The building features three bays facing West Nile Street, with a window arrangement of two-three-two on the first floor, and four bays on Drury Street arranged two-two-two-two. The exterior is constructed of ashlar stone with decorative rustication on the first floor, though modern shop fronts have been added. Both elevations are similarly detailed, except for a wide central bay on West Nile Street. The windows are sash and case, and the roof is a slate mansard.

On the first floor, there are single windows with bold keystones, and the central windows have architraves with swags between them, topped by a Greek-key frieze. The second floor features a cill course; the outer windows have Gibbsian surrounds that are key blocked and corniced, while the inner windows are architraved and pedimented. The central window on West Nile Street is tripartite, with a pilastered central light and a segmental pediment.

The third and attic floors boast bold, elaborately sculptured wallhead dormers on the outer bays facing West Nile Street. These dormers have Jacobean pilastered bipartites under swan-neck pediments, with the entirety of each outer bay placed under segmental pediments. The remaining bays also feature similarly detailed bipartites.