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Glenrothes Buildings

post updated 26 March 2024

Fife New Town Property, eastern Scotland – Key Built Environment Developments

Land at former paper mill to be recycled in to home for new community

Plans to build a major new housing development that will transform the old Tullis Russell Paper Mill site between Glenrothes and Markinch have been submitted to Fife Council.

image courtesy of architects

29 Jun 2018

Glenrothes Building News

Town planners and designers Barton Willmore have submitted a Planning Permission in Principle (PPP) application on behalf of Advance Construction (GD) Ltd that centres on a residential-led mixed use masterplan for a range of uses, including up to 850 new homes, with 85 being affordable.

It is estimated that the regeneration project will deliver a £42.5 million boost for Glenrothes, creating up to 450 jobs and employment for around 300 construction workers during the 10-year build programme.

Alongside housing, at the heart of the 52-hectare site are plans for retail and leisure facilities, business space, industrial units, a care home and an extension to the Riverside Park, which will connect the new development to Glenrothes town centre.

Lead planning consultant Barton Willmore, which has offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, have worked closely with Advance Construction (GD) Ltd to develop the plans, providing town planning, masterplanning, landscape, environmental impact assessment and socio-economic assessment services for the project.

Planning Director for Barton Willmore in Scotland, Colin Lavety, said: “The Planning Permission in Principle application we have submitted aims to breathe new life back into what is an important landmark historically for the town of Glenrothes. It will regenerate a high-profile site which has been left vacant since the former Tullis Russell Paper Mill site was closed, creating a desirable, attractive and highly sustainable place to live and work.

“Our focus has been to deliver alternative but complementary uses to the existing town centre, alongside a mix of high-quality homes which are within easy walking distance of schools, jobs, shops, leisure facilities, parkland and public transport.”

Lynsey Breen, Director of Strategic Operations for Advance Construction, a Bellshill-based company that specialises in large-scale groundworks and civil engineering, said: “We’re proud to help transform Glenrothes and get the area ready for hundreds of high-quality houses, which will contribute to the much-needed demand for new homes and jobs in the area.”

Barton Willmore

19 Mar 2012

Glenrothes Building – St Paul’s Church

St Paul’s Roman Catholic Church
Date built: 1956-57
Design: Gillespie Kidd & Coia, Architects

Photos taken 18 Mar 2012:

photos © Adrian Welch

First major collaboration by Isi Metzstein & Andy MacMillan.

The church building is located just south of the town centre. Glenrothes is one of Scotland’s six new towns (designated a New Town in 1948) and the architecture tends towards a soft Modernism mediated by Scottish traditions in materials, form and details. The church is entered from the north, between the main building and a lower ancillary block (The Presbytery). Entry into the nave is from the west and the altar is therefore located at the east wall.

This east wall is expressed on the outside as a pure white form, with the cross atop. Sadly the minimal design has been damaged by ugly grilles, security alarms, drainpipes etc. To achieve minimal architecture (Pawson, Silvestrin, etc.) you need absolute control down to the smallest items. Failure to control this architectural range of scales results in a focus on these weak peripheral elements. However, it should be noted this west facade used to have a large window (now bricked up) centrally 0 its removal has significantly devalued the articulation of this building.

This church is not viewed by architectural critics as one of GK&C’s best works, but we would be interested to receive information on its design.

photos © Adrian Welch

Status: Listed Category A, 1987 ; category revised from B to A in 2009

Location: Warout Road, Glenrothes, Fife

altar cross and Madonna by Benno Schotzm Scotland’s leading sculptor of the period.

Informative film about St Paul’s Roman Catholic Church Glenrothes by Andy MacMillan of Gillespie Kidd & Coia:
Film on YouTube

Extracts from British Listed Buildings website:
“A seminal example of modern church architecture, and one of Scotland’s most significant post-war churches, the first to break with the traditional rectangular layout.”

St Paul’s opened on 30 June 1958 and uses a particularly innovative design which was achieved on the limited budget of around �20,000 for the church and presbytery. A projected circular plan church hall never built. The focus is on light. The booklet St Paul’s Church 50 Years quotes Isi Metzein of Gillespie, Kidd & Coia as follows, “The church at Glenrothes was the first church of the new generation and was a significant change in direction. The concept, or basic principle, is about light. We decided to place more emphasis on the grouping of people, near and around the altar. There is also much more emphasis on simple construction methods and manipulated light, not from side windows but mostly from top lighting of some sort. Generally the whole concept is very much simplified”.

Rogerson notes that there was a further interest in communal worship and “liturgical renewal of the Catholic Church” with the altar, bathed in light, placed against the east wall and the walls splayed to represent going out of the Gospel to the world. However, the altar was moved away from the wall in accordance with directive of New Vatican Council of mid 1970s.

Glenrothes church architects : GK&C

Glenrothes Architecture

Glenrothes architecture photos:

Glenrothes Bridge

photos © Adrian Welch

Glenrothes Catholic Church

‘A Holiday in Glenrothes’ Exhibition

In a new photographic series celebrating Glenrothes, Canadian artist Sylvia Grace Borda produces a visual ode to this former Scottish new Town. Looking at the town’s garden city status and the location as a significant point for Modernist public art delivery in Scotland – the artist ventures into a place where no one without relatives or a personal connection to the place would likely vacation or visit.