Whitevale Street Public Baths & Washhouse:
Opened in 1902, architects: A. B. McDonald and W. Sharp, City Architects office. The building formerly housed a swimming pool and turkish bath. It was closed in the 1980s and has remained empty ever since sited in the shadow of the brutalist Whitevale and Bluevale twin towers. Category B listing.
street address: 75-89 Whitevale Street, Bridgeton, Glasgow, G31
Latitude / Longitude: 55.854842,-4.216818 (sourced using Google Maps)
site visit dates: 12 February 2011 & 21 August 2011
whitevale baths carved in the red sandstone which along with the high quality facing brick makes up the facade of the building (12/02/2011)
view north along west elevation with the pair of Brutalist high rise flats soaring upwards in the background (12/02/2011)
bricked up window with ashlar detailing (12/02/2011)
dangerous building sign, the interior is according to locals rife with asbestos (12/02/2011)
view south down the west elevation on Whitevale Street (12/02/2011)
womens baths entrance (12/02/2011)
Glasgow crest over the centre of the west elevation (12/02/2011)
mens baths entrance (12/02/2011)
the contrast between the post war towers and the turn of the century whitevale baths, both constructed of the contemporary building materials of their time (12/02/2011)
the bulge of the central portion of the column isknown as entasis is to counteract the illusion that columns appear to slim at the centre if their sides are parallel. Hence the bulge counteracts this. Entasis can be seen as far back as ancient times (12/02/2011)
south elevation of common brick and the view up Whitevale Street along the ashalr and facing brick front elevation (12/02/2011)
view from the south-east, the baths stretch backwards and from the south it can be seen they form a complex of linked buildings, ashalr and facing brick to the west and east, and common brick and warehouse aesthetic to the south and north (21/08/2011)
the end of the roof of the south elevation shows the advanced state of decay much of the building must be in. The roof covering is missing, with just weathered timber boarding warped, rotten and broken providing very limited protection. The wall has had a metal strip put on top to prevent the vertical ingress of water, however the rest of the roof will be letting huge amounts of water into the building below (21/08/2011)
the end of the roof of the south elevation shows the advanced state of decay much of the building must be in. The roof covering is missing, with just weathered timber boarding warped, rotten and broken providing very limited protection. The wall has had a metal strip put on top to prevent the vertical ingress of water, however the rest of the roof will be letting huge amounts of water into the building below (21/08/2011)
east elevation (21/08/2011)
south end of the east elevation, missing boards from the windows allow a view through the building showing parts of the roof above are missing (21/08/2011)
central portion of the east elevation using a high quality facing brick and red sandstone details and string courses (21/08/2011)
first floor window on the east elevation. Note the plaster ceiling rose just visible through the window (21/08/2011)
view south down the east elevation (21/08/2011)
site from the north-east (21/08/2011)
site from the north looking south-east (21/08/2011)
west interior wall of the east part of the building. there seems to be a walkway at top floor level here with metal railings as a barrier (21/08/2011)
the round brick tower rising from the south end of the east part of the building, possibly the former chimney for the boilers/furnace for the bath-house (21/08/2011)
north elevation, here the building is a single storey and heavily overgrown with vegetation (21/08/2011)
view from the north with the tops of the north elevation in the foreground, and in the distance the dilapidated roof of the south part of the building (21/08/2011)
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