Rennie Mackintosh and Álvaro Siza tearoom designs, Tea for Two Queen’s Cross exhibition, Building architect photos

Tea for Two Glasgow

18 September 2025

New Glasgow exhibition explores the tearoom designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Álvaro Siza

Venue: Mackintosh Queen’s Cross, 870 Garscube Road, Glasgow G20 7EL.

Dates: 11 September – 2 October 2025

Photos © Ellis Bairstow

Tea for Two / Chá para Dois

Glasgow is playing host to a new architectural exhibition this autumn as Tea for Two/Chá para Dois is held at Mackintosh Queen’s Cross, 870 Garscube Road, Glasgow. Running from 11 September until 2 October 2025, the exhibition and events programme brings together the work of two of Europe’s most celebrated architects: Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Álvaro Siza.

The exhibition, designed and curated by Graeme Nicholls Architects, places Mackintosh’s original designs for the Willow Tea Rooms on Sauchiehall Street alongside Siza’s Casa de Chá da Boa Nova in Porto, a modernist tea house built on the Atlantic coast. Drawings, objects, photography, and a newly commissioned film reveal how each architect responded to context, materiality, and atmosphere in shaping civic and cultural places for their cities. Mackintosh’s only built church provides a fitting venue, its scale and character resonating with the works on display.

Visitors will also be able to enjoy a rich programme of talks, tours, and events throughout the run. Highlights include an evening with Oliver Braid of Mackintosh at the Willow at 7 pm on Wednesday 24 September, reflecting on the history of Mackintosh’s iconic building and its recent restoration, and a panel discussion at 7pm on Thursday 2nd October featuring Dr Lindsay Middleton, a University of Glasgow food historian specialising in Scottish food culture. The discussion will be followed by a short guided tour offering a final opportunity to view the exhibition, with commentary on selected highlights.

Álvaro Siza – Mackintosh Queen’s Cross event:

Event tickets are available through the Mackintosh Queen’s Cross website.

Architect Graeme Nicholls said:

“This exhibition is the culmination of two years of close collaboration with the world-renowned Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza. It has been an incredible experience to bring to life his admiration for Mackintosh and to create a dialogue between their work.”

The exhibition is open on the following dates, with standard venue entry fees applying: Monday 11 am–4 pm, Wednesday 11 am–4 pm, Friday 11 am–4 pm.

Free entry is available during Glasgow Doors Open Days on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 September 2025, between 12–5 pm.

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Graeme Nicholls Architects

Graeme Nicholls Architects is a Glasgow-based practice known for its arts-led approach, with projects that reflect proportion, innovative use of materials, and cultural narratives.

Tea for Two/Chá para Dois

The exhibition is supported by the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, the Anglo-Portuguese Society, Camões – Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, Mackintosh at the Willow, the National Trust for Scotland, the Glasgow Institute of Architects, Friends of Glasgow Museums, João Morgado (photographer), Lebond Watches, Craft Design Construction, Seventeen House, the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, Casa da Arquitectura, and Casa de Chá da Boa Nova.

Queens Cross Church building:

photo © Isabelle Lomholt

Mackintosh Queen’s Cross

Queen’s Cross is the only church designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and is now home to the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society. Located at 870 Garscube Road, Glasgow G20 7EL, it provides a unique venue for cultural events, exhibitions and concerts.

Photographs © Ellis Bairstow

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Rennie Mackintosh Architect

photograph © Daniel Lomholt-Welch