Description

J B Pirie and A Clyne, 1887. Single storey and attic principal elevation, 2 full storeys to rear, 26-bay terraced crescent of 2-bay mirrored cottages. Rough-faced grey and pink granite finely finished to margins. Dark grey granite base course; ground floor cill course; finely finished lintel band course; pink granite deep eaves course, corniced with regularly spaced grey granite navel-like paterae. Pilastered panelled timber doors with glazed panels flanking and letterbox fanlights, some with original stained glass; squat rough-faced pilasters flanking tops of doorways; canted dormers with timber twin dentil cornice, rectangular dormers above doorways with navel paterae to lintels, iron daffodil finials to dormers.

PRINCIPAL (WESTBURN ROAD AND DRIVE) ELEVATION: near-symmetrical. No 1: terminating block facing Westburn Road; 2-bay, window to left of ground floor, canted dormer to attic above; canted window forming canted dormer to attic floor in bay to right; curved wall to outer left converted to angle at lintel level; entrance to W (see below). Nos 2-13: 6 4-bay mirrored pairs comprising 2-bay cottages; 2 doorways in 2 centre bays of ground floor, rectangular dormers to attic floor above; canted windows to ground floor forming canted dormers to attic floor of bays flanking doorways to left and right.

N ELEVATION: obscured by adjoining terrace.

NW (REAR) ELEVATION: near-symmetrical. No 1: piend roofed service wing advanced to right of ground floor, extending to W elevation, doorways and windows to right return, window to flanking bay to left; 2 windows to 1st floor. Nos 2-13: symmetrical; piend-roofed service wing advanced to centre of each pair, flanked to left and right by window at ground floor, 2-leaf glazed timber door with fanlight flanking to bays to outer left and right; regular fenestration to 1st floor; variety of skylights to attic floor.

W ELEVATION: gabled; asymmetrical; lean-to porch to centre and left of ground floor, panelled timber door with letterbox fanlight set in pilastered doorway to right return, flanked by squat pilaster below lintel to left; window set in gable above.

Predominantly 2-pane timber sash and case windows, some replacement with top hoppers. Grey and purple-grey slate roofs with lead ridges. Stone skews. Coped ridge and wallhead stacks with predominantly octagonal cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIORS: some original interiors survive, notably No 5. Elegant porches, some with decorative stained glass panels and doors; steeply twisted staircases with turned balusters; skirting boards, cornices and original panelled timber doors; decorative ceiling roses and cornices to principal rooms; elongated colonettes against walls at angles of bay windows in principal ground floor rooms; decorative stained glass panels in skylight of stairwells; some original fireplaces. Tall timber doors enclosing ladder to attic on 1st floor landings.

GATES, GATEPIERS AND BOUNDARY WALLS: 2-leaf decorative iron gate to centre of principal elevation, with sign reading "Argyll Crescent", flanked to left and right by decorative gatepiers, battered, rough-faced pink granite base surmounted by scrolled caps; low granite walls to remainder of principal elevation with iron gate to E and S. Brick coped rubble walls to rear of crescent, forming radial plan to individual gardens, and segment shaped drying green with boarded timber door from each garden; scrolled terminating pier to SW.

Statement of Interest

B-Group with 31 and 37-47, and 55-93 Argyll Place (see separate listings, Midstocket Ward). Argyll Crescent was built for the enterprising Aberdeen builder and contractor John Morgan, who was also a close friend of J B Pirie. Like the slightly earlier Argyll Place, Argyll Crescent is a simply ornamented, well proportioned terrace. The facade is varied by the different colours of granite, from dark grey to pink, and the contrast between rough-faced and finely finished stonework. The slightly oversized canted windows from ground to attic floors occur in varying forms in most of their domestic designs. The navel-like paterae appear in the majority of the designs of the partnership where Pirie is involved. The paterae are probably a development of the sunflower (a favourite motif of the Aesthetic Movement) or daffodil, which is used for the iron finials of the dormers of Argyll Crescent. The doorways flanked by squat pilasters are also typical of Pirie and Clyne's domestic designs, similarly squat columns are used by Alexander Thomson at the side entrance to St. Vincent Street Church, Glasgow, of 1857-8 (see separate listing). One of the most unusual features of Argyll Crescent is the planning. The smooth convex curve of the terrace, with private drive and gardens in front encloses the gardens which are arranged in a radial plan, with a segmental drying green at the apex, forming a unique and complete design.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17778829

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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