The spectacular looking former Templeton carpet factory on Glasgow Green is regarded as one of the finest brick edifices in the city, if not all of Scotland, and, without prior knowledge, few would guess it was once a textiles plant.
Built in 1892 by Glasgow firm James Templeton and Son, for the manufacture of Templeton's patented spool Axminster carpets, the textiles plant was modelled on Venice’s Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace), the former seat of the Venetian government and a bona fide symbol of the Italian city.
Comprising brick, glass mosaic and terracotta, the Templeton factory's elaborate façade delicately hints at the oriental dyed wares that were manufactured within.
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Of course, it costs a great deal of money to construct such mock palatial splendour (£23,000 to be exact, or a whopping £2.3 million in today's money), so just why did the Templetons feel the need to splash such an exorbitant sum of cash? The answer is quite simple: location, location, location.
While there had been numerous weaving sheds located on the fringes of the park since the 1850s, Glasgow Green at the tail end of the 19th century was a very fashionable district of the city and the wealthy residents whose homes overlooked the verdant space were not so keen at the thought of a full-scale carpet factory being built there.
James Templeton wanted to do away with the ramshackle weaving sheds and have them incorporated into a new purpose-built factory facing the Green itself, but this idea proved universally unpopular with both local residents and the town council and his planning proposals were repeatedly punted sideways.
Doggedly (or should that be Doge-dly?) determined, Templeton chucked a vast wad of notes at esteemed architect William Leiper and challenged him to come up with something that did not look anything like a factory and would therefore be impossible for the city to refuse. Upon seeing Leiper's eventual design, Templeton knew they were on to a winner.
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Tragically, Leiper's masterpiece would not be without its dark moments. During construction, part of the façade gave way and crashed down on adjoining weavers' huts, claiming the lives of 29 female workers. And in 1900, less than a decade after its completion, fire ravaged part of the building, killing several employees and leading many to believe the factory was cursed.
The Templeton factory would recover, however, and go on to produce vast quantities of beautiful carpets that would furnish homes around Britain and overseas. Over the years, the renowned factory made carpets for two British coronations, a carpet for the White House in Washington DC, and carpets for various luxury ocean liners.
Carpet manufacturing ceased on the site in the 1980s when James Templeton & Co merged with A F Stoddard and Henry Widnell & Stewart to form Stoddard Carpets. The former carpet factory was transformed in 1984 to become the Templeton Business Centre.
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