County Buildings, Dumbarton
Former County Buildings at Dumbarton
LocationGarshake Road, Dumbarton
Coordinates55°56′55″N 4°32′46″W / 55.9487°N 4.5462°W / 55.9487; -4.5462
Built1965
ArchitectLane Bremner & Garnett
Architectural style(s)Brutalist style
County Buildings, Dumbarton is located in West Dunbartonshire
County Buildings, Dumbarton
Shown in West Dunbartonshire

County Buildings was a municipal structure in Garshake Road, Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The complex was the headquarters of Dunbartonshire County Council and was subsequently used as council offices for West Dunbartonshire Council.

History

The original county offices in Dumbarton were in the Sheriff Courthouse in Church Street.[1] In the early 1960s, the council leaders decided that Dunbartonshire County Council needed larger offices and they selected a site to the southeast of Garshake Road in what was once part of the Crosslet Estate.[2]

The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the council convener, Hugh Gillies, on 26 June 1963. It was designed by Armstrong Lane, Duncan Bremner, and Alan Bristow of the firm of Lane Bremner & Garnett in the Brutalist style, built in concrete and glass at a cost of £800,000 and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, who was accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, on 28 June 1965.[3] The design involved a five-storey long and narrow main frontage facing onto Garshake Road. In front of the main building there was a large two-story structure and, behind the main frontage, there was a smaller single-story square building which accommodated the council chamber. A statue sculpted by James Barclay depicting a mother and child was installed outside the main entrance.[4]

After the abolition of Dunbartonshire County Council in 1975, ownership of the main building passed to Strathclyde Regional Council and, following the introduction of unitary authorities in 1995, ownership based to West Dunbartonshire Council. In the early 21st century, the council, finding County Buildings "out of date", "crumbling" and "in the wrong location", decided to commission new offices which were to be erected behind the façade of Dumbarton Burgh Hall.[5]

After the staff moved into the new offices in July 2018,[6] the structure on Garshake Road was demolished in summer 2019.[7][8] The site was marketed for sale in September 2018 and, in November 2019, Miller Homes acquired the site for around £6 million[9] and subsequently secured planning consent to build 86 houses there.[10][11] The new development was named Garshake Gardens.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Memory Lane: The changing face of Dumbarton buildings". The Daily Record. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  2. ↑ "Ordnance Survey Map 1900". Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  3. ↑ "Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth visited Dumbarton: archive photos and video". Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  4. ↑ "Mother and Child Statue: Garshake". West Dunbartonshire Council. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  5. ↑ "West Dunbartonshire Council opens new headquarters". Clydebank Post. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  6. ↑ "West Dunbartonshire Council settles into flagship HQ". Urban Realm. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  7. ↑ "Bid to demolish Dumbarton's Garshake council offices". Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  8. ↑ "Demolition of former Dumbarton council offices blamed for rat infestation". Daily Record. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  9. ↑ "Persimmon and Miller buy West Dunbartonshire sites". The Construction Index. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  10. ↑ "Public get their first look at Garshake housing plans". Daily Record. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  11. ↑ "Dumbarton explorer probes abandoned Garshake council offices". Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter. 27 February 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  12. ↑ "Miller Homes launching new housing development in Dumbarton". Glasgow Times. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
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