Molema Building
Description
The site for a Geology building as envisioned by Wilson & Womersley was obtained by the University in 1968, who purchased 8 terraced houses in Lilybank Gardens. The building was designed by Ivor Dorward of JL Gleave & Partners in 1970 and opened in 1980.
The Molema Building currently houses the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences as well as the School of Archaeology.
The building is most easily recognized by the large stone monument that stands outside its doors. The stones were originally part of a culvert on the West Highland Railway, recut for its present use.
The most notable feature of the interior is the 7.6m mosaic designed by George Garson in 1977 located in the entrance hall named "Theophilus Paton Esq. and His Highness the Maharana of Cacheypore." The mosaic depicts various geological structures and is comprised of fragments of common and rare fossils and specimen minerals, including M1217 crocidolite from South Africa and M2370 almondine from Bhilwara in Rajasthan, India.
The Geology Building was renamed the Gregory Building in 1998 for John Walter Gregory (1864-1932), the University's first Professor of Geology from 1904 to 1929.
In 2021, following consultation with colleagues in the relevant Schools, the University’s Senior Management Group re-named the Gregory Building, the Molema Building after Silas Modiri Molema, a prominent South African medical practitioner and political figure who received his medical degree from the University of Glasgow in 1919. The decision was taken in recognition of the fact that the views propounded by Professor John Walter Gregory (1864-1932) on race and racial segregation are completely at odds with the University’s values.
The University chose to recognise Dr Molema because of his contribution to South Africa through his medical, academic and political work, as well as his close ties to the University of Glasgow. The decision to name a building after Dr Molema is supported by his daughter, Warada, and by his family.
Summary
Molema Building
27 Lilybank Gardens,
G12 8QW
Record last updated: 19th Oct 2021
