{{Short description|Headquarters in Hamilton, Scotland of South Lanarkshire Council}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox Historic Site | name =Lanark County Buildings | native_name = | image = SouthLanarkshireCouncilHQ.JPG | caption =Lanark County Buildings | locmapin =Scotland South Lanarkshire | map_caption =Shown in South Lanarkshire | coordinates = {{coord|55.7791|-4.05082|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}} | location = 14 Almada Street, Hamilton, Scotland, ML3 0AA | area = | built =1964 | architect = David Gordon Bannerman | architecture = International (Modernist) | governing_body = | designation1 =Category A Listed Building | designation1_offname = | designation1_date =18 November 1993 | designation1_number =LB34472 | website= }} The '''Lanark County Buildings''', also referred to as the '''South Lanarkshire Council Headquarters''', is a local government facility in Hamilton, Scotland. It currently serves as the headquarters and meeting place of South Lanarkshire Council.
==History== Originally the headquarters of Lanark County Council (which had previously been based at Lanarkshire House in Ingram Street in Glasgow),<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=18108|page=65|date=25 January 1963|city=e}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.emporis.com/buildings/1176889/south-lanarkshire-council-headquarters-hamilton-united-kingdom|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200327062554/https://www.emporis.com/buildings/1176889/south-lanarkshire-council-headquarters-hamilton-united-kingdom|url-status=usurped|archive-date=27 March 2020|title=South Lanarkshire Council Headquarters|website=Emporis|accessdate=11 November 2021}}</ref> between 1975 and 1996 it served the same function for the Strathclyde region's Lanark sub-region (which oversaw five smaller districts, including one for the Hamilton area based at the nearby Townhouse)<ref>[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/22102/page/312/data.pdf Notice of submission of alterations to structure plan {{!}} Town and County Planning (Scotland) Act 1972], The London Gazette (Edinburgh edition), 3 March 1987</ref> then for the South Lanarkshire local authority since then.<ref>[http://www.skyscrapernews.com/buildings.php?id=483 South Lanarkshire Council HQ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111162041/http://www.skyscrapernews.com/buildings.php?id=483 |date=11 November 2021 }}, Skyscraper News</ref>
Construction of the structure, which was undertaken by Laing Group to a design by the Lanarkshire County Architect, David Gordon Bannerman, in the International (Modernist) style, started in 1959;<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z6UxEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA577 |title=A History of Scottish Architecture |page=577|first1=Miles |last1=Glendinning|first2= Ranald|last2= MacInnes|first3= Aonghus |last3=MacKechnie|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=1996|isbn=978-0748608492}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/building_full.php?id=401734 |title=Lanark County Buildings|publisher=Dictionary of Scottish Architects|access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I3rCDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT316 |title=Time Frames: Conservation Policies for Twentieth-Century Architectural Heritage|first1=Ugo|last1= Carughi|first2=Massimo |last2=Visone|publisher=Routledge|year=2017|isbn=978-1472489296}}</ref> completed in 1964 with a ceremonial opening by the Queen Mother,<ref>[https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/gallery/queen-mother-opens-hamiltons-county-3439080 Queen Mother opens Hamilton's county buildings in 1964], Daily Record, 21 April 2014</ref> the complex features a 17-storey {{convert|200|ft}} office block, a separate debating chamber in a rotunda and an external plaza with fountains. Category A listed,<ref name=hes>{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB34472|desc=Almada Street, Lanark County Buildings|cat=A|access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref> the modernist design was influenced by the United Nations building in New York City.<ref name=canmore>{{Historic Environment Scotland|cat=PLA|num=173419|num2=NS75NW 97|desc= Hamilton, Almada Street, Lanark County Buildings|access-date=22 June 2025}}</ref><ref name=hitchcock>{{cite news|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13154726.building-inspired-hitchcock-celebrating-50th-anniversary/|title=Building 'inspired by Hitchcock' is celebrating its 50th anniversary|date=9 April 2014|newspaper=Herald Scotland|access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref> Glass curtain walls cover the north and south facades, with the narrow east and west sides being blank white walls.<ref name=canmore/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://historic-hamilton.co.uk/2016/02/27/the-county-buildings/|title=The County Buildings|first= Garry L.|last= McCallum|website=Historic Hamilton | date=27 February 2016|access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref>
Occupying a prominent position where the A72 and A724 roads meet within the Hamilton West district north of the town's historic centre, its upper floors offer views over the M74 motorway, much of Lanarkshire and parts of Greater Glasgow, and in turn it is the area's tallest building (slightly higher than the numerous residential tower blocks in nearby Motherwell, although some of those have more floors)<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20211111162035/https://www.emporis.com/statistics/tallest-buildings/city/103671/motherwell-united-kingdom Tallest buildings in Motherwell]}}, Emporis. Retrieved 11 November 2021</ref> and one of its most recognisable landmarks.<ref name=hitchcock/> Immediately to the east is the neo-classical Hamilton Sheriff Court building, also Category A listed.<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB34470|desc= Hamilton Sheriff Court, Almada Street and Beckford Street |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref>
==See also== *DoCoMoMo Key Scottish Monuments *List of Category A listed buildings in South Lanarkshire *List of listed buildings in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire *List of post-war Category A listed buildings in Scotland *Prospect 100 best modern Scottish buildings
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{commonscat-inline}}
Category:Government buildings completed in 1964 Category:1964 establishments in Scotland Category:Buildings and structures in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire Category:International style architecture in Scotland Category:Category A listed buildings in South Lanarkshire Category:Listed government buildings in Scotland Category:County halls in Scotland