Gala Fairydean Stadium, Galashiels Building

Gala Fairydean Stadium, Scottish Borders Concrete Building, Modern Architecture Scotland

Fairydean Stadium : Galashiels Building

Modernist Scottish Borders Architecture, Scotland design by Peter Womersley Architect

7 May 2012

Fairydean Stadium Galashiels

Design: Peter Womersley, architect

Galashiels Building by Peter Womersley

Gala Fairydean Stadium - Galashiels Building

Fairydean Stadium Galashiels Gala Fairydean Stadium Peter Womersley Galashiels Scottish Borders Concrete Building
photos © Adrian Welch

Fairydean Stadium, Galashiels FC, Borders, Scotland
Date built: 1965

This building is designed in a similar architecture style to Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh. The raw shuttering of the concrete, the powerful angular forms and the focus on cantilever and buttresses in tension are dominant.

Fairydean Stadium Galashiels Scottish Borders Concrete Building Fairydean Stadium Galashiels Scottish Borders Concrete Building
photos © Adrian Welch

This building was controversially listed by Historic Scotland in late 2006.

Gala Fairydean Stadium Fairydean Stadium Galashiels Gala Fairydean Stadium Gala Fairydean Stadium
photos © Adrian Welch

The current treatment of the building is unsympathetic, we don’t know the history of the relationship between owner, occupants and the relevant heritage and planning bodies but a positive solution is required. A lot of detritus has attached itself to the building which requires a strong blast of wind to dislodge.

Fairydean Stadium Galashiels Gala Fairydean Stadium Scottish Borders Concrete Building Peter Womersley Galashiels Scottish Borders Concrete Building
photos © Adrian Welch

The lower reaches of the building are particularly afflicted by poor quality additions and although the concrete above head height is largely as it was, the graphics between the base and the canopy are incongruous, though some could argue they animate what is a fairly blunt elevation.

Peter Womersley Galashiels Scottish Borders Concrete Building Peter Womersley Galashiels Scottish Borders Concrete Building
photos © Adrian Welch

Peter Womersley was an Englishman who spent his career in a rural village in Scotland. This 20th Cenury architect was reclusive and there is little information yet published on his life and work. He is more well known for his studio pavilion for flamboyant textile designer Bernat Klein which won an RIBA award in 1973.

Peter Womersley

Location: Galashiels, Scotland

Scottish Architecture

Another building in the Scottish Borders designed by Peter Womersley on e-architect:

Bernat Klein Studio

Scottish Borders Buildings

Scottish Architecture News

Contemporary Architecture in Scotland – architectural selection below:

Paisley Museum Building News, western Scotland
Design: AL_A
Paisley Museum Renewal, Scotland
image courtesy of architects office
Paisley Museum Renewal
Plans to transform Paisley Museum into a world-class visitor destination telling the town’s unique stories, including that of the globally admired Paisley Pattern. This architectural project has taken a major step forward as The National Lottery Heritage Fund announced £3.8million of support for the project.

Charnock Bradley Building, Easter Bush, Midlothian
Design: Atkins
Innovation Centre and Campus Hub at Edinburgh University
image Courtesy architecture office
Charnock Bradley Building Roslin

Scottish Architects Practices

Scottish Buildings

Traquair, Scottish Borders
Traquair House

Scottish Architecture

Historic Scottish Houses

Scottish Architect

Scottish Tour

Comments / photos for the Fairydean Stadium Galashiels page welcome