Project Updates: St Peter's Seminary

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St Peters No.1

Postby Vladimir » Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:23 am

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Postby Apollo » Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:54 am

Ten out ten for a Hidden Glasgow icon, there's not much else to add really :)

Perhaps a quote that echoed my own thoughts as I read the article:
was unsure why the Parliament was so highly placed


The place really is detestable, and all the more so when I learned that Joe and Josephine Public has to pay to get in, although it seems the charge is waived if they're visiting for the purpose of meeting an occupant, how considerate.

That said, the other glimpses look interesting, and it'll be nice to get a look at the whole list.
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Postby Vladimir » Sun Oct 02, 2005 12:11 pm

Ten out ten for a Hidden Glasgow icon, there's not much else to add really Smile
:?

Agree totally about the parliament but its too late now. Interesting that Cockenzie Power Station came 45th! Ive never seen it though, it could be a masterpiece. :D
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Postby Apollo » Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:35 pm

I found the listing of Cockenzie power station (some pics here) a bit odd too as I've never thought it looked particularly different from its cousins, but heartening, as such structures as all to easily dismissed as industrial eyesores. I just sparked off a call for demolitions elsehwere, when I mentioned Inverkip's mothballed example, and it's practically invisible, bar its landmark chimney, favoured by local golfers. Mind you, I'd sooner look at a power station than the Parliament building. Some of them look quite atmospheric at dusk, with their semi-transparent exteriors and cool blue interior lighting, and some of the old brick buildings really did look like 'Palaces to Power'.
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Postby Sharon » Sun Oct 02, 2005 8:11 pm

Di anyone get the Sunday Times today?
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Postby Socceroo » Sun Oct 02, 2005 8:15 pm

Yep. Why?

Then later edited to -

Too much medicinal Laphroig for my cold today. Just read the article on St Peter's. I'll probably be kicked out for saying this but i this it looks a wee bit like the Old Queen Lizzie in the Gorbals. i.e. cold, damp and indestructable unless you apply dynamite.

Concrete is an okay material for multi storey Car Parks but not for the walls of anything residential.

What could you do with St Peter's nowadays, you would need to insulate the outer walls which would kill it.
Last edited by Socceroo on Sun Oct 02, 2005 8:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Fossil » Sun Oct 02, 2005 8:24 pm

any pictures of St Peters in it?

F
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Postby Sharon » Sun Oct 02, 2005 8:32 pm

Yeah! That was the point i never got to.. did they use pics of st peters... and if so were they mine!!!!???
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Postby My Kitten » Sun Oct 02, 2005 8:36 pm

Ruin beats Holyrood to design prize
Gayle Ritchie
THEY are among the country’s most expensive structures built by the world’s foremost architects, but the Scottish parliament, the Museum of Scotland and the Burrell Collection have been beaten to the title of Scotland’s most important modern building by a derelict Catholic seminary in Dunbartonshire.

St Peter’s College in Cardross, near Helensburgh, was chosen as the most influential building constructed in Scotland since the second world war by a panel of experts nominated by Prospect, the design and architecture magazine.

The seminary, a ruined skeleton consumed by vegetation, heads the first table of the top 100 modern Scottish buildings. The Scottish parliament is ranked fourth on the list, which will be unveiled at this week’s Scottish Design Show.

St Peter’s was commissioned as a seminary in 1958 and first opened its doors to trainee priests in 1966. Falling numbers forced its closure in 1980.

Penny Lewis, editor of Prospect and chairwoman of the selection panel, said that the building was an inspiration to contemporary architects.

“This is a spiritually uplifting and magical place even in its derelict form. It enjoys a fantastic relationship to the landscape, particularly in its use of water and stepped levels around the building,” she said.

“At the heart of the building is the space for worship, which is one of the best public places in Scotland for acoustics.”

A team from Prospect analysed significant public and private buildings constructed over the past six decades to produce a list that was whittled down to the top 100.

The seminary’s architects, Isi Metzstein and Andy MacMillan of the Glasgow firm Gillespie Kidd and Coia, will be honoured for their achievements at Glasgow’s Tramway Theatre on Thursday.

Lewis added: “Metzstein and MacMillan produced a really innovative and imaginative body of work. It sings with the optimism and sense of excitement of the 1960s and 1970s.”

However the building failed to impress the chancellor of the Glasgow archdiocese, Monsignor Peter Smith, who lived there for 18 months, a period which he described as “desperately bad”.

“It was freezing cold, with a leaky roof and had practically no sound proofing. The design was flawed and dreadfully impractical — the building had concrete and glass walls, no heating, no lighting and bespoke lightbulbs,” he said.

“The fire escape went round the chimney and above the boiler so, if that blew up, so would the fire escape and when it rained, the smoke turned to sludge on the stairs. It may have worked in Spain or France, but not Scotland.”

Smith said the fact that the seminary had won the award was an example of the disparity between the theory of architecture and the reality of human living. “Architects can tell us how wonderful this building is, but it was hell to live in,” he said.

A planning application from the church is being considered by Argyll and Bute council to prevent further damage to the seminary. The church is also considering gifting the building and estate to the local community.

It wants to see the seminary partially restored, 28 new homes built within its walled garden and the existing lodges on the estate being renovated for habitation.

Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow said: “I am delighted that the archdiocese has been honoured for its enlightened support of fine architecture. Changes of circumstances sadly render buildings obsolete, and in the case of St Peter’s this occurred much sooner than could have been foreseen.

“We have attempted for more than 20 years to find a solution which would have preserved the building and have attempted to put adequate security in place, but the vandals defeated us.”

However, some people have criticised the awards for ignoring Scotland’s most prominent buildings while honouring its more obscure structures.

David McDonald, director of the Cockburn Association in Edinburgh, said he felt that the Scottish parliament had not been fully appreciated by the architectural community.

“The Scottish parliament is, in my view, Scotland’s finest piece of contemporary architecture,” he said.

“At first glance the campus of buildings and landscapes that constitute the parliament are easy to knock — it is not a building that you fall in love with at first sight.

“But the more you explore, the greater the appreciation for its complex and contrasting architecture. There are few places I know of that can offer such a sense of discovery.”

Gordon Young, the publisher of Prospect, said: “One lesson from St Peter’s College is that radical new ideas are not necessarily appreciated at the time, but their importance becomes clear with the passage of some years.”
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Postby Socceroo » Sun Oct 02, 2005 8:49 pm

Image

Photo used in article in Sunday Times. I usually read the Observer honest!
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Postby Socceroo » Sun Oct 02, 2005 9:40 pm

Image

SUNDAY TIMES ARTICLE ON 01st OCTOBER 2005
Last edited by Socceroo on Mon Oct 03, 2005 5:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Socceroo » Sun Oct 02, 2005 9:43 pm

Image


SUNDAY TIMES ARTICLE ON 01st OCTOBER 2005
Last edited by Socceroo on Mon Oct 03, 2005 5:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Vladimir » Sun Oct 02, 2005 9:50 pm

I know its a shame how her eyesight is failing her now :( 8)
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Postby My Kitten » Mon Oct 03, 2005 5:08 pm

Vladimir wrote:I know its a shame how her eyesight is failing her now :( 8)


I've been blind for years - thats my excuse for my previous choice of boyfriends hehe
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Postby Vladimir » Mon Oct 03, 2005 5:33 pm

::): :D
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