Templeton on the Green

On Glasgow Green, not far from the People’s Palace, stands one of Europe’s most colourful industrial buildings. The firm of James Templeton & Son of Glasgow was founded in 1857 and became a large-scale manufacturer of Axminster-style carpets, which were used on ocean liners as well as in homes and business premises. The company built a new mill on Glasgow Green in 1888-92 to the design of William Leiper (1839-1916). Its construction was marred by the collapse in November of 1889 of part of the façade which killed 29 women workers in a nearby weaving shed. The factory was modelled on the Palazzo Ducale in Venice. The building is of polychrome brick with elaborate ornamentation in red terracotta, stone dressings, faience chevrons and vitreous enamel tiles, with a blue mosaic tympanum. Templeton’s factory was used for its original purpose for more than 80 years but was adapted as a small business centre by the Scottish Development Agency in 1984. It is now under private sector management, and an extension of the 1930s was demolished in 2005 to make way for flats comprising a ‘lifestyle village’. There are no visitor facilities but the striking building can be appreciated from many angles across Glasgow Green and there are ample refreshment facilities in the vicinity.