A Glasgow building that was designed by the architect known primarily for his work creating the city's Kibble Palace is going up for sale.

Built in 1875, and designed by architect James Boucher, the B-listed six-floor building at St Enoch Square is known affectionately to many Glaswegians as the Teacher's building.

It was created to originally to house the headquarters, offices and dram shop of William Teacher & Sons and was located across the square from the St Enoch railway station and hotel, which formed one of the main routes to the south and London St Pancras.

More recently it was known as a conference centre for the Institute of Engineering and Technology.

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Shepherd Chartered Surveyors is bringing it to market, with offers over £1.35 million invited.

The building already has planning consent for a bar and restaurant with outdoor seating and 25 serviced apartments. 

In 2019, Mosaic Architecture and Design submitted an application to transform the building into a whisky-themed bar and restaurant. The design included plans to refurbish the iconic gilded Teacher sign. It is not clear what stage the application reached before the pandemic struck.

The area surrounding St Enoch square has undergone significant investment and development in recent years with a new Premier Inn and the 294 bed 4-star Clayton Hotel on the riverside site of the former Custom House.

A 242-bed Virgin Hotel is expected to open next year on Clyde Street while the St. Enoch Centre is also currently undergoing a £40 million refurbishment, including a new Vue Cinema and food court.

Steve Barnett, managing partner at Shepherd, said: “Representing a prime city centre development opportunity for the consented bar, restaurant and serviced apartment consent, the Teacher building also offers an excellent opportunity for an occupier or office investor to acquire a well-appointed  landmark office HQ in an improving location suitable for immediate occupation.

“Last year, the building was granted planning permission to create a ground floor restaurant and bar with capacity for 101 covers and a further 110 bar capacity with outside seating areas.

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“The proposed consent for bar/restaurant use at ground and basement floor levels sits well with the density of other hospitality businesses in the surrounding area and will be well served from the adjacent St Enoch Shopping Centre, the St Enoch subway station and the new hotel developments nearing completion.”

The building's creator, James Boucher, is said to have been born in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire on August 24 1826, the son of John Boucher a London solicitor.

As early as 1855 or 1856 he is said to have built a pair of semi-detached houses, Swiss Cottage at 35-37 St Andrew's Drive, Pollokshields after forming a partnership with a James Cousland.

In the same years Boucher and two friends undertook a walking tour through the High Alps to the Tyrol, an account of which was published in The Herald.

The Boucher & Cousland practice was successful, designing the ambitious Gothic Renfield Free Church on Bath Street.

In the early 1860s John Kibble built the large Italian Romanesque villa Coulport House adjacent to Boucher's Swiss Villa at Loch Long for which they designed the conservatory which in enlarged form became the Kibble Palace in the Botanic Gardens at Kelvinside.

Boucher died on September 7 1906.