128-134 Bridgegate, Glasgow

This building at 147 Stockwell Street, Glasgow, is a monumental tenement block, along with office and shop spaces, constructed in 1905 as part of a larger scheme by A B McDonald, Office of Public Works. It represents an example of Edwardian Glasgow style, distinct from the more elaborate French Baroque style of the neighbouring buildings at Nos 133-155 Stockwell Street.

The building is four storeys and has an attic, constructed of polished red ashlar with slate roofs. At Nos 133-135 Stockwell Street, the symmetrical five-bay block features banded ashlar on the first floor, with shops at ground level. The outer bays have consoled canted oriels, an aedicular window on the second floor, and rise to eaves. A taller tower features basket arched attic windows and rises to pyramidal pavilion roofs with a lead dome. A consoled balcony over the first floor supports giant Ionic columns, dividing the bays to the second and third floors, with further consoled balconies to the third floor. A heavy mutule cornice sits over the building, and a deep plain parapet is topped with urn finials. The outer bays have an elaborate parapet with die pedestals and balustrade. The windows have a three-pane upper section and plate glass single panes at the bottom, with smaller panes in the third-floor windows.

The buildings at 141-155 Stockwell Street (and the return elevation to Bridgegate) are also dated 1905. The nine-bay elevation to Stockwell Street features a bowed corner bay, while the three-bay elevation to Bridgegate is similarly detailed. Shops are located on the ground floor, with the first-floor windows featuring mutule cornices and some second-floor windows being aedicular. Third-floor windows have projecting cills. The corner bay has a bowed three-light oriel, corbelled over the ground floor, with an aedicular window on the second floor and cartouches over the third. An ogival lead dome tops the corner bay, flanked by tall stacks rising from corbels at the second floor. The Stockwell Street and Bridgegate return elevation have gabled central bays with aedicular gable-head windows. An aedicule cartouche displays the date 1905, centrally located. The building features a balustraded parapet and a mansard roof with single-light dormers. The Bridgegate return elevation is five bays and similarly detailed.

The building at 128-134 Bridgegate, linked to 136-8 Bridgegate by a single-storey shop at No 134, is also part of the same scheme and similarly detailed with five bays and four storeys. The outer bays feature canted oriels rising from the first floor to deep parapets. The centre three bays have bipartite windows flanking a narrower single-light window. A Bolection moulded eaves cornice sits above, topped with slate roofs. The rear elevations, facing Aird’s Lane, are constructed of brick.