Dalzell Steel Works Offices, Park Street, Motherwell

Dalzell Steel Works Offices

A cohesive group of classically-influenced steelwork buildings constructed between 1897 and 1900, situated on sloping ground to the north side of Park Street in Motherwell. The complex comprises red sandstone Neo-Baroque offices at the south-east end, a detached red brick gable-ended workshop to the left, and a further range of large red brick workshops with regular round-arched openings extending downhill to the north-west.

The offices were designed by Robert Harvie between 1897 and 1899. They form a 2-storey, 16-bay rectangular structure of polished red sandstone ashlar with moulded dressings. The building is divided into three sections: a symmetrical 7-bay central section with a portico, a 5-bay section to the right, and a single-storey 4-bay section to the left, all separated by channelled pilasters. The design features a cavetto-moulded eaves cornice and a balustraded parapet with ball-finials. Cill courses run at ground and first floor levels. Rusticated round-arched architraves frame the first floor openings.

The 7-bay central section contains a 2-leaf timber panelled door at ground level. A portico with paired marble Ionic columns on raised plinths supports a projecting entablature and balustraded balcony. Above stands an architraved window flanked by Ionic pilasters. A round-arched pediment inscribed with the Colville arms breaks the eaves course and terminates in an open segmental-arched pediment with a decorative panel inscribed "Dalzell Steel And Iron Works". Alternating segmental and triangular pedimented windows with clam-shell insets flank the portico at ground floor level. A Great War memorial plaque is positioned between the 4th and 5th bays. The 5-bay section to the right features a cavetto-moulded cornice between ground and first floors, with moulded architraves to ground floor windows and a round-arched window to the outer right. The single-storey 4-bay section to the left includes a tripartite window in the 2nd outer bay and a scrolled pediment breaking the parapet, with a 2-bay section returning to the north-west elevation. Gates with cushion-capped gatepiers adjoin the west angle. Later additions have been made to the rear.

The offices are roofed with piended roofs finished in grey slate with terracotta ridge tiles and coped ridge stacks. Windows are plate glass in timber sash and case frames. Cast-iron rainwater goods are fitted throughout.

Adjacent to the offices is a 2-storey, 4-bay rectangular former workshop dating to circa 1900. It features a shouldered, pedimented gable fronting the road, built in red brick with raised mouldings. A base course, moulded stringcourse over round-arched openings, double cill course at first floor, eaves course, and cavetto-style blocking cornice articulate the elevations. An oculus with buff brick dressings sits in the tympanum. Round-arched openings to the ground floor are partly blocked, with a later vehicular entrance featuring a timber door slapped to the left. Round-arched openings to the side and rear elevations are predominantly blocked. The roof is finished in grey slate with a central ventilator to the ridge.

A 2-storey, 7-bay flat-roofed workshop extends to the left. Built in red brick, it features a dentiled cill course to the first floor and a plain cornice. Seven pairs of polychromatic round-arched openings to the ground floor are slightly recessed and separated by narrow pilasters. Single round-arched windows with raised cills light the first floor. A double moulded stringcourse runs across the south-east elevation. A single-storey, 5-bay lean-to addition is attached to the rear, with a single-bay section breaking the eaves at the 2nd bay to form a square plan tower.

The complex concludes with a large 22-bay millshop or warehouse to the far left, built in red brick. It features a chamfered base course, string course, cill course, and cornice. Round-arched openings light the ground floor, while openings above the cill course are blocked, returning to the west gable elevation. A coped pediment with 3 round-arched windows and coped piers to the corner angles caps the structure. The roof is finished in grey slate with 10 metal ventilators to the ridge.