Livingstone Tower
Encyclopedia
The Livingstone Tower is a mid-rise skyscraper
in Glasgow
, Scotland
and is a part of the University of Strathclyde
's John Anderson Campus
, one of the 2 campuses the university operates from. The building was named after David Livingstone
. The address of the building is 26 Richmond Street, Glasgow.
The building is a notable landmark in the eastern side of the city centre, and its high position on the drumlin
of Rottenrow
means it can be seen from some considerable distance throughout the city's East End. It was also among the earliest high-rise commercial buildings to go up in the city centre in the post-war period, pre-dated only by St Andrew's House
(1964), Fleming House (1961) and the Royal Stuart Hotel (1963) - the latter ironically being also owned by Strathclyde University in the 1980s and early 1990s as a student hall of residence.
and a commercial development company. The site was formerly occupied by a row of tenement
houses, but these were cleared after Townhead
was declared a Comprehensive Development Area (CDA) in the 1950s. As part of this development - inspired by the findings of the 1945 Bruce Report
, central areas of the city were re-zoned for commercial or educational use.
The building is of reinforced concrete
construction, and was state of the art in its construction methods at the time - being clad with a curtain wall
in opaque dark green glass spandrel
panels framed by orange metal uprights. With its original commercial use in mind it featured an advanced elevator
system for its day - four Otis
Autotronic gearless lifts (also used in St. Andrew House on Sauchiehall Street) which were capable of responding to the traffic flow within the building at specific times of the day. The building is electrically heated and was also intended to feature a restaurant
on the ground floor which the University later turned into a student refectory.
The tower sits atop a 3 storey concrete podium shared with the neighbouring McCance Building, an NCP
car park, and a row of retail units at street level on George Street. There is also private car parking for Glasgow City Council. There was also a raised empty concrete podium between the tower and the McCance Building upon which the University would later add the Collins Building in 1973.
In 1965, one year after the creation of the University of Strathclyde
, the building had still not attracted any private tenants. The adjacent McCance Building which was being built at the same time to house the University's library, arts and social studies departments. The two buildings ultimately became part of a plan to expand the University by adding more buildings and learning space, and so it was decided the building would be leased to the University. This lease was set to last 100 years and is due to end in 2064. The University dropped the original Alec House name and renamed the building after David Livingstone
who studied at the Anderson's medical school between 1836 and 1839. At the time the building was used to expand the departments that were to be included in the McCance building. Since then it has grown and is now home to five of the university's departments.
The building received a mild refubishment in 2010, which saw the outer spandrel panels replaced, a new modern languages centre built and the floors redesignated by transposing the Ground Floor to Level 1, thus the former roof terrace becoming Level 15. The studios of the radio
station Celtic Music Radio
are currently on the 14th Floor of the building within the Hunter Centre.
Under the University's £300m masterplan for campus consolidation and renewal, it has proposed to vacate the entire Livingstone Tower/McCance/Collins Building complex and relocate the Humanities and Social Sciences departments to the Lord Hope Building in Cathedral Street. A revised plan was released in 2011 which showed that the tower would remain in use until the year 2023 , after which the building would be returned to Glasgow City Council for future redevelopment.
of the University of Strathclyde
. It is part of a mixed-use development which includes the University's own McCance and Collins Buildings, a two-storey sub-surface NCP
car park, and a row of retail units at street level on George Street. There is also private car parking for Glasgow City Council.
The tower itself (arguably designed in the International Style
) follows a constrasting architectural paradigm to the rest of the attaching buildings, which are of a distinctly Brutalist style - fashionable in the 1960s.
. The former headquarters of UNISON
at 1 Mabledon Place along Euston Road known as Unison House is almost identical in design, sharing the same hexagonal planform, although being of 10 stories high instead of 13, and is cladded in bare concrete instead of metal panels. Their striking similarities suggest that the two buildings are clearly the work of the same architect.
, an alumnus of the University of Strathclyde
, based one of the skyscraper sprites appearing in the computer game Transport Tycoon
on Livingstone Tower.
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and is a part of the University of Strathclyde
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, Scotland, is Glasgow's second university by age, founded in 1796, and receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university...
