Brutal Era Over For Vics
Later in 1961 work began for the provision of the spectator grandstand with changing rooms and catering areas underneath . The scope of the grandstand was to provide an elevated and unobstructed view for 650 spectators by using the cantilever technology pioneered by Raymond Tear of the United Steel Structural Company and first used at Scunthorpe United ’ s Old Show Ground in 1958 . While self-supported steel was the material of choice for Tear at Scunthorpe , Hickey chose pre-cast concrete for Dam Park . His rectangular design , in the then en vogue brutalist style , saw the load bearing being borne by an eye-catching design of a dozen concrete buttresses to the rear of the stand with a vast roof suspended from them . Ingress to the grandstand was by two inverted U-shaped staircases which even now look effortlessly stylish .
Hickey ’ s innovative design , in conjunction with Frank A . Macdonald and Partners of Glasgow as structural consultants , was accepted and took almost two years to build . Frank Macdonald was a licensed agent of reinforced concrete inventor François Hennebique and had worked on many notable projects like the Usher Hall in Edinburgh and Scotland ’ s tallest and highest capacity water tower at Garthamlock . The concrete for Hickey ’ s stand was cast and erected by another Glasgow company , James Laidlaw & Sons , civil engineering specialists responsible for buildings such as Pollokshaws Shopping Centre , Canniesburn and Foresthall hospitals as well as Bellahouston Park Sports Centre . The stand was finished in time for its official inauguration on 25 May 1963 . The total cost of the project was £ 45,000 with the stand alone coming in at £ 30,750 .
While the design of Hickey ’ s stand is not as geometrically audacious as Peter Womersley and Ove Arup ’ s more famous construction at Gala Fairydean Rovers ’ Netherdale , opened a year later in 1964 , it remains an eye-catching piece of monochromatic exposed concrete brutalist architecture . In March 2000 , his magnificent stand was awarded category B listed status by Historic Scotland as a building of significant cultural importance .
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