Tank, Falls Of Clyde

The Tank at the Falls of Clyde is a hydro-electric facility built between 1925 and 1927, designed by Sir Edward MacColl with input from an Amenity Committee that included the Earl of Home, Sir John Stirling of Maxwell of Pollok, and architect Sir Robert Lorimer. The engineering plans were created by Messrs Buchan & Partners, with civil engineering work carried out by Sir William Arrol & Co., and the hydro-electric plant supplied by the English Electric Co.

The building features a striking classical design consisting of three adjoining blocks that are white-rendered and clearly articulated. The main block is a large, two-storey, seven-bay turbine room with a roughly rectangular plan and a flat roof. It has round-arched windows on the principal floor, which are recessed between pilasters, and smaller square-headed windows on the ground and attic floors. A smaller two-storey, three-bay switch house block, also flat-roofed, is positioned at the north end of the east elevation of the turbine room. Additionally, there is a pitched-roof attendant's house that is situated at right angles to the turbine house block on the south side. The turbine room features regular fenestration.

The turbine room and switch house block have small-pane glazing, while the attendant's house has non-traditional aluminium windows. The roofs of the turbine room and switch house are made of reinforced concrete, while the attendant's house has a grey slate roof.

Inside, some original early 20th-century features remain, including new generators that stand over the original turbines, each supplied by the English Electric Co Ltd. The facility houses two original Francis turbines that generate 11,000 kilowatts. The interior also features terracotta floor tiles and 1920s shell light shades above some of the dials. An original bank of switch gear has been preserved in situ on a balcony above the new computerized system.

The facility includes a circular white-rendered concrete surge tank located above Bonnington Pavilion, along with two tall concrete surge shafts slightly downhill. Two riveted green steel pipes, each 6 feet 6 inches in diameter, connect the surge tank to the power station.