The Fairfield Heritage Centre is situated on

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

Road,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Built as the offices of Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co Ltd between 1889 and 1891 the building was used as the principal offices for successive owners of the adjacent shipyard until 2001, when it was vacated by

BAE Systems Marine BAE Systems Marine Limited was the shipbuilding subsidiary of BAE Systems, formed in 1999, which manufactured the full range of naval ships; nuclear submarines, frigates, destroyers, amphibious ships. In 2003 BAE Systems Marine was split into ...

. After deteriorating unused for eight years it was bought by social enterprise charity Govan Workspace in 2009. Following a restoration costing over £5.8m it was re-occupied as a heritage centre and commercial offices in 2013.

Heritage Centre and Offices

The Fairfield Heritage Centre includes the former boardroom, management offices and directors dining room as well as the main entrance and lobby. 18,000 sq. m of modern office suites are located in the former drawing offices on the first floor and the former counting house on the ground floor. The heritage area, which is free to visit 7 days 1pm to 4pm, tells the story of over 150 years of shipbuilding at the yard using artefacts, graphic panels, interactive media and audio-visual presentations. Exhibits and information address technical innovation, the period of building ships to contest the

Blue Riband The Blue Riband () is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. T ...

for fastest Atlantic crossing, the two world wars, the 1960s Fairfield Experiment in management/labour relations and the

Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UCS) was a Scottish shipbuilding consortium, created in 1968 as a result of the amalgamation of five major shipbuilders of the River Clyde. It entered liquidation, with much controversy, in 1971. That led to a "work-in" ...

Govan Shipbuilders Govan Shipbuilders Ltd (GSL) was a British shipbuilding company based on the River Clyde at Glasgow in Scotland. It operated the former Fairfield Shipyard and took its name from the Govan area in which it was located. History The company wa ...

and

Kvaerner Govan Kvaerner Govan Ltd (KGL), located at Govan in Glasgow on the River Clyde, was a shipyard subsidiary formed in 1988 when the Norwegian group Kværner Industrier purchased the Govan Shipbuilders division of the nationalised British Shipbuilders ...

eras. In 2006, BAE Systems launched the 750th vessel to be built at Fairfield. The shipyard was originally built on the former Fairfield farm between 1864 and 1871. It is situated on Govan Road, Glasgow, opposite Elder Park, 200 metres west of the Pearce Institute and 300 metres west of

Govan subway station , style = Glasgow Subway , image = Govan subway station.jpg , image_caption = , address = Govan, Glasgow , country = Scotland , coordinates = , elevation = , ...

and bus interchange.

History

At the time it was built the yard was one of the leading shipbuilding yards on the River Clyde and this was reflected in a prominent exhibition stand in the Main Hall at the first Glasgow Exhibition in 1888. Amongst the early special events held in the offices were the launch parties for the

Cunard Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Bermu ...

liners

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

and

Lucania Lucania was a historical region of Southern Italy. It was the land of the Lucani, an Oscan people. It extended from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. It bordered with Samnium and Campania in the north, Apulia in the east, and Brutti ...

in 1892 and 1893. It was designed by

Honeyman and Keppie Honeyman and Keppie was a major architectural firm based in Glasgow, created by John Honeyman and John Keppie in 1888 following the death of James Sellars in whose architectural practice Keppie had worked. Their most notable employee was Charles ...

, an architectural practice which was then at 140 Bath Street, Glasgow and which survives as Keppie Design and is now headquartered in 160 West Regent Street, Glasgow in the former John Ross Memorial Church.

John Keppie John Keppie (4 August 1862 – 28 April 1945) was a Glasgow architect and artist. From an early age he was a close friend of Edward Atkinson Hornel and would often bring in New Year with him in Kirkcudbright. Within the architectural professi ...

is thought to have been the lead designer of the building.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macdo ...

was a junior member of staff at the firm from 1888 and is thought to have worked on the project. It was built for the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. Ltd. The driving force behind the business at that time and probably the initial advocate for commissioning the new offices was Sir William Pearce whose painting hangs in the boardroom and who was sole owner of the business from 1878 and local member of parliament from 1886 but who died before it was completed. The name of the company was changed from Randolph Elder and Co. to Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. Ltd. in 1885 by Pearce. Named after the former farm he re-structured in order to be able to bid for naval tenders. Sir William Pearce was a philanthropist who paid for the nearby Pearce Institute. Isabella Elder, the former owner of the yard and widow of former owner John Elder was also philanthropic and commissioned the nearby

Elder Park Elder Park is a public open space in the city of Adelaide, South Australia on the southern bank of the River Torrens and that is bordered by the Adelaide Festival Centre and North Terrace. The park is named after the Elder family who wer ...

which was originally laid out to a scheme by

John Honeyman John Honeyman (1729August 18, 1822) was an American spy and British informant for George Washington, primarily responsible for spreading disinformation and gathering the intelligence crucial to Washington's victory in the Battle of Trenton. ...

. The building was planned to be both functional and to impress visiting clients and potential clients. It includes many Italianate and Beaux Arts elements. There are also Art Deco features which would have been added later. As a functioning hub of the business it included large, light spaces for the draughtsmen working on both shipbuilding and engineering drawings. The building is protected by a Category A listing. John Keppie studied in Paris with the academic atelier architect Jean Louis-Pascal during the 1880s. Although it was probably Honeyman who secured the commission as he had benefitted previously from the patronage of John and

Isabella Elder Isabella Ure Elder (15 March 1828 – 18 November 1905) was a Scottish philanthropist who took a particular interest in education, especially of women, and in the welfare of the people of Govan in Glasgow. In Govan alone, Elder was responsi ...

the project was led by Keppie. Its external features include figures of a shipwright and an engineer sculpted above the main entrance. These were by Glasgow-based sculptor

James Pittendreigh Macgillivray James Pittendrigh MacGillivray (1856 – 29 April 1938) was a Scottish sculptor. He was also a keen artist, musician and poet. He was born in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, the son of a sculptor, and studied under William Brodie and John Mossma ...

who also collaborated with Keppie on other work.David Stark Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Co 1854- 2004.Stenlake Publishing 2004. P114

References

{{Reflist, 2 Govan Buildings and structures in Glasgow 2013 establishments in Scotland Commercial buildings completed in 1891