COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY: ARCHITECTURE (SPECIALISING IN HISTORIC BUILDINGS & PLACES) + THE ENVIRONMENT (FORESTRY, RIVER MANAGEMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES) + DRONE PHOTOGRAPHY
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
The Daily Record Printing Works were designed in 1900 by Mackintosh for Honeyman & Keppie, using white glazed brick to reflect some light into the narrow alleyway. The first two images are of the facade on Renfield Lane, with the loading bays on the ground floor, and the subsequent images are of the facade on the even narrower St Vincent Lane.
The Martyrs’ Public School was built in 1895-98, and designed during Mackintosh’s time with Honeyman & Keppie. In 1989 it was converted for the Forum Arts Trust but, as the photographs show, is currently vacant and available to let.
Hill House in Helensburgh was designed for the publisher Walter W Blackie and built in 1902-04. It is regarded by many as one of his best works. This part of Helensburgh, high up above the shore, had been colonised by expensive individual villas of a decidedly English flavour; such as Ballie Scott’s nearby White House (see photograph), but Blackie wanted something different. Mackintosh obliged with his grey-rendered very Scottish massing; inevitably with his own individual flourishes. The exterior is currently clad in a steel mesh curtain to allow it to dry out to facilitate render repairs, so it is not displayed to its best advantage, though it is novel to be able to clamber up above the rooftop. I won’t comment more on the exterior at the moment. The interior is little short of wonderful (one of my very first decent architectural photographs was a black-and-white interior shot of the drawing room, taken c.1975). Mackintosh insisted in living with the family for a period to better understand their habits and needs and whilst what he produced was certainly a family home, it strongly reflects his own individualistic interpretations of form, space and surface. The decor, the fixtures and fittings and of course the furniture, blend together beautifully in a way that is stylish, refreshing and harmonious, with gentle sinuous curves and natural forms to be found everywhere. It is a delight.
Mackintosh brought hs own Art Nouveau flair to the Arts & Crafts tradition. Baillie Scott was another practitioner in tech Arts & Crafts movement, and you can see his Blackwell House, near Windermere, here.
Daily Record Print Works, 1900
Daily Record Print Works, 1900
Daily Record Print Works, 1900
Daily Record Print Works, 1900
Daily Record Print Works, 1900
Martyrs' Public School, 1895-98
Martyrs' Public School, 1895-98
Martyrs' Public School, 1895-98
Martyrs' Public School, 1895-98
The White House, Helensburgh, Baillie Scott, 1899
The Hill House, 1902-04 (photographed in 2016)
The Hill House, 1902-04 (photographed in 2016)
The Hill House, 1902-04 (photographed in 2016)
The Hill House, 1902-04 (photographed in 2016)
The Hill House, 1902-04 (photographed in 2016)
The Hill House, 1902-04 (photographed in 2023)
The Hill House, 1902-04 (photographed in 2023)
The Hill House, 1902-04 (photographed in 2023)
The Hill House, 1902-04 (photographed in 2023)
The Hill House, 1902-04 (photographed in 2023)
The Hill House, 1902-04 (photographed in 2023)
The Hill House, 1902-04 (photographed in 2023)
The Hill House, 1902-04 (photographed in 2023)
Charles Rennie Mackintosh: the Mackintosh House
Charles and Margaret Mackintosh lived in a flat in Southpark Avenue (formerly Florentine Terrace) from 1906 to 1914. This was demolished by Glasgow University in the 1960s, but the fixtures were preserved. When the new Hunterian Gallery was being designed for the University, a bold decision was made to include a replica of the Mackintoshes’ house and to display the furniture which had been acquired earlier. It is now a wonderful re-creation of the interior Mackintosh designed for himself and his wife.
The re-creation includes a bedroom from the house at 78 Derngate, Northampton, designed by Mackintosh in 1916.
25 North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London (Troughton McAslan, 1991)
Abbotsford House Visitor Centre (LDN Architects, 2013)
Old Milton
Old Milton is a Highland lodge plus cottage, recently restored and extended by Benjamin Tindall Architects, who commissioned the photography.
Riddle's Court, Edinburgh
Riddle's Court is a little complex of buildings tucked off Edinburgh's Lawnmarket, and recently restored as the Patrick Geddes Centre. Photographed here for LDN Architects and the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust.
Number 11
Number 11 is a private house on a very small urban gap site, previously occupied by a single garage and a parking space. Photography for LDN Architects.
Anderston Kelvingrove Church, Glasgow
Designed by Honeyman, Jack & Robertson in 1965 and completed in 1968, the church replaced three existing churches demolished in Anderston’s redevelopment. The practice’s previous experience of industrial buildings influenced their adoption of a brutalist reinforced concrete frame with brick infill for this project. The church is Listed B Grade.
The pyramid roof is matched by the sculptural tower, a device to conceal the boiler chimney.
The church was built as part of the comprehensive redevelopment of Anderston in the 1960s. Much of the housing of that period has been demolished and the church is a focal point for the new housing and facilities.
This was the original processional entrance from the west, with the entrance to the sanctuary top-left.
The sanctuary is square in plan, with a soaring pyramid roof; a local landmark and clearly visible from the Kingston Bridge
The sanctuary retains its contemporary bespoke furniture; even the original seats.
The underside of the pyramid roof is perfectly geometrical. The roof was originally copper clad but his failed and was replaced with anodised aluminium.
Cambo Estate, Fife
There have been two commissions at Cambo. The first was of the Stable Block, recently restored as a new visitor centre, for Page\Park Architects and associated consultants. The second was of the new Glasshouse in the Walled Garden, for Alitex.
The Murphy House, Edinburgh
Richard Murphy's house for himself, in a Georgian terrace in Edinburgh's New Town Conservation Area, is as individual as its owner. It won the RIBA House of the Year Award for 2016.
Iesu Church, San Sebastian, Spain
The Iesu Church in San Sebastian was designed by Rafael Moneo, one of Spain's premier architects. It stands in a residential district not far from the city centre, and was finished in 2011.
The simplicity of the white concrete cube exterior is reflected in the purity of the internal spaces.
Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao was designed by Frank Gehry, and completed in 1997. It has become famous for stimulating the "Bilbao Effect" - acting as a catalyst for significant regeneration of a once declining city.
Its astonishing exterior form is echoed in many of the galleries, but its internal organisation is rational and easy to follow. I photographed it in late September 2016.
Graffiti
I found this colourful display of street art in Edinburgh’s Meadow Lane, to the south of George Square.