Herald Building Glasgow, Mackintosh

Scottish Architecture Centre: The Lighthouse

Rennie Mackintosh in 1893-95





The Lighthouse: photo from Page & Park Architects

refurbished as The Lighthouse, Scotland’s Centre for Architecture, Design and the City, 56 Mitchell St, Glasgow by Page & Park Architects in 1998 - 1999

glasgow herald, 87-94 / 60-76 mitchell st


The Lighthouse: photo from Page & Park Architects

Gordon Chambers / Glasgow Herald Building:
Burnet, Boston & Carruthers 1903-06
John Baird 1867-70
Charles Rennie Mackintosh 1893-95





Glasgow Herald: photo from Page & Park Architects

Typical for a Scottish newspaper operation (eg former headquarters of The Scotsman, North Bridge, Edinburgh) the lower floors were used as production and the upper floors for the editorial and commercial offices.


The Lighthouse Mack Room photo

A building with great heritage: the former Glasgow Herald building was remodelled by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1893-95, his first major public building.


building photo from Page & Park Architects

Like so many Scottish contemporary buildings, the newspaper columns have focused on the problems - generally costs - rather than the architecture. Page & Park Architects have a fine pedigree and were a logical choice for such a project.


The Lighthouse - Glasgow Herald: photo from Page & Park Architects

The Lighthouse, although in central Glasgow, is in a difficult site, tucked away off the main drag. This means signage and marketing have to be well-organised, and the logo designed by Mariscal - who did the Barcelona Olympics logo (the dog holding a torch) - makes a strong impact. With a lack of easily-visible street frontage the Lighthouse image that immediately springs to my mind (even though I'm an architect) is the 'three-legged' logo of, well, a lighthouse. Nevertheless, the interior spaces are stacked vertically up a brightly-coloured atrium, calmed by areas of fair-faced concrete and linked by an elevator. The exhibitions are designed to be accessible and don't focus purely on architecture; there is an observation deck at the top from which to view the city.


Glasgow Herald: photo by Steffen Schefer

Interior graphics and displays were designed by Javier Mariscal and designers lwd. The £12m Glasgow Lighthouse opened in Summer 1999, with two main exhibition galleries, conference room, ground-floor cafe, smaller display areas, education and IT suites, Mackintosh interpretation area and a Design-into-Business Centre. The Lighthouse forms a permanent addition to Scotland's cultural heritage and a concrete reminder of Glasgow 1999: UK City of Architecture and Design. It's stated remit is to ensure that the widest possible audience will be able to use the building to explore architecture and design in all their many meanings, presented in engaging informative and challenging ways.

Glasgow School of Art

Historic Glasgow: best glasgow buildings of the past




Scottish Architects of the past

Rennie Mackintosh

Glasgow walking tours

Herald Building, Glasgow

European Heritage Awards

building image © adrian welch

St Andrew's in the Square church building and The Lighthouse in Glasgow were the only sites in Scotland to be named as buildings of outstanding historic importance by Europa Nostra, an organisation of more than 200 non-governmental heritage groups.

Glasgow Sculptor James Sellars worked on the Glasgow Herald Building. He also worked on Fraser's Department Store (1883) in Buchanan Street.

Glasgow : back to index