40 Gibson Street, Glasgow

This is a block of three-storey tenements built around 1852. They are located in Hillhead, west end of Glasgow, forming part of a larger terraced block south of the River Kelvin. The area was largely rural until the 1840s, when residential development began. Originally named Bloomfield Place, the tenements are shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1860, set within undeveloped countryside. By the time of the revised Ordnance Survey map of 1896, the surrounding area had rapidly developed with the establishment of the university and the construction of numerous tenements.

The tenements are constructed of droved ashlar, with parts of the ground floor of the western block painted. Polished ashlar margins define the window and door surrounds. The south elevation fronts Gibson Street and comprises three adjacent blocks. The central block has nine bays and three separate entrances, with a central entrance surmounted by blocked windows at the first and second floors. The eastern block is three bays and has a nine-bay return elevation to Otago Street. The western block, approximately five bays wide, adjoins a separately listed building at 65 and 69 Bank Street.

The doorpieces are architraved and corniced, with deeply recessed doors set within pilastered reveals and featuring fanlights. Most windows are large, white timber sash and case windows with 12-pane glazing, architraved and corniced at ground and first floors (corniced only at ground level in the western block). Moulded string courses define the floors of the western block. The roof is slate with axial and wall head stacks topped with plain cans.

Images from a flat at No. 50 Gibson Street show simple ceiling cornices, although the doors and door surrounds within that flat have been altered. The footprint of the tenements has remained unchanged since their construction in the mid-19th century.