The broken building that must not be destroyed

St Peter's Seminary sits in woodland about an hour west of Glasgow, near a village called Cardross. If you like Brutalist architecture, then it's a beautiful ruin: if not, then perhaps your view isn't so kind. It's a historic, religious building: but it's also a money sink that can't be demolished.

My thanks to Ronnie Convery at the Archdiocese of Glasgow!

(you can find contact details and social links there too)

[TomScottGo]

It is very strange to walk down a beautiful path through the Scottish countryside, turn a corner, and be confronted with something that looks at first glance like a 1970s car park. I'm not joking when I say I do like architecture like this - but I probably wouldn't want to live here.

[Dojan]

I love how someone's climbed on top of that building and written "EXPENSIVE SHITE" on the wall.

[EatAtJoes]

I've never seen a priest so clearly praying for an Act of God...

[robertturner]

This was designed by the guy who was professor of Architecture at the U of Edinburgh when I was an undergrad. All of his buildings were a bit brutalist, and quite a lot of them have been demolished.

[georgebailey]

This video could have done with some pictures of the building in its heyday. I've looked it up, and it was quite impressive back then.

[nerowolf]

A building makes twice my wage just to exist.

I want that buildings job

[Noycey]

This building is supposedly in the middle of nowhere yet covered in graffiti. “Build it and they will come”. 😂

[chardenner]

It would have been helpful to have shown images of what the building looked like before it went to ruin. It's difficult to imagine what it looked like.

[michaelexman]

sounds like someone who knew the system and had a grudge against the church played the joke of the century.

[garrettk]

'It's inaccessible and dangerous"

Looks perfect for Parkour, exploration, or even drone racing..

[markchapman]

I worked in a Brutalist building for many years which was a collection of ideas that looked great on paper but were a nightmare in practice, like rooftop gardens that leaked into the building, and water features that choked with pond scum unless constantly cleaned. For some reason the original doors (and hoo boy there were a lot of doors) were heavy and clumsy to open. A few wings have been retained for historical "value", but I didn't cry when the rest was knocked down.

[dolebiscuit]

It looks like the perfect location for a villain's lair. Imagine the movie sequences you could film in a place like this. It's so dystopian, I absolutely love it.

[yuvalne]

"You can't just decide that it doesn't spark joy anymore"
Did you... Did you just...

[harveyholmes]

“Well I’m gonna knock my house down and build something else”
Gov: “you can’t do that, we like your house so we’ve put it on a list”
Me: “okay we’ll do you want my house then?”
Gov: “no”

[CuriousKiddo]

"doesn't spark joy anymore", loving the Marie Kondo reference there ma boi

[vkillion]

Here's my thought, if the government wants to list it as a historical building and mandate that it is protected, then the government can help pay for it. It seems unreasonable for a government to mandate that a private entity spend that kind of money maintaining something that's fundamentally unmaintainable.

[nickolas]

"A white elephant is a possession which its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is an object, building project, scheme, business venture, facility, etc., considered expensive but without use or value." -- Wikipedia, 'White elephant'

[Urbexy]

I visited this place last year and it truly is an incredible place to experience. From the outside, it looks almost industrial, yet inside with the right lighting, it's almost peaceful. A very unusual structure.

[truthsmiles]

The three most important factors in determining the value of real estate:
1) Location
2) Location
3) Location

[fasdaVT]

The building has great value to exactly 1 group of people, Architectual enthusiasts. It has moderate value to everyone else and if it wasn't so restricted it wouldn't be in such a terrible state because they could fix its many problems. It takes money away from other projects of buildings people actually want to keep around.