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Renfrewshire Community Plan 2008 - 2017 Russell Institute
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The Russell Institute location mapThe Russell Institute in Paisley was designed by Paisley architect J Steel Maitland. It was designed on vertical lines, embellished with monumental sculpture and its windows were framed in imperishable bronze. The building made history as the first building in the west of Scotland to have a skeleton fabric of reinforced concrete.
The building occupies a prominent site on the corner of New Street and Causeyside Street. It opened in 1927 as a child welfare clinic.
Miss Agnes Russell donated the Russell Institute to her home town of Paisley as a memorial to her two bachelor brothers, Robert and Thomas Russell, who died in 1913 and 1920 respectively. She wanted a design that was out of the ordinary and that would provide accommodation for all aspects of child welfare. The accommodation included x-ray, disinfection and laboratory facilities, maternity, orthopaedic and dental clinics, and clinics for the treatment of tuberculosis, and diseases of the ear, nose and throat.
The main doorway is surmounted by a large bronze figure of a mother with children, flanked by two copper shields: one is the Paisley Coat of Arms and the other is the serpent and staff symbol of Aesculapius, god of medicine. Above the large window is a massive bronze figure of a protective angel guarding the young in its arms, with the motto "A DEO SALUS", or "Health comes from God". Around the building at a lower level are bronze child figures each indicating an aspect of the work of the Institute including dentistry and eye ailments. Inside, the grand entrance hall was decorated with Italian marble.
The formal opening ceremony was performed by HRH Princess Mary, the Princess Royal, on 19th March 1927. She is pictured here with Provost Crawford. The Princess was presented with a golden key designed by the architect, which bore copies of the shields from above the door. Miss Russell was to have been made an honorary burgess of Paisley in recognition of her magnificent gift, but sadly she died in London in June 1926 before the Institute was complete.
For more information on the history of this or other historic buildings in Renfrewshire, please contact the Local Studies Library.
You can contact the Local Studies Library by:
- email: locstuds.els@renfrewshire.gov.uk
- phone: 0141 889 2360
- fax: 0141 887 6468
- write to:
Reference and Local Studies Library
Central Library
68 High Street
Paisley
PA1 2BB
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