The India of Inchinnan Building dates from 1930 when it was designed by Thomas Wallis (whose firm also designed the famous Hoover factory in west London) for India Tyres.
The building has recently been restored and now houses a
technology company and a restaurant, R34,
named to commemorate the airships built on this site during the
First World War.
The 1930s were a very difficult period for Clydeside. Over and
above the effects of the Depression the old heavy industries of
shipbuilding and engineering were in steep decline. Scottish
unemployment stood at about 27%. However, there were new
industries and activities associated especially with modern life -
the motor car, the aeroplane, the cinema - which harnessed
technological advances and used self-consciously modern styles as
part of their branding.
The India of Inchinnan tyre factory belongs to this new light
industrial context. Its position too was prominent. It was not
on one of the new industrial estates but on the road from Glasgow
to the coast and near Renfrew Aerodrome. The design of the building
is exceptionally uncluttered with high quality construction
and fine detailing in the windows and in the crisp red, green,
black and cream detailing around the main door and columns.
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