Description

John James Burnet (Burnet, Son and Campbell), 1882-96; kitchen outhouse at No. 7 added by Campbell Douglas & Paterson, 1905. 3-storey and attic, 26-bay Renaissance terrace block of townhouses.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: 1st, 15th, 26th bays canted. Each entry at head of short flight of steps with corniced parapet walls. Battered ground floor; cill band. 1st floor bracketted balustraded balcony, canted bay windows with balustrade over in 5th, 7th, 12th, 13th bays. Corbelled turret in 1st E bay rising full-height with plain narrow windows, glazed attic level with 3- and 4-light windows, independently roofed. 1st floor windows keyblocked, pedimented, broken pediments in main canted bays. Plain 2nd floor windows with aprons, tripartite over 1st floor bay windows. Modillion cornice. Balustrades over central bays.

NOS 9 AND 10: similar treatment with simplified decoration, 8 bays. Shallow S turret rising into attic with polygonal roof and simple glazing. Dentilled oriel windows at 1st floor in 2nd and 7th bays from S. Architraved and corniced paired entries at Nos. 8 and 9. Kitchen outhouse with segmentally pedimented half dormer to rear at No 7, Campbell Douglas and Paterson, 1905. Sandstone and brick scullery wings to rear.

Slate roofs; gabled dormers; corniced mutual stacks.

INTERIORS (seen 1988): numerous original features including: NO 2: Fretwork cast-iron balusters, carved pendants, columns. Curved timber entrance hall chimneypiece. Marble staircase up to 1st floor. Leaded side lights, to entrance. 1st floor stained glass to left of landing. NO 3: coupled column entrance hall chimneypiece. NO 4: arched stair landing with coupled columns. NO 5: similar to Nos 1 and 2. NO 6: 1st floor marble lined bathroom with marble fixtures and fittings. NO 7: carved stone entrance chimneypiece. Various elaborate timber chimneypieces. Figurative tiled fireplace in 2nd floor rear room. NO 8: Edwardian Baroque entrance hall, chimneypiece. NO 9: similar to No 8. NO 10: timber columned staircase.

BOUNDARY WALLS AND ENTRANCE PIERS: boundary walls and piers with cushion caps flanking entrance steps; cast-iron railings now missing.

'OUT' PIER AND STEPPED GARDEN WALL FRONTING UNIVERSITY AVENUE: decorative drum pier at E junction of University Avenue and University Gardens, inscribed 'UNIVERSITY GARDENS' and 'OUT'. Stepped wall with replacement railings enclosing garden at University Avenue; returns in at W junction of University Avenue, inscribed 'UNIVERSITY GARDENS' and 'IN'.

Statement of Interest

2-10 University Gardens forms an A-Group with 1 University Gardens, 12 University Gardens, 14 University Gardens and 11-13 University Gardens (see separate listings) University Gardens are of outstanding interest as a virtually intact high quality terrace of townhouses by the nationally significant architect John James Burnet. The architectural design is executed in high quality materials and exhibits a range of features in the Renaissance style, including a prominent balconies and canted bays. The interiors are highly detailed and are characterised by high quality plaster and timber work and elaborately detailed chimneypieces. The design is characteristic of Burnet's move to the so called 'free style' of architecture which rejected a scholarly use of historicist styles in favour of a freer use of traditional architectural methods and motifs, as seen in the combination of architectural devices in the design for University Gardens.

Dean of Guild records show that Nos. 3-4 were commissioned by William Young from John Burnet & Son, and Nos. 6-10 by John Napier from John Burnet, Son & Campbell. The occupants of Nos. 2-5 in 1893 were a mixture of merchants and professionals: Henry Fairlie, industrial chemist; Andrew M'Onie, engineer; James Mann of Mann, Byars & Co, retail warehousemen and manufacturers; and Robert Berry, LLD.

John James Burnet was one of Scotland's leading architects in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Son of another architect, John Burnet Senior, he trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Burnet was a pioneer of the stylistic move from historicist styles to a tradition-based, but free-style architecture. He developed enormously successful and influential practices in Glasgow and London, designing a number of eminent buildings including the Fine Art Institute, Athenaeum Theatre, Charing Cross Mansions, Atlantic Chambers and Clyde Navigation Trust Offices in Glasgow and the Kodak Building, the second and third phases of Selfridges, Adelaide House, and the King Edward VII Wing at the British Museum in London. Burnet was knighted for the latter project in 1914. Commissions for the University of Glasgow included: the Bower Building (1900), Anatomical (Thomson) Building (1900-01), James Watt Engineering North Building (1901 and 1908), University Chapel (1923-29), Zoology Building (1923), and Hunter Memorial (1925). The neighbouring Glasgow Western Infirmary also employed Burnet Sr and John James Burnet for a number of projects.

Formerly listed as '2-10 (Inclusive Nos) University Gardens'. Originally known as 'Saughfield Crescent'.

List description updated as part of review of the University of Glasgow Hillhead Campus, 2011. The building number is derived from the University of Glasgow Main Campus Map (2007), as published on the University's website www.gla.ac.uk.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17568053

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.

Recommended Books

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  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
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  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
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  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  For the Record