The Hunterian

Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s original plans for The Glasgow School of Art will be amongst the first items from The Hunterian to move to the new state of the art collections study facilities at Kelvin Hall.

The Hunterian at the University of Glasgow is home to the world’s largest single holding of the work of Scottish architect, artist and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928). A major component of The Hunterian’s Mackintosh collection is the collection of works on paper, which includes Mackintosh’s architectural, furniture and interior designs.

Over one million of the items from The Hunterian collections are currently being moved to bespoke storage and study facilities at Kelvin Hall - the newly refurbished Glasgow landmark building transformed by a partnership between the University of Glasgow, Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Life and the National Library of Scotland.

As well as the new storage facilities, The Hunterian Collections Study Centre features research and teaching labs, a conservation studio, search and seminar rooms and a conference suite.

The Glasgow School of Art restoration team will be the first users of the new Collections Study Centre when they come in to study Mackintosh’s original plans for The Glasgow School of Art on Monday 19 September.

The Glasgow School of Art Mackintosh Building was built between 1897 and 1909 and is considered to be Mackintosh’s greatest architectural masterpiece.

Page\Park were appointed as Design Team lead by The Glasgow School of Art which is working with a large number of contractors and organisations as it restores the world renowned building.

Mackintosh’s original plans from The Hunterian collections will provide crucial detail for the complex restoration project.

Director of The Hunterian, Professor David Gaimster, said:

‘Given the strength of our Mackintosh collection, we are delighted that colleagues from The Glasgow School of Art will be the first to use our unique new facilities at Kelvin Hall. The Hunterian Collections Study Centre will not only forge new academic practice and opportunity around our collections but will also mobilise object-based research, teaching and learning for the wider educational audience.’

GSA’s Senior Project Manager Liz Davidson said: “The GSA's restoration team is very excited at the prospect of consulting afresh Mackintosh’s original plans and other documents relating to the building. Our aim is to meticulously restore the Mack, and access to the original documentation held at The Hunterian will help increase our understanding and appreciation of Mackintosh’s ground-breaking design."

Dr Robyne Calvert. Mackintosh restoration research fellow added: "The research that has been undertaken by all the consultants in the Restoration Design Team has been meticulous. Although much of Mackintosh’s architectural drawings are available online through the fantastic ‘Mackintosh Architecture: Context Meaning and Making’ project, not all are high enough resolution to make out fine annotations the architect made. Further, there are some drawings of furniture and fittings in the collection that the GSA must consult in order to ensure we are accurately reconstructing items that were lost to the fire."

Watch our film about the Mackintosh plans at Kelvin Hall.

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First published: 13 September 2016