Athenaeum (Glasgow)

• Theatre ID
  2353
• Built / Converted
  1893
• Dates of use
  • 1893 - 1995
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  disused
• Address
  Buchanan Street, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland

Details

A narrow frontage vertical composition exploiting contemporary innovations in structural technology to enable better use to be made of Glasgow’s Georgian house plots. Its two part asymmetrical composition is a strikingly enigmatic fusion of Scots baronial, Indian and European Art Nouveau styles. A stairtower rises to an octagonal cupola to the right of the six storey main section. This has superimposed bay windows framed within an arch and surmounted by a steep gable, broken by an aedicule and flanked by small minarets. The interior consists of a shallow raked stalls with one semi-circular balcony with straight slips. The ceiling is flat with moulded panels and a circular centre. Presently disused, but for the time being unaltered, this important building is threatened with retail use, which would be an unfortunate fate for a pleasant and intimate performance space.

---

Hide further details

• Other names
  Part of the former Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
• Events
  • 1893 - 1995 Use:
  • 1893 Design/Construction:
    • Sir J J Burnet & J A Campbell - Architect
  • 1893 Owner/Management: College of Dramatic Art (later RSAMD)
  • 1943 - 1945 Owner/Management: Citizen’s Theatre Co before moving to Gorbals
  • 1950 Owner/Management: School of Drama founded in present form
• Capacities
  • Original: c.600
  • Later: 1995: 345
• Listings
  • Grade A
• Dimensions
  • Proscenium width: 7.23m
  • Height to grid: 10.14m