Today I took the train out of Glasgow past small farms and technicolor sheep to East Kilbride, a suburban town just a few miles southeast of the city.

St Bride’s Roman Catholic Church

My primary destination was St Bride’s Roman Catholic Church (click the link for a detailed post), but there were a few other relevant architectural projects to see in the city too. East Kilbride was extensively developed in the post war era, and is designated one of Scotland’s first “new towns”, which were specifically developed to accommodate housing shortages after the war.  Learn about East Kilbride and its development at this website, an art project by Visual Art and Theory student Sylvia Grace Borda.

Neighboring East Kilbride’s massive shopping centre–a sprawling conglomeration of 6 different malls which reads like a fascinating physical reflection of the evolution of retail design. Walking through is like a time warp; one can trace the retail design trends while navigating through the different spaces–is the East Kilbride Civic Centre. A large grouping of building massings; the primary facade is reminiscent of Breuer’s office towers with its precast facade system and angled relief surrounding the windows.

Dollan Aqua Centre – Rear

The most sculpturally exuberant of the projects was undoubtedly the Dollan Aqua Centre – its parabolic barrel vaults make for a dramatic discovery upon arrival.  But the detailing of the swooping beams is rather clunky and the interior space feels rather introverted – though this is not entirely uncommon in brutalist buildings.  The Dollan Aqua Centre also shares a modification that has proven to be a fairly frequent one, the addition of a tech-style glass canopy at the entry.  The interiors have undergone a complete overhaul, resulting in a fairly generic palette of interior finishes.

Dollan Aqua Centre – Entry

Dollan Aqua Centre – Detail

RELEVANT LINKS

Historic Scotland’s Listed Building Report – Key Youth Centre