Glasgow, 739 South Street, North British Diesel Engine Works
Engineering Works (20th Century)
Site Name Glasgow, 739 South Street, North British Diesel Engine Works
Classification Engineering Works (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Glasgow, Whiteinch, 739 South Street; Barclay Curle & Co.
Canmore ID 68385
Site Number NS56NW 52
NGR NS 53415 66915
NGR Description Centred on 53415 66915
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/68385
First 100 images shown. See the Collections panel (below) for a link to all digital images.
- Council Glasgow, City Of
- Parish Govan (City Of Glasgow)
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District City Of Glasgow
- Former County Lanarkshire
North British Diesel Engine Works, 739 South Street, 1913, Karl Bernardt, executed by John Galt
Steel-framed brick and glass building modelled on AEG turbine factory, Berlin by Peter Behrens on which the German architect-engineer Bernardt had also worked. Tall main workshop fronting river, with flattened mansard roof. Gable ends originally glazed. Large central aisle with east gallery, two layers of travelling cranes. On quayside, Titan Crane, 1920, Sir William Arrol. Original for the 'Meccano' model.
Taken from "Greater Glasgow: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Sam Small, 2008. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk
NS56NW 52 534 668
"...built 1913-14 for Barclay, Curle and Co, J Galt, architect (?44,458). The main shop is a steel framed structure, clad in brick and glass, with a flattened 'mansard roof', having a strong resemblance to Peter Behren's AEG factory. The office block is a three storey, 10 bay structure, faced with terra-cotta brick, with a flat roof".
J R Hume, 1974
"the machine hall['s]...portal frame of the main space was translated externally as a long, low multi-facteted roof over a brick 'arch' infilled with glass...While it is generally acknowledged that John Galt -a Glasgow architect- supervised the erection of the factory, recent research has suggested that the designer was a German engineer, Karl Bernhard, who worked with Peter Behrens on the design of the AEG Turbine Factory (1909) in Berlin - which would account for the clear similarities between the two buildings."
1984
During the early 1980's the engineering firm of Sir William Arrol & Co. Ltd., appear to have been contracted to supply roll-on roll-off ramps for an unspecified ferry pier on the Skye Triangle at Uig, Lochmaddy or Tarbert. Information extracted from Hansard for 1988, Column 1196, notes that 'Link spans for roll-on roll-off purposes have been built at Uig, Tarbert, Lochmaddy, Lochboisdale and Colonsay. Work is proceeding on a linkspan at Castlebay in Barra. A total of 22 million GBP has been paid out in pier grants throughout Scotland since 1979'.
Information from RCAHMS (MKO), July 2001.
Laser Scanning (22 July 2014 - 31 July 2014)
A laser scan survey of the electric overhead travelling crane inside the former Barclay Curle North British Diesel Engine Works was carried out in 2014. The laser scan survey was carried out to provide control for drawing work prior to the crane being dismantled and removed.
Field Visit (2014)
See digital file WP007441 for fuller report.
The former Barclay Curle North British Engine Works in South Street, Glasgow (1) was probably built in 1913 to manufacture marine diesel engines. A large giant cantilever crane by Sir William Arrol and Co. Ltd (NS52NW 52.01) was added in 1920 to enable the diesel engines to be lowered into ships being fitted out.
The form of this building closely relates to its function but manages to exhibit an industrial aesthetic reminiscent of the German electrical industry and buildings of companies like Osrams, AEG and Siemens in Berlin with an emphasis on modernity, new combinations of building materials, design and the use of electrification.
This building was visited by RCAHMS’s Threatened Buildings programme as the owners of the site were applying to remove the southernmost of the two Electric Overhead Travelling (EOT) cranes which are original to the engine works. See digital file WP007441 for fuller report.
Visited by Survey and Recording Section, Industry and Architecture (M.McDonald), Heritage directorate, HES, July 2014.
