Argyll Chambers, 28 Buchanan Street, Glasgow is a Grade B listed building in the Glasgow City local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 4 September 1989. Commercial building. 6 related planning applications.

Argyll Chambers, 28 Buchanan Street, Glasgow

WRENN ID
north-zinc-furze
Grade
B
Local Planning Authority
Glasgow City
Constituency
Glasgow North MP: Martin Rhodes (Lab)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
4 September 1989
Type
Commercial building
Address
Argyll Chambers, 28 Buchanan Street, Glasgow, G1 3LB
OS grid reference
NS 589 651
Coordinates
55.85885, -4.25443
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

Also on this page: related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Argyll Chambers, located at 28 Buchanan Street in Glasgow, is an elaborate Edwardian Baroque commercial building designed by Colin Menzies of Thomson and Menzies, completed in 1904. This six-storey structure features a gabled attic and is divided into three tripartite bays, with the central bay canted through the first, second, and third floors. The building is constructed of red sandstone ashlar with polished granite details.

The entrance to the Argyll Arcade is through the central bay, which has a paired mosaic and a semi-domed tympanum; modern canopies were added in 1971. The ground floor accommodates modern shops that extend into the Argyll Arcade, and there is dentilled cornicing along the return passageway to the Arcade elevations. Number 32 features a curved glass entrance in the Arcade.

The building's outer sections have rusticated or banded pilasters. The first and second floor bays on the outer sides contain 2-light central windows framed by either pilasters or banded piers. The third floor is adorned with Corinthian columns and features a broken and open swan-neck pediment, which is echoed in the fourth floor's central bay. Large, semi-circular, key-blocked windows are present on the fourth and central fifth floors. The fifth floor bays are defined by a Corinthian colonnade, with key-blocked arched windows on the outer sides.

Balustraded balconies are located on the first, second, and fifth floors, with a prominently bracketted balcony in the centre of the first floor bay, showcasing allegorical figures on outer plinths under canopies. The building has a boldly bracketted main cornice and an aedicule attic window set in a steep pediment above the central bay, topped with clasping, octagonal finialled pinnacles. The windows throughout are plate-glass sash and case.

Local climate

Argyll Chambers, 28 Buchanan Street, Glasgow sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,290 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 94% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 83% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 56 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 95% of listed buildings. Of these, 32 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 6 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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Nearby listed buildings

  1. Argyll Chambers, 30 Buchanan Street, Glasgow Grade B 6 m
  2. Argyll Chambers, 32 Buchanan Street, Glasgow Grade B 10 m
  3. 35 Argyll Arcade, Glasgow Grade A 14 m
  4. Wylie Hill's, 20 Buchanan Street, Glasgow Grade B 15 m
  5. Wylie Hill's, 20 Buchanan Street, Glasgow Grade A 15 m
  6. 40 Argyll Arcade, Glasgow Grade A 22 m
  7. 41 Argyll Arcade, Glasgow Grade A 25 m
  8. 42 Argyll Arcade, Glasgow Grade A 29 m
  9. 16 Buchanan Street, Glasgow Grade B 32 m
  10. 28 Argyll Arcade, Glasgow Grade A 34 m