's John Anderson Campus
John Anderson Campus
The John Anderson Campus, the main campus of The University of Strathclyde, is located in Glasgow, Scotland. The campus is self-contained in its own area while being only minutes from the M8 Motorway, George Square and Queen Street Railway Station.-History:...
, one of the 2 campuses the university operates from. The building was named after David Livingstone
David Livingstone
David Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...
. The address of the building is 26 Richmond Street, Glasgow.
The building is a notable landmark in the eastern side of the city centre, and its high position on the drumlin
Drumlin
A drumlin, from the Irish word droimnín , first recorded in 1833, is an elongated whale-shaped hill formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated till or ground moraine.-Drumlin formation:...
of Rottenrow
Rottenrow
Rottenrow is a famous street in the city of Glasgow in Scotland. It is located at Townhead, in the northern periphery of the city centre.Rottenrow dates back to the city's medieval beginnings, and once connected the historic High Street to the northern reaches of what is now the Cowcaddens area. ...
means it can be seen from some considerable distance throughout the city's East End. It was also among the earliest high-rise commercial buildings to go up in the city centre in the post-war period, pre-dated only by St Andrew's House
St. Andrews House (Glasgow)
St Andrew House is a mixed use, mid-rise skyscraper in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland. It has been a prominent landmark on western end of the city's Sauchiehall Street since the mid 1960s when it was completed, and was one of the first post-war high rise buildings in the city centre...
(1964), Fleming House (1961) and the Royal Stuart Hotel (1963) - the latter ironically being also owned by Strathclyde University in the 1980s and early 1990s as a student hall of residence.
Construction & History
The Livingstone Tower was constructed between 1962 and 1964 as Alec House - a commerical office building in a partnership between Glasgow Corporation, the former Royal College of Science and TechnologyRoyal College of Science and Technology
The Royal College of Science and Technology, situated at 138 George Street in Glasgow, Scotland was the principal predecessor institution of the University of Strathclyde, and now serves as one of the main educational buildings of the campus.-History:...
and a commercial development company. The site was formerly occupied by a row of tenement
Tenement
A tenement is, in most English-speaking areas, a substandard multi-family dwelling, usually old, occupied by the poor.-History:Originally the term tenement referred to tenancy and therefore to any rented accommodation...
houses, but these were cleared after Townhead
Townhead
-Location:Townhead has no fixed boundaries. In ancient times it was the undeveloped area north of the cathedral and town. If we use this description then it is bordered to the west by the area of Cowcaddens, to the north by Sighthill and the east by Royston and south by Merchant City...
was declared a Comprehensive Development Area (CDA) in the 1950s. As part of this development - inspired by the findings of the 1945 Bruce Report
Bruce Report
The Bruce Report is the name commonly given to two urban redevelopment reports of the Glasgow Corporation ....
, central areas of the city were re-zoned for commercial or educational use.
The building is of reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
construction, and was state of the art in its construction methods at the time - being clad with a curtain wall
Curtain wall
A curtain wall is an outer covering of a building in which the outer walls are non-structural, but merely keep out the weather. As the curtain wall is non-structural it can be made of a lightweight material reducing construction costs. When glass is used as the curtain wall, a great advantage is...
in opaque dark green glass spandrel
Spandrel
A spandrel, less often spandril or splaundrel, is the space between two arches or between an arch and a rectangular enclosure....
panels framed by orange metal uprights. With its original commercial use in mind it featured an advanced elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
system for its day - four Otis
Otis Elevator Company
The Otis Elevator Company is the world's largest manufacturer of vertical transportation systems today, principally focusing on elevators and escalators...
Autotronic gearless lifts (also used in St. Andrew House on Sauchiehall Street) which were capable of responding to the traffic flow within the building at specific times of the day. The building is electrically heated and was also intended to feature a restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
on the ground floor which the University later turned into a student refectory.
The tower sits atop a 3 storey concrete podium shared with the neighbouring McCance Building, an NCP
National Car Parks
National Car Parks is the United Kingdom’s largest private car park operator, with over 200,000 spaces across more than 700 locations in towns and cities, railway stations and at airports....
car park, and a row of retail units at street level on George Street. There is also private car parking for Glasgow City Council. There was also a raised empty concrete podium between the tower and the McCance Building upon which the University would later add the Collins Building in 1973.
In 1965, one year after the creation of the University of Strathclyde
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, Scotland, is Glasgow's second university by age, founded in 1796, and receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university...
