The Luma Tower is a residential building and former factory in the Greater Govan area of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is famous as one of the best preserved examples of

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

architecture in the city. It has been protected as a

category B listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

since 1988. Designed by Scottish architect Cornelius Armour, who was the in-house architect of the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society, the style is known as

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by Aerodynamics, aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In indu ...

which was the last phase of the Art Deco era in the 1930s.

History

Located in the western suburb of Linthouse, the building was constructed in 1938 as a light bulb factory and was the Glasgow headquarters of the British Luma Co-operative Electric Lamp Society Ltd, a joint venture by the

Co-operative Wholesale Society A cooperative wholesale society (CWS) is a form of cooperative federation (that is, a cooperative in which all the members are cooperatives), in this case, the members are usually consumer cooperatives. The theory, practice and history of th ...

(CWS), the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society (SCWS) and their Swedish counterpart the Swedish Co-operative Union. The Luma co-operative was a response to the controlling influence on light bulb manufacturing by the

Phoebus cartel The Phoebus cartel was an international cartel that controlled the manufacture and sale of incandescent light bulbs in much of Europe and North America between 1925 and 1939. The cartel took over market territories and lowered the useful life of ...

. The architecture has a similar style to the Swedish Co-operative Union's own Luma factory in Stockholm built in 1930 designed by their in-house architects. Its distinctive feature is the protruding tower (resembling an airport

control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled a ...

) which was originally used to test light bulbs beyond their design voltage for longevity. The light emitted from the testing tower lit up the surrounding area at night. During

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

testing was not allowed during the blackout and the

Royal Observer Corps The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 Decembe ...

used it as a lookout post. The building was part of the massive Shieldhall Manufacturing Complex that used to stand in the area, and its completion was also intended as a symbol of the Empire Exhibition of that year which was held in nearby

Bellahouston Park Bellahouston Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Bhaile Ùisdean'') is a public park in the Bellahouston district on the South Side of Glasgow, Scotland, between the areas of Craigton, Dumbreck, Ibrox and Mosspark covering an area of . The mai ...

. Following the ending of light bulb manufacture at the plant the building was sold and, amongst other uses, was used as a

caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Campervan, a type of vehicle also known as a motor caravan *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Caravan (trail ...

showroom before finally falling into dereliction in the 1980s. In 1993, a local housing association acquired the decaying building amid fears it would be demolished, and began the process of it restoring it and converted it into affordable housing. In the end, forty-three new apartments were created, with a further twelve in a creative reproduction of the original building's style to the rear. The tower element is now illuminated with blue neon lighting and is a noticeable landmark around Govan, and it can be clearly seen from the westbound carriageway of the M8 motorway between Junctions 24 and 25.

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in Glasgow Art Deco architecture in Scotland Buildings and structures completed in 1938 Category B listed buildings in Glasgow