Glasgow’s Trades House was founded in 1605 and represented the fourteen historic crafts of the City. It was initially housed in the former Manse of Morebattle on the corner of High Street and Cathedral Street as a meeting place and Alms House. This accommodation became increasingly unsuitable for the Trades House throughout the eighteenth century and in 1791 it was decided that they needed a new purpose-built hall for their premises.

The land in Glassford Street was chosen as the site and the architect James Jaffray was asked to make designs for the hall. The Incorporation of Masons raised their concerns that there should be a larger pool of architects for consideration, and both John Craig and Robert Adam were asked to provide alternative proposals.

Robert Adam visited Glasgow in July 1791 to make his designs. His elegant proposal of a neo-classical façade with a central dome was unanimously agreed upon by the members of the Trades House in August and a committee was established in September. In October, Adam proposed adding more shops to the north and south ends of the building, as shown in SM Adam volume 48/26. However, the cost of the new Trades Hall had quickly escalated and efforts were made to reduce costs through various means including using cheaper materials.

Adam suggested that the additional shop wings could be added at a later date when more funds could be raised. However, before construction began, Robert died and his brothers James and William were entrusted to continue the scheme. The Trades House requested that James send any relevant paperwork that Robert might have kept in his office and William monitored repayments to the Adam office.

In May 1792, the committee contracted John Brown, a builder from the Incorporation of Wrights, to execute Adam’s designs. This included Adam’s proposed additional shops but only as single-storey wings, although they were later extended to match the existing elevation. The Trades Hall held its first meeting in September 1794, whilst the roof was still under construction.

There are two surviving ceiling designs from the Adam office but neither of these appear to have been carried out (SM Adam volumes 5/64 & 48/25) . The Trades Hall has been subject to major alterations and extensions from the nineteenth century onwards resulting in a significant loss of the original interiors. Between the refurbishment schemes of David Hamilton (1837-38), James Sellars (1887-88) and John Keppie (1915-27), there is very little of Adam’s internal plan left, and even the principal façade was refaced by Keppie in the early-twentieth century. There are, however, two surviving chimneypieces attributed to Adam, that were originally at the north and south ends of the Grand Hall. Keppie relocated the south fireplace to the Saloon (a room added by Hamilton) in 1915, during refurbishment works. It was during this time that they also discovered an original grate in the north fireplace, attributed to Adam, that had previously been blocked.

Literature: A.T. Bolton, The Architecture of Robert and James Adam, Volume II, Index, 1922, p. 14; Sanderson, M. ‘Robert Adam’s Last Visit to Scotland 1791’, Architectural History, Vol. 25, 1982, pp. 35-46; E. Williamson, (et. al), The Buildings of Scotland: Glasgow, 1990, pp. 167-8; D. King, The Complete Works of Robert & James Adam and Unbuilt Adam, Volume 1, 2001, pp. 32, 59-61; C. R. Bryce, Glasgow’s Best-Kept Secret: The History of the Trades Hall, 2019, pp. 13, 29-56

Louisa Catt, 2023

Scheme

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