The Riverside Museum is the newest museum in Glasgow. Opened in June 2011 as the climax of an £80 million project, it is the new location for the old Museum of Transport.
Contents of the Riverside Museum
The Riverside Museum is primarily a museum of transport and technology. It has retained the artefacts from the Museum of Transport that was situated in the Kelvin Hall, only fifteen or twenty minutes’ walk from where the Riverside Museum now stands on the north bank of the Clyde, where it is joined by the River Kelvin. The most popular part of the Museum of Transport, the mocked-up street from the period 1895 to 1930, has been retained and expanded. Other “mini” streets from other periods have been added.
The collection contains 86 cars, 105 bicycles, 85 motorcycles, 17 heavy goods vehicles, eight railway locomotives, seven trams and 48 prams! There are also many model ships and literally thousands of accessories connected to methods of transport, or to Glasgow’s technological past. Altogether, over 3,000 items are on display.
The Riverside Museum, like all of Glasgow’s public museums, is administered by Glasgow Museums, a branch of the Community Interest Company Glasgow Life, on behalf of Glasgow City Council.
The History of the Museum of Transport
Before being moved to the Riverside Museum, Glasgow’s transport collection was housed in the Kelvin Hall from 1988 until 2010. The Kelvin Hall was not its original home, however. In fact, the Museum of Transport was first opened in 1964 in a disused tramway workshop on Albert Drive. This workshop is now known as The Tramway and is a major arts venue on Glasgow’s south side.
The Kelvin Hall was not an ideal location for the collection. It was not purpose built as a museum, and is in fact now a sports stadium. The building suffered from damp and fluctuating temperatures, which damaged some of the artefacts. It was also very inefficient to heat.
The Riverside Museum Building
As part of Glasgow City Council’s plans to regenerate the derelict Clyde riverside, a purpose-built museum was commissioned. The winning design came from Zaha Hadid architects. The building is silver-grey in colour, due to its zinc-plated roof, and has an undulating, wave-like form. Its large windows give onto iconic images of Glasgow, such as the paddle steamer Waverley, the “Armadillo” (Clyde Auditorium) and the Finnieston crane.
As well as being visually striking, the new building has a lower carbon footprint and has much better disabled access. Inside the museum, audio-visual and touch-screen displays aim to make the exhibits more accessible to children and the less literate.
The Riverside Museum is free to visit. Directions and transport information can be found here.
