Hitting the - Scottish Opera

BEHIND CLOSED DOORSIf the ambitious men responsible for the magnificentheadquarters of the Institute of Engineers and Shipbuilders ofScotland at the beginning of the last century were to comeback to Glasgow and see it today, they would be flushed withpride. The street, Elmbank Crescent, may have changed, buttheir former home remains as a tribute to its architect, JohnBennie Wilson, and his masters’ attention to detail. The palestone exterior is as imposing as it ever was, the Beaux Artsinterior just as lush, and the stained glass as intricate andthrilling as when it was installed in 1907.The sign above the door might give them a funny turn,though: what exactly is Scottish Opera doing in their venerableold premises?But once they’d taken a look inside, they would be relieved tosee that the place has more than stood the test of time and thatdetails from their day, from the sliding bolts on the doors tothe fire buckets in the entrance hall, are not just fully intact,they are still in use.In fact, Scottish Opera has been in the building since 1962,when the decline of the city’s heavy industry forced the[Above] Glasgow’s shipbuilding heritage is illustrated in StephenAdam’s wonderful stained glass, along with a portrait of WilliamRankine; [opposite page] Scottish Opera’s musicians and soloistshard at work; double basses take up plenty of spaceengineers and shipbuilders to downsize. Those early days werea bit of a squash, with Scottish Ballet sharing the premises, andit remained a logistical challenge even after the dancers de -camped. The wardrobe department, for example, was splitbetween two floors, the sets had to be built in a warehouse inSpringburn, and it was hard work squeezing a timpani into atiny Edwardian lift.Today Scottish Opera, by far the biggest arts organisation inthe country, uses all three storeys, plus a vast and largely un -touched basement, for office work and small-scale rehearsals.The company also has a custom-built production unit in anearby industrial estate, where it can manufacture its enor -mous stage sets, store everything from harpsichords anddouble basses to chandeliers, prams, net petticoats and button“IT IS MAGICAL WHEN THE CHORUS OR ORCHESTRA ARE IN. THE MUSICSWEEPS OUT OF THE RANKINE HALL, AT THE TOP, AND DOWN THE STAIRS”boots, and even replicate the stage at Glasgow’s Theatre Royalfor full-scale rehearsals. It’s the best of both worlds, givingthem an impressive administrative base and a functional homefor the business-end of their operation.Morna Gourlay, the company’s administrative assistant, hasbecome Elmbank Crescent’s unofficial curator. She clearlyadores every corner of her workplace. “It’s so robust,” she says.“I love the fact that it’s still standing and fully functional whenother buildings we remember from our childhood are fallingdown. And it is magical when the chorus or the orchestra arein. They are rehearsing Handel’s Orlando at the moment and itsweeps out of the Rankine Hall, at the top of the building, anddown the stairs.”The musicians are put through their paces in the grandmeeting rooms where the engineers and shipbuilders oncedebated the finer points of industrial design. On the top floorthe meeting hall, named after the institute’s first president,Professor William Macquorn Rankine, still has the originalgold lettering, brass handles and finger plates on the doors.The good professor himself stares down from the stained-glasswindow, through an impressive set of hand-painted muttonchopwhiskers, on the rehearsals below.The other windows celebrate the achievements of the insti -tute’s members: the Clyde-built liner Lusitania; Comet, the112 HOMES & INTERIORS SCOTLANDHOMES & INTERIORS SCOTLAND 113