The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
High time for tea again at Mackintosh building
Famed tea rooms open to first guests in wake of major £10 million restoration project
The original Willow Tea Rooms building has welcomed its first guests since a £10 million restoration on the 150th anniversary of its designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s birth.
The original Glasgow business opened in 1903 and remains of international significance as the only building over which Mackintosh had total control of the architecture and interior decorations, including the design of furniture, cutlery and the waitress’s uniforms.
The 200-seat restaurant and tea rooms, now known as Mackintosh at The Willow, has undergone a £10 million restoration and will open to the public later this year but guests, including elderly members of Garnethill community centre took tea in the restaurant yesterday to mark Mackintosh’s anniversary.
Other guests include people who had contributed to the restoration, Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) deputy chair Dame Seona Reid and Glasgow Lord Provost Eva Bolander.
The Willow Tea Rooms Trust described the restored building as a “living, breathing museum”.
Celia Sinclair, who chairs the trust, said: “It is fitting that some of our first guests should be from the local community centre.
“It has always been our aim for the building to be used for the good of the people of Glasgow.
“The tea rooms, visitor centre and learning and education suite are an integral part of the aims and objectives of the trust to educate and inspire and restore and preserve this iconic piece of Glasgow’s heritage.”
Marcus Kenyon, chief executive of Mackintosh at the Willow, said: “We are delighted to welcome our first guests to 217 Sauchiehall Street.
“They have had a sneak preview of the interior and we have had a dress rehearsal for our full opening in September 2018.”
Dame Seona said: “Charles Rennie Mackintosh left Scotland with a wonderfully rich heritage and a distinguished place on the world’s architecture and design stage.
“Thanks to players of the National Lottery, HLF has been able to support many projects that restore and celebrate his achievements.
“It is particularly exciting to see the original Willow Tea Rooms building come back to life so that afternoon tea can once again be enjoyed as he, and Miss Cranston, first intended.”