Fife House, formerly Glenrothes House, is a large office development on North Street in Glenrothes,

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, Scotland. It was built for Glenrothes Development Corporation in 1969, then became the headquarters of Fife Regional Council from shortly after its formation in 1975 and then became the offices and meeting place of

Fife Council Fife Council is the local authority for the Fife area of Scotland and is the third largest Scottish council by number of councillors, having 75 elected council members. Councillors make decisions at its regular council meetings, or at those of ...

in 1996.

History

The site was previously farmland, with a large paper mill, known as Auchmuty Paper Mill, which had been developed by Tullis Russell and Company in the 19th century located to the northwest. Glenrothes Development Corporation, which was designated in 1948 under the

New Towns Act 1946 The New Towns Acts were a series of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to found new settlements or to expand substantially existing ones, to establish Development Corporations to deliver them, and to create a Commission to wind up the C ...

, acquired the farmlands around the paper mill from Tullis Russell and Company in 1951. The west wing of the building was commissioned by the corporation, in the mid-1960s, to be its main offices and to be known as "Glenrothes House". The building was designed by the chief architect of Glenrothes Development Corporation, Merlyn Christopher Williams, in the Modern style, built in concrete and glass and was completed in 1969. It involved a main frontage of 22 bays facing onto North Street: the seven-storey building was faced with alternating bands of concrete and windows. The design employed pre-cast concrete units for use as load-bearing walls. In 1975, Glenrothes Development Corporation relocated to new offices in Glenrothes. Local government reorganisation that year saw the old Fife County Council abolished and a new Fife Regional Council created. The regional council was briefly based at the county council's old headquarters at County Buildings in Cupar, but moved to Glenrothes House later in 1975, and renamed it "Fife House".Ferguson ''A History of Glenrothes'' p.91. A major extension, also designed by the corporation architectural staff, was erected to the east of the existing structure, to provide extra accommodation for the staff of the regional council, in 1980. The new block featured a tall pedimented clock tower clad in red brick flanked by towers clad by panels. A gabled glass portico projected forward from the structure. Following the implementation of the

Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39) is an Act of parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the current Local government in Scotland, local government structure of 32 Unitary authority, unitary authori ...

, Fife Regional Council was abolished in 1996 and ownership of the building was transferred to the new

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

, which designated the building its main office. Works of art in the building included an in situ concrete wall designed and sculpted by George Garson.

References

External links

*{{commonscat-inline Glenrothes Government buildings completed in 1969 County halls in Scotland Modernist architecture in Scotland 1969 establishments in Scotland Politics of Fife