Case Study: Anchor Line Building

In March 2017 Glasgow City Heritage Trust awarded the Category A-listed Anchor Line building, at 12-16 St Vincent Place, a building repair grant towards its re-use as an apartment hotel. Having lain empty for more than a decade the building was on the Building at Risk Register (ref: 4817) since 2010.

This elegant faience clad Edwardian commercial building of 1906-7 is the best-known example of architect James Miller’s predilection for white architecture – largely inspired by the ‘White City’ architecture of the World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893 – and shows the influence of American Classicism. The problem for Miller was in grimy industrial Glasgow how do you keep these white surfaces clean – hence the use of Doulton Carrara wear on the main facade. The building was also known for being Cunard’s Glasgow booking office with huge models of the RMS Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth in each window; however, the banded use of green and white bricks on the chimneys retains this nautical air.

The Trust was keen to see the Anchor Line brought back into sustainable use as it is one of the most notable vacant buildings within Glasgow’s city centre. Therefore, the Trust’s grant contributed to the refurbishment and renewal of sash and case and Crittall windows, replacement of cast iron rainwater goods and repairs to the faience, stonework and associated repointing.