In 1870, the Univeristy of Glasgow moved to Gilmorehill. The new-build campus was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the Gothic revival style.
Gilmorehill inspired the design of the Clocktower complex of buildings for the new University of Otago in New Zealand.
Scott’s building is structured upon what was then a cutting-edge riveted iron frame construction, supporting a lightweight wooden-beam roof. The building also forms the second-largest example of Gothic revival architecture in Britain, after the Palace of Westminster.