Former Langside Synagogue, 125 Niddrie Road, Glasgow

Former Langside Synagogue, 125 Niddrie Road, Glasgow

A two-storey former synagogue of roughly T-plan form, designed by Waddell & Young and built between 1926 and 1927, with interior features by Harris Berkowitch, cabinetmaker. The building blends neo-Romanesque and neoclassical styles and stands on Niddrie Road near Queen's Drive in the residential area of Crosshill. The principal elevation is constructed of coursed rubble sandstone with ashlar panels and dressings, while the other elevations are rendered.

The principal northwest elevation to Niddrie Road is symmetrical, with two storeys and five bays. The central bay contains an ashlar panel with an arched entrance and moulded surround. Above the doorway is a gilded Hebrew inscription from Ezekiel 11:16. The entrance itself is a two-leaf timber door with a decorative stained-glass fanlight set within a segmented arched doorway beneath an open pedimented bay. Above at first-floor level is a large transomed and mullioned rectangular window with two lights to the lower section and three lights to the upper section, set within a tall round-arched moulded surround. A Star of David is carved into an ashlar panel within this surround. The penultimate flanking bays are of coursed rubble sandstone with rectangular openings at ground floor and arched openings at first floor, all contained within a two-storey round-arched ashlar surround. The outer bays are rectangular ashlar panels featuring pairs of round-arched windows at ground floor and moulded wall tablets at first floor.

The side elevations to the southwest and northeast are two storeys and four bays, with rectangular openings on the ground floor and round-arched openings at first floor. The rear southeast elevation features an oriel window at the top of the gable with two long round-arched windows below. The window openings throughout are predominantly stained glass, featuring a repeating motif of three or four roundels each containing a Star of David. The ground-floor windows on the principal elevation are currently boarded over as of 2020. The pitched slate roof is fitted with roof-lights spanning the full length of the prayer hall.

The interior contains a prayer hall with timber galleries on three sides, carried on octagonal columns. Carved timber pews are present, though some have been removed from the northwest and northeast sides of the first-floor gallery. A clerestory running the full length of the hall provides natural light, and the ceiling is timber panelled with an arched form and exposed timber trusses. At the rear of the first-floor gallery are a series of rooms separated by timber and glass panels.

Iron railings surround the principal façade to Niddrie Road, with entrance gates decorated with Star of David symbols.

A single-storey, flat-roofed rectangular addition to the rear southeast elevation was added around the mid-twentieth century. Built of brick with simple functional design, it contains an open meeting space with kitchen and bathrooms to the rear and is excluded from the listing as a later addition of limited architectural and historic interest.

The Langside Hebrew Congregation was formed in 1915 and initially established a synagogue on Langside Road in Govanhill. By 1925 the congregation had outgrown this building. Funds were raised for a larger synagogue, and the foundation stone for the new building at 1 Cromwell Road (now 125 Niddrie Road) was laid in a ceremony in May 1926. The synagogue opened in April 1927.

The building is recorded on the 1933 Ordnance Survey Map with its original T-plan footprint. By 1951 small rectangular additions had been made to the southwest and northwest elevations. The larger rear extension was added in the mid-twentieth century, appearing on the 1961–1967 Ordnance Survey Map, with the building's footprint remaining substantially unchanged to the present day.

The synagogue closed in 2014 and was sold in 2019. Interior fixtures including the Ark and bimah were removed in late 2019 and transferred to the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre at Garnethill Synagogue, Glasgow.