{"id":402228,"date":"2025-09-06T08:54:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T08:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/402228\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T08:54:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T08:54:11","slug":"architect-angus-kerr-who-worked-on-atlantic-quay-and-kelvingrove-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/402228\/","title":{"rendered":"Architect Angus Kerr who worked on Atlantic Quay and Kelvingrove dies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Died: July 17, 2025<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n Angus Kerr, who has died aged 79, was an architect director at BDP, the world\u2019s first multidisciplinary practice founded in 1961. His career included architecture\u2019s heyday when anything seemed possible, when his home city was Smiles Better and building ambitious projects, many of which Angus helped shape.\n<\/p>\n

\n Born in Motherwell to Anne, a nurse, and David, a railway signalman, Angus attended Wishaw High School. He studied architecture part-time at Glasgow School of Art<\/a> while also working for Wishaw practice William Nimmo and Partners before completing his diploma at Strathclyde University.\n<\/p>\n

\n Moving to the Irvine<\/a> Development Corporation, Angus\u2019s projects included the Magnum Centre, delivered as part of the IDC\u2019s ambitious modernist vison for the new town.\n<\/p>\n

\n He worked at BDP for more than 30\u00a0years, seeing the Glasgow studio grow from a staff of nine to 90, and to play a major role in Scotland\u2019s architectural life. He was responsible for many of the practice\u2019s major and award-winning projects in Scotland, including the Atlantic Quay development on Glasgow’s Broomielaw (winning a Regeneration of Scotland Design Commendation, 1991 and Scottish Civic Trust Award, 1992); Splash Leisure Pool, Dunbar (winner of an RIBA Award, 1993); Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum\u2019s New Century Project (winning the Architecture Scotland Award for Scotland\u2019s Favourite Building: Public Vote in 2006 and shortlisted for the prestigious Gulbenkian Prize); Perth Concert Hall (finalist for the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland\u2019s Andrew Doolan Award for Architecture, 2006); the Shetland<\/a> Museum and Archives (Winner of the Glasgow Institute of Architects Award, 2007; Wood Award 2008 and shortlisted for the Arts Fund Prize (formerly the Gulbenkian award) 2008); The Princess Louise Scottish Hospital, a veterans hospital in Erskine<\/a>, and; The Big Idea in Irvine. For 20 years, Angus acted as house Architect to Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n In the studio Angus had a reputation as the champion of high-quality architecture and wasn\u2019t afraid to argue the case for design quality when construction costs and fees came under pressure. One client remembers Angus by saying \u201chis appearance and manner, his pugnacity and charm doesn\u2019t fade in the memory at all, while other architects I can hardly remember.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Angus retired from BDP in 2008 with a party in the caf\u00e9 of Kelvingrove Art Galleries and Museum, a project he always remembered with much pride.\n<\/p>\n

\n Angus\u2019s time with the Glasgow Institute of Architects (GIA) started with the education committee, before taking over as convenor of the GIA\u2019s 1999 committee and then, in 2000, as the Institute\u2019s president. In his acceptance speech he talked about the importance of connecting with people, about his passion for architecture, the welfare of architects and how humbled he was by the honour.\n<\/p>\n

\n He sat on the RIBA council from 2005 to 2009 and was library committee member, with responsibility for the care of the RIBA library and archive. Project commitments ultimately prevented him standing as president of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. He devoted time instead to the Scottish Civic Trust, where as a trustee was responsible for founding the My Place Awards, an annual celebration of the difference communities can make to their local places.\n<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n He was a visiting tutor at Glasgow School of Art. Graduates of that era remember the measure of the quality of their thesis submission was if they found Angus Kerr\u2019s business card pinned to their degree show display.\n<\/p>\n

\n Angus was a judge for the RIAS, RIBA, Glasgow Institute of Architects, Edinburgh<\/a> Architects Association, Scottish Civic Trust and many other awards. He had a reputation for getting lost en-route to short-listed projects (he often delegated driving to those with fewer points on their licence) but once there, for always being kind and engaging with clients. A fellow judge remembers he was especially good at communicating with lay clients of modest buildings; assuring them their efforts were worthwhile.\n<\/p>\n

\n With his wife Jean, Angus established the Scottish Architectural Educational Trust, a charity whose mission was to have architecture embedded in Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence. The charity was wound up when the Scottish Government<\/a> did just that. He was a longtime supporter of the Architects Benevolent Society and served as a trustee for over a decade. To his great surprise and delight, in 2023, Angus was honoured with a RIAS Lifetime Achievement Award for his services to architecture.\n<\/p>\n

\n While at IDC, Angus had moved to West Kilbride<\/a>. With wife Jean, he bought the shell of an old weavers\u2019 cottage from the National Trust for Scotland<\/a> and refurbished it, making it their family home. A later move provided views of the Firth of Clyde and the Isle of Arran<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n Kelvingrove\u00a0Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow\u00a0(Image: Newsquest)\n<\/p>\n

\n Angus was very active in his community. On retirement from practice, he acted as designer and then client for the award-winning Barony Centre, remodeling a former church to create the focus and education centre for West Kilbride\u2019s Craft Town Scotland. He sat on the committee of West Kilbride Music<\/a> Club. He was a fine chorister, singing and travelling with the Cappella Nova choir. Angus was an accomplished artist, a gifted writer, and enthusiastic golfer. With his wife Jean, he travelled frequently; they were particularly fond of Japan, its culture and people.\n<\/p>\n

\n For their closest friends, the humour of Angus and Jean\u2019s home-crafted Christmas cards were a December highlight. The final card they sent together, following Angus\u2019s terminal cancer diagnosis, was a play on Wham\u2019s Last Christmas. Angus defied the medical prognosis to live three and a half years; it was typical for Angus not to do as expected. His diagnosis did not diminish his hearty laugh or need for fun. When once asked what qualities he most admired in others, Angus replied \u201cA great sense of humour and unwavering integrity.\u201d For those that knew him best, these are the very qualities for which Angus will be remembered.\n<\/p>\n

\n Angus was immensely proud of his children and grandchildren. He will be survived by wife Jean, daughter Alison, son Stuart and grandchildren Phoebe, Ollie and Una.\n<\/p>\n

\n At The Herald, we carry obituaries of notable people from the worlds of business, politics, arts and sport but sometimes we miss people who have led extraordinary lives. That’s where you come in. If you know someone who deserves an obituary, please consider telling us about their lives. Contact garry.scott@heraldandtimes.co.uk<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Died: July 17, 2025 Angus Kerr, who has died aged 79, was an architect director at BDP, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402229,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3939],"tags":[4021,4020,4022,77,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-402228","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-design","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115156514410553868","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}