Kentigern House, photographed shortly after its opening in 1986. It was built by the Property Services Agency for the Ministry of Defence.
The storeys in the large tiered sandstone building recede inwards in a stepped facade. The effect is to minimise traffic noise, and also to shade windows from the sun. At the entrance, pictured here behind the flagpoles, is a bronze panel by artist William Scott commemorating scenes from the life of St Kentigern.
The original Government plan, announced in 1977, was to disperse 6,000 MoD jobs to Glasgow. The number was later reduced to 1,400. Plans to build on the site of what is now the St Enoch Centre were dropped in favour of Anderston. When work began on the site in 1981, it was described as the largest office development outside London and costs amounted to £19 million.
Among the departments located at Kentigern House is the Army Personnel Centre, holding details of service records for soldiers whose regular or reserve service ended after 1921.
Reference: Bulletin photographs, Box 1, Architecture
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
Army Personnel Centre, artists, civil servants, civil service, family history, flagpoles, genealogy, Kentigern House, Ministry of Defence, MoD, Property Services Agency, sandstone, sculptors, sculptures, soldiers