Newton Mearns, Crookfur Cottage Homes

Cottage Homes, Crookfur Road, c.1968, Sir Basil Spence

Intimate groups of retirement cottages, built for the Linen & Woollen Drapers.

Taken from "West Lothian: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Stuart Eydmann, Richard Jaques and Charles McKean, 2008. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk

Building Notes

In 1964 Sir Basil Spence Glover & Ferguson were commissioned by the Linen and Woollen Drapers Association to design a housing scheme on a wooded site at Newton Mearns on the outskirts of Glasgow. The housing was intended for people who had retired from the drapery trade.

The completed accommodation comprised 50 cottages arranged in terraces of two, three and four. They are positioned around a central group of linked two-storey blocks containing 21 bedsits, 20 flats, a small hospital wing, and a dining hall. This centre also houses a 130-seat hall for staging performances. Although traditional building materials such as white harling and slate tiles were used throughout, the use of mono-pitched roofs and walls that were not all at right angles gave the scheme a somewhat modern look. Work was completed on the Crookfur cottage homes in 1967, and the following year the scheme won a Civic Trust Award.

Archive Details and Summary

The Sir Basil Spence Archive contains seven drawings including plans, sections and elevations. There are also 31 photographs, including views of the model for the scheme, and examples of cottage homes for the Linen and Woollen Drapers Association in Derby. The Spence Glover & Ferguson Collection, also held at RCAHMS, contains 33 photographs and 18 slides.

This text was written as one of the outputs of the Sir Basil Spence Archive Project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, 2005-08.