Athenaeum (Glasgow)

• Theatre ID
  2353
• Built / Converted
  1893
• Dates of use
  • 1893 - 1998:
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  disused
• Address
  179 Buchanan Street, Glasgow, Strathclyde, G2 1BT, Scotland
• Website
  • Historic Scotland listed building report (Crown copyright)

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 stair tower 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. Established in 1893 to 'provide a source of mental cultivation, moral improvement and delightful recreation to all classes', the Athenaeum's school of music developed into the Scottish National Academy of Music in 1929, later becoming the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama (RSAMD). During the 1940s the theatre provided the initial home for the Citizens' Theatre Company. Scottish Youth Theatre used the Athenaeum from 1989 until 1998, when the building was sold. Currently disused, it has been subject of several planning applications for conversion to retail use, none as yet successful.

Hide all images

See all images

Hide further details

• Other names
  Old Athenaeum
• Events
  • 1893 - 1998 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: Citizens' Theatre Co (before moving to Gorbals).
  • 1950 Owner/Management: School of Drama founded in present form
  • 1989 - 1998 Owner/Management: Scottish Youth Theatre
• Capacities
  • Original: c.600
  • Later: 1995: 345
• Listings
  • Grade A
• Dimensions
  • Proscenium width: 7.23m
  • Height to grid: 10.14m