I found this place by accident whilst perusing maps for interesting looking things, I'm never normally that bothered by office buildings but this particular example of one is enormous, and with a little further reading I realised it also had an old manor house in the same campus, so it felt like it was a little more than the 'usual' bog standard boring office block type deal and was certainly worth some further investigation.
Craigforth House, located on the northeast side of Craigforth Crag outside Stirling, was originally built in 1675 for the Callander family, and it remained in their family ownership for over two centuries. It was completely gutted by a fire in 1930 and then later restored, with an added wing to the left side of the entrance. Great care was apparently taken when restoring the building, to ensure it looked as close as possible to the original. In 1952 the house and grounds were sold to the Scottish Amicable Insurance Company, who initially operated a branch from the house until construction of an enormous brutalist-style office block on land near the manor house was completed in 1970 and they moved their headquarters in. Scottish Amicable is a huge worldwide investment and savings company founded in Glasgow in 1849 through the merger of the West of Scotland Fire Insurance and West of Scotland Life Insurance companies. They rapidly expanded to branches in London, Dublin and Belfast, and by the outbreak of the Second World War the company was operating from sixteen major branches and numerous smaller satellite offices across the UK. An office in Australia opened in 1960, followed by four more Australian branches by 1961. By the 1990s Scottish Amicable was the sixth largest life assurance company in the UK, with a huge consolidated site at Craigforth in Stirling, Scotland.
In 1997 Scottish Amicable was acquired by Prudential Assurance, with them being used by Prudential and Prudential's successor M&G until 2022, when all staff moved to a brand new office building in the new business park next to the old campus.
On arrival, there was initial disappointment. It became clear that the local news media reports threatening demolition had come true, there being a selection of heavy machinery on site as well as a small digger on the roof! It was clear that the majority of the building had already been gutted, and I wasn't feeling particularly enthusiastic, but after I spotted a really easy way in through the fence and with some cajoling from @CookieRaider we went for it. I fully expected there to be armadillos or CCTV towers everywhere or some sort of on site security in the security building due to the heavy plant, but the whole place was dead with not a soul to be seen. We headed straight for the manor house as it was both furthest away and we thought might have the more interesting stuff in it, but after finding an easy way in we were immediately disappointed. Of course, it being used as offices had meant it was made totally devoid of anything remotely pretty or ornate, it was also extremely mouldy and damp inside, so we didn't spend too much time hanging around.
Above, Craigforth House prior to the fire in 1930. Below, the same property today - the additional wings and limited space behind me meant it was too wide to get all of it in the frame!
The only good thing about the manor house was that it hadn't yet been completely gutted, although I would assume it'll be done at some point following the demolition of the office buildings, and hopefully incorporated into whatever development takes place.
After seeing how awful the mould was in the attic rooms, we decided to make our way out and head over to the main office building. It's truly enormous, the one exterior photo I have doesn't do the size of it justice. Most of it had been gutted, but there were still some interesting parts that hadn't been - the canteen, the main entrance hall with a wall sculpture stretching up all four floors, and the cool glass encased staircase to one side were all nice surprises. There were also some fantastic views from the roof to be seen. The sculpture in the entrance hall is apparently destined to be removed and rehomed somewhere but who really knows, it might be one of those things that simply disappears never to be seen again.
Thanks for looking
Craigforth House, located on the northeast side of Craigforth Crag outside Stirling, was originally built in 1675 for the Callander family, and it remained in their family ownership for over two centuries. It was completely gutted by a fire in 1930 and then later restored, with an added wing to the left side of the entrance. Great care was apparently taken when restoring the building, to ensure it looked as close as possible to the original. In 1952 the house and grounds were sold to the Scottish Amicable Insurance Company, who initially operated a branch from the house until construction of an enormous brutalist-style office block on land near the manor house was completed in 1970 and they moved their headquarters in. Scottish Amicable is a huge worldwide investment and savings company founded in Glasgow in 1849 through the merger of the West of Scotland Fire Insurance and West of Scotland Life Insurance companies. They rapidly expanded to branches in London, Dublin and Belfast, and by the outbreak of the Second World War the company was operating from sixteen major branches and numerous smaller satellite offices across the UK. An office in Australia opened in 1960, followed by four more Australian branches by 1961. By the 1990s Scottish Amicable was the sixth largest life assurance company in the UK, with a huge consolidated site at Craigforth in Stirling, Scotland.
In 1997 Scottish Amicable was acquired by Prudential Assurance, with them being used by Prudential and Prudential's successor M&G until 2022, when all staff moved to a brand new office building in the new business park next to the old campus.
On arrival, there was initial disappointment. It became clear that the local news media reports threatening demolition had come true, there being a selection of heavy machinery on site as well as a small digger on the roof! It was clear that the majority of the building had already been gutted, and I wasn't feeling particularly enthusiastic, but after I spotted a really easy way in through the fence and with some cajoling from @CookieRaider we went for it. I fully expected there to be armadillos or CCTV towers everywhere or some sort of on site security in the security building due to the heavy plant, but the whole place was dead with not a soul to be seen. We headed straight for the manor house as it was both furthest away and we thought might have the more interesting stuff in it, but after finding an easy way in we were immediately disappointed. Of course, it being used as offices had meant it was made totally devoid of anything remotely pretty or ornate, it was also extremely mouldy and damp inside, so we didn't spend too much time hanging around.
Above, Craigforth House prior to the fire in 1930. Below, the same property today - the additional wings and limited space behind me meant it was too wide to get all of it in the frame!
The only good thing about the manor house was that it hadn't yet been completely gutted, although I would assume it'll be done at some point following the demolition of the office buildings, and hopefully incorporated into whatever development takes place.
After seeing how awful the mould was in the attic rooms, we decided to make our way out and head over to the main office building. It's truly enormous, the one exterior photo I have doesn't do the size of it justice. Most of it had been gutted, but there were still some interesting parts that hadn't been - the canteen, the main entrance hall with a wall sculpture stretching up all four floors, and the cool glass encased staircase to one side were all nice surprises. There were also some fantastic views from the roof to be seen. The sculpture in the entrance hall is apparently destined to be removed and rehomed somewhere but who really knows, it might be one of those things that simply disappears never to be seen again.
Thanks for looking
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