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Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders
Date 2007
Event ID 605595
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/605595
The use of glass in conjunction with slender iron glazing bars seen in the Kibble Palace was almost unique in the 19th century. It was based on the development of arched domes without tie rods and the manufacture of the structure was effectively based on a form of industrialised building, the structural frame elements being mass produced. These frames were made from wrought-iron and were supported internally on iron ring beams and cast-iron columns. The building was a state-of-the-art solution for that time.
The Palace was built by John Kibble, a native of Glasgow who had his residence in Coulport on Loch Long. He was born in 1819, the son of a wealthy merchant. He had a varied career as a metal merchant but described himself as an engineer, and his many interests included the construction of glass houses.
In 1865 he is reputed to have designed the conservatory for his house at Coulport. It was claimed that Kibble was influenced by Paxton’s 1851 design of the Crystal Palace, but his pursuit of glass building construction also reflected a wide and growing interest at the time. A daily newspaper in 1866 described Kibble’s conservatory in the most glowing terms, and speaks of the overarching glass dome supported by 12 fluted columns. In 1871 Kibble proposed that his building be dismantled and erected in the Botanic Gardens at Glasgow and the ‘Kibble Art Crystal Palace’ was opened on its present site in 1873, considerably extended by Kibble. Its manufacture and erection were undertaken by James Boyd & Co. of Paisley, who were
also involved in a similar work at the People’s Palace on Glasgow Green. The main dome is 146 ft in diameter and 43 ft high and after 140 years is lasting well and carefully maintained.
R Paxton and J Shipway 2007
Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' with kind permission of Thomas Telford Publishers.
