Scottish Co-Op Wholesale Society Building, 95 Morrison Street, Glasgow

Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society Building, 95 Morrison Street, Glasgow

This is a major Glasgow landmark comprising four interconnected warehouse and office blocks built between 1886 and 1897 by the architects Bruce and Hay, representing different stages of the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society's expansion.

The principal front block, begun in 1893 and opened in 1897, is the most prominent structure. It rises four storeys with two attics and a basement, featuring elaborately detailed wide outer and central bays linked by eight-bay ranges. Designed as an office and warehouse in the manner of a public building, it is executed in the Louis XIV French Renaissance style with ashlar stonework.

The central entrance consists of a paired granite Ionic columned doorpiece set within vermiculated banded masonry, with a wrought iron gate and ornate sculptured pediment above. Ground floor windows are arched with scalloped detailing. Niches set in segmentally pedimented aedicules flank the centre and corner pavilions. Giant paired Corinthian columns rise through the second and third floors at the centre and pavilions. Third floor windows feature a blind balustrade above them. A main cornice and balustrade run the length of the front. All windows are plate glass sash and case, divided by a variety of pilasters or, in advanced bays, flanked by columns.

The principal feature is a large central pediment enclosing statues of Justice, Labour and the Four Continents beneath Cybele and two lions. Above this rises a central domed cupola, 50 feet high, with an Ionic peristyle, balustrade, and formerly topped with a dominating figure representing Light and Life holding in her extended arm an electric light. The corner pavilions have French square domes with pedimented dormers, urns and brattishing, with slate roofs throughout.

The Dalintober Street and Carnoustie Street elevations are similar to the front but lack the top balustrade. The north pavilions match the front elevation. The south pavilions each contain two arched ground floor entrances, one for carts and one mullioned and transomed stair entrance. The first floor features channelled pilasters, while the second and third floors have giant Corinthian pilasters, with an entablature and panelled parapet.

The interior of the main block includes a vestibule panelled with Sicilian marble and divided by Ionic columns and pilasters, with a plaster modillion cornice. The porter's and pay room doors are panelled with cherubs supporting a barometer and clock within a segmental pediment. The stairway features a wrought iron bannister and Art Nouveau newels. The main warehouse contains cast-iron columns and wooden beams, with carved and plastered clerks rooms. The fifth floor and small attic are both top-lit. Elaborate cast-iron street lamps stand in front of the entrance.

The Dalintober Street block was built in 1886-87 in the Flemish Renaissance style, rising six storeys across five bays in ashlar. The ground floor has been altered, but the original arches with mask keystones and carved tympana inscribed "Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society" survive. The first to fourth floors contain three paired windows, with the inner three having hoodmoulds at second floor and divided by two ogee-topped niches. The third floor displays broken pediments and the fourth floor has three ornate pediments and two panels inscribed "SC/WS".

The fifth floor has a large central cross window and two slit windows, all false, within a curvilinear gable dated 1887, topped by a pedimented niche and crowning statue. The left advanced bay retains its ground floor and cross window, corbelled over the second floor. The right bay is lit by three mullioned windows with a hoodmould and three slit windows. A semi-circular corbelled turret projects from the second floor with slit windows and a conical roof. The roof is steeply pitched and pyramidal with cast-iron brattishing and slate covering.

The interior contains a warehouse with cast-iron columns and wooden beams. The top floor houses the Dalintober or Co-operative Hall, featuring very fine timber panelled walls and ceiling with cast-iron Corinthian columns and a hammer beam roof. A panelled Committee Room to the rear retains its original fireplace.

A third block linking the 1887 and 1893 warehouses was built in 1888, also by Bruce and Hay. This five-storey, three-bay ashlar block has an altered ground floor, with first floor horizontal six-light windows and a central bay containing larger cross windows. It is topped by a crow-stepped gable crowned with a lion holding a shield.

The Carnoustie Street block, built between 1891 and 1893, served as stables, a ham curing store and grocery store. Designed in the Jacobean style with ashlar stonework, it rises four storeys. The ground floor features six recessed arches with moulded reveals. The centre block has windows arranged in a 1-3-1-3-1 pattern, with the first floor centre window sculptured and dated 1893. Second floor windows are tripartite and pedimented. A cornice and crenellated parapet run across the top. Two advanced end pavilions have paired giant corbelled pilasters rising from the first to fourth floors, supporting ornate Jacobean gables with windows set into full length arched panels. All windows are narrow sash and case with roll mouldings. The roof is slate.