Watt Brothers, 119 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow

Watt Brothers, 119 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow

A 2-part offices and department store complex with linking archway, materially unified as an ensemble.

The North Building was designed by Alec S Heathcote of Manchester and completed in 1914. It is a 4-storey classical corner building of 3 by 8 bays, arranged with a podium effect and twin Italianate towers fronting Sauchiehall Street. The lower floors are unified materially with a glass curtain wall to the street serving as display windows, divided by a fluted metal frieze with a deep polished granite fascia above the 1st floor. This creates an apparently airy podium beneath the more solid superstructure. The 2nd and 3rd floors are united in red sandstone ashlar with channelled pilaster strips and giant order piers between floors dividing the bays, an entablature with mutuled cornice and blocking course.

On the Sauchiehall Street elevation, the 3-bay principal elevation has modern alterations at ground level to the centre. The 2nd and 3rd floors feature a recessed tripartite window to the centre with blind outer lights and stylised capitals to the giant order dividing piers, metal bands dividing floors with a saltire to the centre apron, and decorative bronze railings shielding the recess. The outer bays rise as pyramidally-roofed corner towers with channelled quoins, narrow windows and carved saltire panels, square towerheads with tripartite windows and blank panel and shield aprons, metal roofs and flagpole finials.

The Hope Street elevation has 8 bays. Ground and 1st floors feature continuous bands of display windows with entrances to the outer bays. The 2nd and 3rd floors have 5 broad windowed bays to the centre, flanked by narrow windows, with giant order piers dividing as on the north elevation and floors divided by a metal band. The ashlar outer bays have channelled quoins and carved panels, with a panelled tablet over the centre bay. The outer tower bay to the right is detailed as on the north elevation. Plate glass glazing is set in metal casement windows. The roof is covered with grey slates, and there are coped brick stacks with cans. Some decorative cornices and panelled dadoes remain in the interior.

The archway linking the North and South buildings spans Sauchiehall Lane facing Hope Street. It is constructed in classical red sandstone ashlar as a monumental semicircular arch, framed by channelled quoins of the adjoining buildings, with a keystone and tripartite window lighting the enclosed passage above. The blocking course continues from the North building.

The South Building was designed by A Graham Henderson (Keppie Henderson) and completed in 1929 in the Art Deco style. It is a 4-storey warehouse of 3 by 5 unequal bays, faced in polished red ashlar rusticated in the outer bays flanking windows, with a polished granite ground floor set with plate glass shop windows and fascia. Metal casement windows and friezes between floors were cast by Walter Macfarlane & Co.

On the Bath Street elevation, wide central bays alternate with narrow outer bays in continuous glazing rising to an incised frieze and pierced parapet. The central bay is shallow and canted, flanked by quarter round fluted strips, with a projecting eaves cornice. The Hope Street elevation has similar detailing with 3 wide central bays divided by incised piers and narrow outer bays with bipartite glazing set in cavetto recesses.

The interior has timber-lined walls, coffered and corniced ceilings, and a wrought-iron double-lift shaft.