My favourite building: The Willow Tea Rooms

Decorative wrought iron light fitting at the Willow Tea Rooms, featuring Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s distinctive geometric and organic design motifs. The fitting includes teardrop shapes and stylised curves, set against a grid-patterned glass screen.

In this personal reflection, Rachel Kacir shares memories of her time working in the Tea Rooms, the meticulous restoration supported by Glasgow City Heritage Trust, and the remarkable recreation of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s lost light fittings.

My favourite building: The Leyland Motor Company Building

A large, derelict Art Deco industrial building on a street corner in Glasgow, featuring a tall central tower with vertical fluting and rounded edges. The brick façade is covered in graffiti, and a “To Let” sign is visible on one side.

By Niall Murphy, GCHT Director A SYMBOL OF URBAN NEGLECT The former Leyland Motor Company building, on Salkeld Street in Tradeston, caught my eye decades ago. As I still sail past it on the train every day on my commute, I have watched over recent decades as a tidemark of graffiti barnacled around its flanks. Tucked alongside […]

My favourite building: The Barrowland Ballroom

Night-time view of the iconic Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow, featuring its brightly lit neon sign with multicoloured stars and beams radiating from the name “Barrowland.”

By Taylor Cross-Whiter, GCHT Heritage Officer WHERE GLASGOW MEETS THE WORLD The giant neon sign flashes red, yellow, green and blue as you eagerly join the queue waiting to get inside, before climbing the stairs sticky from decades of spilt drinks, and walking into a cavernous room with stars twinkling down from the ceiling. There […]

My favourite building: The Forth & Clyde Canal

Sunny view of a canal towpath lined with cobblestones, running alongside calm water with trees and greenery on one side. White-painted canal buildings and a lock are visible in the distance, with overhead power lines crossing the clear blue sky.

By Gemma Wild, GCHT Heritage Manager STEEPED IN HISTORY When I’m asked what my favourite building in Glasgow is, I always cheat and say the Forth & Clyde Canal. It isn’t a ‘building’ strictly, but it is a man-made structure – does that count? You can keep your City Chambers, your Rennie Mackintosh’s and your […]

Celebrating a Year of Impact: GCHT Annual Report 2023-24

A line drawing showing cartoon-style gloved hands assembling a building out of block-like pieces with windows, resembling a construction puzzle or collaborative building activity.

We’re excited to share our 2023-24 Annual Report, showcasing a year of milestones and a fresh new look with our updated branding! Here’s what we achieved together: 20 heritage projects grant-aided, with a total investment of £643,284.08, supporting the repair of 9 buildings and helping 192 property owners conserve Glasgow’s historic built environment. £69,999 invested […]

Splashes of colours in the city: exploring Glasgow’s murals

For the last six months, since the very beginning of 2021, we enjoyed exploring various murals around Glasgow on our social media, using the hashtag #glasgowmuraloftheweek. This successful social media series proved to be a great way to appreciate and enjoy the historic built environment through an unusual and very colourful lens, particularly during months […]