Robertson and Lister
of Port Dundee Road, Glasgow
1854 'Two iron churches in the building-yard of Robertson and Lister, Glasgow, are now about completed.' Description given.[1]
1855 Bankrupt. '...Robertson and Lister, Smiths, Engineers and Millwrights, in Glasgow, as a Company, and of George Robertson and Alexander Lister, Smiths, Engineers and Millwrights there, as Partners of said Company...'[2]
1853 Iron Houses for Australia[3]
Yesterday we had an opportunity of examining, at the works of Messrs Robertson & Lister, 64 Port Dundee Road, some iron houses building for Australia. One, the largest, is finished, and will be taken to pieces preparatory to shipment, early next week week; and there are four others in various stages of progress. Iron houses are not novelty, some were built in this city three years ago and sent out to California; but the trade is now likely to become important one, in consequence of the prodigious demand for houses in Australia, owing to the enormous immigration now taking place to that country.
It way be summary to state that the whole exterior walls of these houses are of corrugated iron, and so is the roof, the side walls inside, as well as the floors and the ceiling of the upper storey, being wood. The iron in corrugated in flutes, 5 inches wide and 1.25 deep; and being all of one curve and size, they are easily fitted and rivetted together. The mode of construction is extremely simple, but strong; and capable of being taken down, removed, and put up with great facility; and with that view all the parts are joined together by means of screws and nuts. There is a cast iron base plate forming the foundation of the building, which, in the one now under notice, has 28 feet of frontage, and a depth of 38.5 feet. At each of the four corners rises a cast iron square pillar, 2 feet high, forming the angles of the building; and at intermediate distances are malleable iron pilasters reaching also from the foundation to the eaves. To these standards the corrugated iron plates which fill the interspaces are attached by screws. The windows and door openings are of course made to fall between the standards. The window frames are cast iron, but the doors are plate iron, with panels fitted on them. The street floor is intended for a shop (or store, as it is called there), 38 feet long, about 24 feet wide, and 12 feet high, with a row of iron pillars running along, to support the bearers of the flooring above, The floor of the store is of wood, and the side walls are lined or sheeted with deal. The beams of the floor above rest at their ends on strong angle irons, which are bolted to the uprights, extending the length of the building; and on these beams the flooring is laid in the usual manner; but the boards are fitted together with iron tongues, which not only give rigidity to the floor, but also prevent dust from parsing through the joints when the planks shrink front the heat of a dry atmosphere.
A stair which enters from the front and rear of the building, through a passage about 4 feet wide, leads to the first floor, consisting of four rooms, the two front ones being 18.5 feet by 13.5 feet; but the two looking rearmost are somewhat less. These are finished plainly, with wooden sheeting on the side walls and ceilings, and are about 10 feet high. Front one of them a door opens upon a very pretty iron balcony which extends across the front, and enhances the beauty of the erection not a little. There is a large closet and two commodious presses upstairs, so that there will be no lack of accommodation of that kind so dear to thrifty housewives. The kitchen is intended to be in a detached iron building placed behind the house. The warming throughout is to be effected by stoves, when such a means of ensuring comfort is found necessary in so fine a climate.
The roof is curved, being a segment of a circle with a rise at the centre of 5.5 feet. It is formed, like the side walls, of corrugated iron, no rafters being requisite. In the other buildings now erecting, the roof forms a hollow curve, descending on each aide from the centre ridge like Chinese pagodas; but by this arrangement there is less headroom, should it be desired to form attics.
The whole erection will weigh about 30 tons, of which the iron work forms more than one half. The corrugated iron is of the gauge called No. 18, and is about the thickness of a shilling; but from the curved surface, it is much more rigid and strong than iron of double the thickness if left plain. The cost of this two storey building, consisting of a large shop and four good rooms, all complete, will be about 500 pounds. Four good bends could erect it easily in three weeks upon its destined site; and no time is lost waiting for plaster to dry, or the smell of the paint to evaporate.
Messrs Robertson and Lister have at present four iron houses in hands, and orders for eight more as fast as they can be finished.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Illustrated Crystal Palace Gazette - Saturday 24 June 1854
- ↑ The London Gazette Publication date:2 March 1855 Issue:21670 Page:946
- ↑ North British Daily Mail - Friday 04 February 1853