Description

Gillespie, Kidd & Coia, 1971. 3-storey, predominantly rectangular-plan technical college, with stylised M-gable design; upper two storeys cantilevered out, on pilotis at ground. Metal-framed, concrete, harled gables. Horizontally banded fenestration.

NW (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: entrance ramp rising to 1st floor entrance, flanked by walls, and with railings at entrance (see below). Irregular openings at ground, with later lettering reading 'Cumbernauld College' below windows at 1st floor, to outer right; continuous glazing bands at 1st and 2nd floors; three

tripartite skylights sharply sloping angles to outer left and right.

SW ELEVATION: stylised M-gable, remainder not seen, 2000.

SE ELEVATION: irregular openings at ground; 64-light continuous glazing band at 1st floor; 56-light continuous glazing band at 2nd floor; three tripartite skylights sharply sloping angles to outer left and right.

NE ELEVATION: blank stylised M-gable, deep flat-arched recess rising to 1st floor, glazed to inside returns; later lettering reading 'Cumbernauld College' and logo, centred at 2nd floor.

INTERIOR: not seen, 2000.

Predominantly metal-framed horizontal pivoting windows. Roof part-glazed, with corrugated metal at 2nd floor.

WALLS AND RAILINGS: low concrete walls flanking entrance ramp (see above) with cast-iron railings at NW entrance. Cobbled embankment to NE.

Statement of Interest

Cumbernauld College, of interest for its highly unusual design, is an important surviving example of a transitional period in 20th century Scottish architecture. It is fittingly sited near to the buildings of Phase I of the Cumbernauld Town Centre, designed by Geoffrey Copcutt, and built in 1963-8. These buildings, influenced by the Modern Movement, and international architects such as Le Corbusier (1887- 1966), Richard Neutra (1892-1970) and Louis Kahn (1901-74), exemplify the language of the contemporary 'megastructure', in which several uses are incorporated in one building. Cumbernauld College is a similar complex superstructure, on a smaller scale.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Cumbernauld College campus at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q5193996

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

• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)