Seminary is 'top modern building'

The building has not been used for more than 20 years

A derelict former college for priests has been named as Scotland's most important modern building.

A team from the architecture magazine Prospect drew up a list of the most significant public and private buildings of the last 60 years.

It selected the disused St Peter's College in Cardross, near Helensburgh, hailing it as an inspiration.

The Burrell Collection in Glasgow was second on the list and the Scottish Parliament building was fourth.

Office blocks, hotels, a youth hostel, the Killoch Colliery in Ayrshire and the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh also make it on to the list, along with the Princes Square shopping centre in Glasgow, Spa One in Edinburgh and the Forth Road Bridge.

St Peter's college was designed by Glasgow architects Isi Metzstein and Andy MacMillan.

At the heart of this building is the space for worship which has to be one of the best public places in Scotland for acoustic quality Penny Lewis Prospect editor

It opened in 1966 and closed its doors just 14 years later.

Prospect editor Penny Lewis described it as a spiritually uplifting place, even in its current derelict state.

She said: "It enjoys a fantastic relation to the landscape. At the heart of this building is the space for worship which has to be one of the best public places in Scotland for acoustic quality."

Prospect's publisher Gordon Young added: "One lesson from St Peter's College is that radical new ideas are not necessarily appreciated at the time but their importance becomes clear with the passage of some time."

Modern materials

The Catholic Church is currently looking at ways to redevelop the seminary, which is Grade A listed - the highest protection possible under building preservation law.

Ms Lewis said the list had included only post-war buildings because they wanted to look at how architects used modern materials, such as steel and concrete.

She said: "Scotland's best 100 modern buildings are a celebration of what is possible in the here and now with modern materials, which are used more frequently now than stone, which is very expensive to use."

Metzstein and MacMillan, of Glasgow firm Gillespie Kidd and Coia, also designed a number of chapels for the Catholic Church in Scotland.