Former Chivas Brothers Headquarters Building, 111-113 Renfrew Road

Former Chivas Brothers Headquarters Building, 111-113 Renfrew Road

A substantial former office and corporate headquarters building constructed between 1962 and 1964 in historicist classical Renaissance style. The building was designed by the architectural practice of Lothian Barclay Jarvis as the headquarters of Chivas Brothers, the blended whisky manufacturers. It is two storeys with an attic and central cupola, rectangular on plan, faced in rock-faced rubble with ashlar sandstone dressings and decorative details including an oversized Ionic portico. The building is currently vacant as of 2022 and was originally the main frontage to a 14-acre warehouse and bottling site, which has since been largely demolished.

The main east elevation comprises nine bays arranged symmetrically with projecting end bays and a three-bay pedimented portico to the centre, topped by three large stone urns. The central portico features a carved panel in the tympanum depicting a man on horseback (Robert the Bruce) flanked by spears, with a Gaelic inscription reading 'CHIVAS / BHO 1801 / TREIBHIREAS BUNAITEACHD', translating to 'Chivas, since 1801, Fidelity Stability'. The round-headed entrance opening is set within an oversized portico with a semi-circular pediment and entablature carried on a pair of fluted Ionic columns.

The rear west elevation shows 11 bays to the first floor with roughcast walls and ashlar dressings. The entire ground floor is abutted by a projecting single-storey flat-roofed block with skylights. The side elevations to the north and south are five bays, each abutted by single-storey flat-roofed wings with parapeted eaves and skylights. Each wing features three round-headed openings with projecting keystones and oversized ball finials to the parapet, with glazed timber doors with matching side lights and spoked fanlights. Higher single-storey three-bay pavilions abut the north and south sides.

The roofs are slated and piended with a flat top and piened dormers to the main block. The building features ashlar sandstone base courses, moulded eaves courses, and channelled piers to each corner. Window openings have raised and moulded architraves with a projecting motif of three keystones and a relieving rubble arch on the ground floor openings. The windows are largely multi-paned timber sash and case with a six-over-nine glazing pattern and three-over-six to the attic. The windows to the cupola and attic on the rear elevation are uPVC replacements.

The interior was inspected in 2022 and is excluded from the listing. The decorative treatment of the principal rooms has some good traditional detailing, particularly in the main stair hall, but is not of special interest for listing on balance.

Stone steps and a cobbled area front the main elevation, with further dwarf walls, steps and ramps to the north and south wings, featuring pairs of oversized ball finials. A low wall beside the gate lodge bears lettering reading 'CHIVAS BROTHERS'. The site is bounded to Renfrew Road by steel railings over a low masonry wall.

Historical Context

Chivas Brothers originated in an early 19th-century grocers in Aberdeen, passed to two brothers, John and James Chivas, in 1838. In 1843 they received a Royal Warrant to supply the Royal Family with goods. They were among the first to master the art of blending whisky, creating high-quality blends that were consistently smooth and well matured. In 1909 the company introduced the world's first luxury blend, Chivas Regal, a 25-year-old blend specifically marketed at high society in North America.

In 1949 Chivas Brothers was acquired by the Canadian drinks company Seagram Ltd. In 1957 work began on a new 14-acre bottling site and headquarters on Renfrew Road in Paisley. Construction was phased, with two 300-foot-long warehouses completed by September 1959, followed by two further warehouses. The remaining buildings, including the main headquarters building, were constructed between 1960 and 1964. The complex first appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1963, with the headquarters building positioned to the east of the site adjoined to a bottling plant and warehouse to the rear, with further detached warehouses to the west and north. Completed at a cost of £1.5 million, the site was opened on 30 June 1964 and was believed to be the largest whisky plant in Scotland at that time.

The headquarters building was originally intended to appear as though built in 1801, when the company could trace its origins. However, the design was amended to reflect earlier Scottish country house architecture, based on a model of Caroline Park House in Granton, built in the late 17th century. Despite initial misgivings about the suitability of the traditionalist style, the architects strove to "make it the best modern Scottish old house and as authentic as we could get it."

Prior to construction, the site was briefly occupied by St Andrew's Works for paint varnish and enamel, with a cement works to the northern end. At some point during the late 20th century, an earlier villa known as 'Kersland' at 117 Renfrew Road, dating from around 1870, became used as additional offices for the company. By 1963 it was no longer in domestic use. It was substantially extended in 1993 to create further office space for Chivas Brothers.

The headquarters housed many administrative functions and employed around 450 people, making it one of the largest employers in Paisley. The site was further expanded by 10 acres in the later 20th century, and in 1981 a new bottling hall (North Hall) was constructed. In 2001 Chivas Brothers was acquired by Pernod Ricard, and by the early 21st century some of the original warehouses had been removed with various additions made to the remainder.

In 2020 the site was sold to Renfrewshire Council for redevelopment as a new school for Paisley Grammar, and the North Hall was sold to the Scottish Leather Group. Much of the site has now been demolished, with the exception of the former headquarters building, gate lodge, North Hall and Kersland building. The building is located to the north of Paisley on the west side of Renfrew Road (the A741), a main road leading into the town centre.