191 West George Street

About the project

Having been in the architectural photography business for 19 years we’ve photographed most commercial property in Scotland’s major cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow and some buildings many times over. 191 West George Street is one such building. It’s one of Glasgow’s most prominent commercial buildings within the business quarter that is the International Financial Services District.

Our most recent commission for this building centred on the latest iteration of the interior that involved a complete £5.5m refurbishment of the interior architecture, transforming the reception area into a new double height entrance space by taking away the central atrium and increasing the floor space, creating virtually column-free floor plates and upgrading all office suites and facilities with a high spec finish.

McAteer Photo was commissioned to photograph 191 during the period of refurbishment to capture its progress and was invited by Smarts Communicate to create the final shots from top to bottom for the building owner, NFU Mutual.

Having photographed the interior over the years, it was great to witness and record the dramatic transformation from a dated environment to a contemporary Grade A space. Although the previous full-height atrium provided lots of daylight and geometry, the modern design of the business suites and the top floor with its glass roof offer crisp lines and natural light – perfect for an architectural photographer. The selective palette of calming colours and furniture shapes in the lobby give the images a quiet, balanced feel that lets the picture breathe and the grid lines and racking in the locker room and bike store make for good visual anchors in an image.

It’s great to see a building come into its prime and we’ll no doubt pay another photography visit in the future. Until then it’s great news that 191 has been shortlisted for the 2019 BCO Awards.

See more of our architectural photography here.