In Pride Of Place

Tiled closes in Scottish tenements were practical as well as beautiful

- CRAIG HORNE 

OPENING the door of a tenement building, you could be met by the most exquisite tiled interior - with everything from geometric designs to fantastic floral patterns enticing you in.

"For me, it's an amazing ceramic public art collection," says Danny Callaghan of Ceramic City Stories.

Business owners were behind many of the tenements that sprung up in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was in their interests to provide an appealing shared space that would attract workers to their factories.

Tiles provided hygienic, low-maintenance surfaces, and adding decoration instilled a sense of pride in tenants. These tiled tenements were traditionally more popular than plain, painted ones.

Danny, an artist from Stoke-on-Trent - where many tiles that adorn closes originated-says, "They are extremely hygienic, they're easy to clean and keep clean so they're very often used in canteen spaces. I'm talking historically, as well as contemporary - they are used for public swimming baths, for example.

"With decorative tiles, I guess the reason for using them - as well as that practicality - was about different levels of prestige, the entrance to a building being something that people do see.

"Their use seems to correlate with the use of tiles in lots of different contexts, where it is about making something distinctive and also giving added value."