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| Established | April 14, 1964; 60 years ago (1964-04-14) (as Glasgow Museum of Transport)June 21, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-06-21) (as Riverside Museum) |
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| Location | 100 Pointhouse Road,Partick, Glasgow,G3 8RS, Scotland,[1] (The site overlapsYorkhill Quay to the east) |
| Collection size | 3,000 objects |
| Visitors | 1,364,739 (2019)[2] |
| Public transit access |   Partick Govan |
| Website | www.glasgowlife.org.uk |
TheRiverside Museum (replacing the preceding Glasgow Museum of Transport) is a museum in thePartick area ofGlasgow, Scotland,[1] housed in a building designed byZaha Hadid Architects, with itsRiver Clyde frontage at the new Pointhouse Quay. It forms part of theGlasgow Harbourregeneration project. The building opened in June 2011, winning the 2013European Museum of the Year Award. It houses many exhibits of national and international importance. TheGovan–Partick Bridge, which provides a pedestrian and cycle path link from the museum across the Clyde toGovan, opened in 2024.
The Museum of Transport was opened in 14 April 1964 byQueen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.[3][4] Created in the wake of the closure of Glasgow'stramway system in 1962, it was initially located at the former Coplawhill tram depot on Albert Drive inPollokshields, before moving to the Kelvin Hall in 1988.[5] The old building was subsequently converted into theTramway arts centre.[6]
The museum was then situated inside theKelvin Hall opposite theKelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum inYorkhill in the west end of Glasgow. The Kelvin Hall was built in 1927, and operated as an exhibition centre prior of the opening of theScottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in 1985, then was converted in 1987 to house the Museum of Transport and theKelvin Hall International Sports Arena.
The Kelvin Hall site itself closed in April 2010, with the Museum moving to its third home at the Riverside Museum in June 2011.[7]
The museum at Kelvin Hall closed in 18 April 2010, with most of its collections moved to the purpose-built Riverside Museum at Pointhouse,[8] located next to theconfluence between theRiver Kelvin and theClyde. This site, where the formerA. & J. Inglis shipyard built thePSWaverley, enables the Clyde Maritime Trust's tall shipGlenlee and other visiting craft to berth alongside the museum.[9] The current museum opened on Tuesday 21 June 2011.
The Riverside Museum building was designed byZaha Hadid Architects and engineersBuro Happold.[10] The internal exhibitions and displays were designed byEvent Communications, a specialist London-based museum design firm.[11]
Of the £74 million needed for the development of the Riverside Museum,Glasgow City Council and theNational Lottery Heritage Fund have committed £69 million. The Riverside Museum Appeal is acharitable trust established to raise the final £5 million in sponsorship and donations from companies, trusts and individuals for the development of the museum. The Riverside Museum Appeal Trust is recognised as a Scottish Charity SC 033286.[12] Major patrons of the project include:BAE Systems Maritime – Naval Ships,Weir Group,Rolls-Royce Holdings,FirstGroup,Strathclyde Partnership for Transport,Caledonian MacBrayne,Arnold Clark,SSE plc,Diageo,Bank of Scotland andOptical Express.[13]
in 13 November 2007 theLord Provost of Glasgow,Bob Winter cut the first turf.[14] The main contractors for the project wereBAM Construct UK Ltd[15] with a range of trade subcontractors including the services installations being delivered by BBESL's team of Jordan Kerr, Gordon Ferguson & Jamie Will and FES, project management being the responsibility ofCapita Property and Infrastructure and Buro Happold providing Resident Engineering Services. The building was completed on 20 June 2011 and the next day it opened to the public.[16]
As well as housing many of the existing collections of the Glasgow Museum of Transport, the city has acquiredSAR Class 15F4-8-2steam locomotive, No.3007. Built by the Glasgow-basedNorth British Locomotive Company at itsPolmadie Works in 1945, the locomotive was bought in late 2006 fromTransnet.[17] It was on display inGeorge Square for a short time in 2007, as part of the effort to raise the £5 million public contribution funding.[18]
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The museum housed the oldest surviving pedal cycle and the world's leading collection of Scottish-built cars and trucks, including pioneering examples from Scottish manufacturersArgyll,Arrol-Johnston andAlbion. More modern Scottish-built cars, namely theRootes Group'sHillman Imp,Hillman Avenger andChrysler Sunbeam were represented too along with many other motorcars in a large showroom-type display sponsored by Arnold Clark.
All forms of transport were featured, fromhorse-drawn vehicles tofire engines, frommotorcycles tocaravans, even toy cars and prams.
In the Clyde Room was a display of some 250 ship models,[19] representing the contribution of theRiver Clyde and its shipbuilders and engineers to maritime trade and theRoyal Navy, including theComet of 1812, theHood, theHowe, theQueen Mary, and theQueen Elizabeth and theQE2.
Locomotive manufacture was also an important Glasgow industry and the museum celebrated the city's railway heritage, including locomotives such as:
Other main exhibits displayed the evolution of Glasgow's public transport system and included sevenGlasgow Corporation Tramways tramcars from different eras,Glasgow Corporation trolleybuses, and the reconstruction of "Kelvin Street", which aimed to recapture the atmosphere of 1930s Glasgow, including full-scale replicas of a pre-1977Glasgow Subway station and theRegal Cinema, which played Scottish transport documentaries such asSeawards the Great Ships.
Museums and art galleries inGlasgow | ||
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| Art galleries |  | |
| Museums | ||
See also:Glasgow art &culture | ||
55°51′54″N4°18′23″W / 55.8651°N 4.30638°W /55.8651; -4.30638
Authority control databases: National |
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