222 Clyde Street, detail 01
360mm x 270mm
Biro and Indian ink on collage of recycled envelopes
£240.00
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The Scottish Typographical Association (STA), the craft union, built Typographical House on the site of their previous Glasgow offices. It only became Graphical House when the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT), the semi-skilled labourers union, moved in to join them. The meeting hall on the first floor often echoed to the sound of lively Trades Council meetings.
Typographical House has seen several incarnations. After the Trades Council moved across the river to Carlton Place, the meeting hall was leased to the Ceilidh Club. Once again Glasgow’s live music reinvented a redundant space. On Maxwell Street there was still evidence on the side of the building of the Riverside Club which occupied the first floor for over 20 years years until 2007. Their proud motto was Blood, Sweat and Reels.
It was still owned by Unite (which eventually absorbed the print unions among others) until it was demolished during C19 lockdown in 2022. Typographical House was not a listed building so therefore it was also not on the Buildings at Risk Register
Property developers have long shown interest in demolishing the building to make way for luxury flats. But the old office block is in the central conservation area so I thought there might be hope for it. Sadly, after it's demolition 2 years ago there seems to be little development on the site of the Hilton Motto hotel franchise which Glasgow City Council approved in 2018 and whose Directors are the same as the neighbouring Virgin hotel which closed a week before Christmas '23.
I visited Morrison’s bar, which was on the ground floor, not long before it closed due to flooding in 2011. The interior of the bar was immaculate and very classy, and I felt like I was stepping back in time to the 60’s. The proportions inside were neat and human-sized, and the décor was simple, chic and clean, resembling the lines of a cruise ship with its deco inspired curved bar.