, the building had still not attracted any private tenants. The adjacent McCance Building which was being built at the same time to house the University's library, arts and social studies departments. The two buildings ultimately became part of a plan to expand the University by adding more buildings and learning space, and so it was decided the building would be leased to the University. This lease was set to last 100 years and is due to end in 2064. The University dropped the original Alec House name and renamed the building after David Livingstone
David Livingstone
David Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...
who studied at the Anderson's medical school between 1836 and 1839. At the time the building was used to expand the departments that were to be included in the McCance building. Since then it has grown and is now home to five of the university's departments.
Recent History
In 2000 the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship http://www.gsb.strath.ac.uk/mba/studyoptions/international/dubai/huntercentre.asp was built by converting the former roof terrace into offices, thus creating a fourteenth floor, accessed by stairs from the thirteenth floor. It is part of the Strathclyde Entrepreneurship Initiative. The Hunter Centre provides elective classes related to different areas of business. It was named after Sir Tom Hunter after his £5 million endowment to the university to help fund the new centre.The building received a mild refubishment in 2010, which saw the outer spandrel panels replaced, a new modern languages centre built and the floors redesignated by transposing the Ground Floor to Level 1, thus the former roof terrace becoming Level 15. The studios of the radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
station Celtic Music Radio
Celtic Music Radio
Celtic Music Radio is a Community Radio station, broadcasting on 1530 kHz AM to the Glasgow and Central Scotland area. It can also be accessed via a...
are currently on the 14th Floor of the building within the Hunter Centre.
Under the University's £300m masterplan for campus consolidation and renewal, it has proposed to vacate the entire Livingstone Tower/McCance/Collins Building complex and relocate the Humanities and Social Sciences departments to the Lord Hope Building in Cathedral Street. A revised plan was released in 2011 which showed that the tower would remain in use until the year 2023 , after which the building would be returned to Glasgow City Council for future redevelopment.
Location
The building is located within the John Anderson CampusJohn Anderson Campus
The John Anderson Campus, the main campus of The University of Strathclyde, is located in Glasgow, Scotland. The campus is self-contained in its own area while being only minutes from the M8 Motorway, George Square and Queen Street Railway Station.-History:...
of the University of Strathclyde
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, Scotland, is Glasgow's second university by age, founded in 1796, and receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university...
. It is part of a mixed-use development which includes the University's own McCance and Collins Buildings, a two-storey sub-surface NCP
National Car Parks
National Car Parks is the United Kingdom’s largest private car park operator, with over 200,000 spaces across more than 700 locations in towns and cities, railway stations and at airports....
car park, and a row of retail units at street level on George Street. There is also private car parking for Glasgow City Council.
The tower itself (arguably designed in the International Style
International style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...
) follows a constrasting architectural paradigm to the rest of the attaching buildings, which are of a distinctly Brutalist style - fashionable in the 1960s.
The London Twin
The Livingstone Tower has a near identical twin in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The former headquarters of UNISON
UNISON
UNISON is the largest trade union in the United Kingdom with over 1.3 million members.The union was formed in 1993 when three public sector trade unions, the National and Local Government Officers Association , the National Union of Public Employees and the Confederation of Health Service...
at 1 Mabledon Place along Euston Road known as Unison House is almost identical in design, sharing the same hexagonal planform, although being of 10 stories high instead of 13, and is cladded in bare concrete instead of metal panels. Their striking similarities suggest that the two buildings are clearly the work of the same architect.
Virtual Version
Games developer Chris SawyerChris Sawyer
Chris Sawyer is a Scottish computer game developer who is best known for designing and programming Transport Tycoon and the RollerCoaster Tycoon series.-Career:...
, an alumnus of the University of Strathclyde
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, Scotland, is Glasgow's second university by age, founded in 1796, and receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university...
, based one of the skyscraper sprites appearing in the computer game Transport Tycoon
Transport Tycoon
Transport Tycoon and Transport Tycoon Deluxe are computer games developed by Chris Sawyer and published by MicroProse in 1994 , and 1995...
on Livingstone Tower.
Departments
The Livingstone Tower is the home to many departments including:- Computer and Information Sciences
- Mathematics and Statistics
- English Language Teaching Division
- Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship