|
|
St Peter's Seminary Cardross, Scotland St Peter’s Seminary, Cardross, was born out of the need to replace St. Peter’s College, Bearsden, which was destroyed by fire in 1946. The college was moved to Darleith House in 1946, and in 1948 it was expanded to Kilmahew House (1865-8), a Scotch Baronial mansion built to the designs of John Burnet the elder. In 1953, the architects Gillespie Kidd and Coia were commissioned to design a substantial extension to Kilmahew House. Construction commenced in 1961, opening to the first trainee priests in 1966, and by 1968 the building was fully completed. The seminary comprises a number of buildings grouped around Kilmahew House, which was itself refurbished as part of the proposals, forming a loose courtyard in plan. To the east of Kilmahew House was a five-storey accommodation block, which employed a stepped cross section, where the upper bedroom floors defined the communal spaces of the refectory and the chapel below. The block was held on its south end by a two-storey rough rendered curved wall. The wall formed the backdrop to the altar and accommodated the sanctuary and crypt at its lower level. To the south was located a common room and classroom block, and to north a series of convent buildings. The resultant building forms and materials achieved a complex composition; strong horizontal in-situ concrete floor planes, with timber and glass infill walls contrasted with tall, curved and heavily rendered walls. The overall language of the building was that of ‘late’ Modern Architecture of the mid-twentieth century. Since its completion St Peter’s Seminary has been critically received and its status as an important example of modern architecture has grown over the years, described recently, by Tony Levinthal of the Scottish Civic Trust, as “…one of the top 10 post-World War II buildings in Scotland.” The building was listed category B in 1971 and was elevated to category A in 1992. However, the story of the use of St Peter’s Seminary follows a different path. The building was never fully occupied, the result of falling numbers of priests and changing attitudes to their training; only half full on completion, by 1979 there were only 21 trainee priests, and the seminary finally closed in 1980. Whilst the building had a number of uses throughout the 1980’s it fell prey to severe neglect and vandalism, and today it can best be described as a ruin. All the fixtures and fittings, internal and external walls, roof finishes and rooflights are gone, and the buildings have even suffered the loss of Kilmahew House, gutted by fire in 1995 and subsequently demolished. It would be safe to conclude that what is left of St. Peter’s Seminary is not going away, but what to do with it is a key challenge to architectural heritage bodies, in particular. The opinions of interested parties vary widely, from leaving it in some form of ruined state, to its full repair and re-use. As the debate ensues, the fate of St. Peter’s Seminary should simply act as a warning and reason for constant vigilance. A number of schemes, including its full demolition, have been proposed since its closure. Today we are awaiting the submission of a planning application by the developers Classical House, on behalf of the Diocese of Glasgow, to establish a 28-unit housing development within the grounds of the complex. The application attempts to address the issue of what to do with the Gillespie Kidd and Coia buildings by mothballing the structure, to stabilise it for future developments, and restoring a small section of the residential block to its original state. Until the application is submitted it is impossible to accurately comment on the proposals; however, unfavourable reactions to the anticipated designs are already making headlines in the architectural press (Building Design March 2004). Tim Pitman
Current status Further reading Contacts Image credits |
