Burrell Collection : Attraction of Glasgow

Glasgow’s top attraction, the Burrell Collection, was amassed by wealthy industrialist Sir William Burrell before it was donated to the city. Now housed in a prize-winning museum in the Pollok Country Park, this idiosyncratic collection includes everything from Chinese porcelain and medieval furniture to paintings by Renoir and Cézanne.

Carpeted floors maintain the silence to contemplate the beautifully displayed treasures. Carved-stone Romanesque doorways are incorporated into the structure so you can actually walks through them. Some galleries are reconstructions of rooms from Hutton Castle, the Burrell residence.

The building was the result of a design competition in 1971. If it had not been run during a postal strike, necessitating an extension of the closing deadline, Barry Gasson’s winning entry would not have been completed. From the outside, the building seems something of a hybrid, but the truly spectacular interior provides a fitting setting for an exquisite collection of tapestries, oriental porcelain, paintings and European stained glass. Floor-to-ceiling windows admit a flood of natural light, and the trees and landscape outside only enhance the effect created by the exhibits.