Modelled on the Venetian Doge's Palace, the Templeton Carpet Factory was built 1889-92 to a design by the architect William Leiper (1839 - 1916) and is a remarkable architectural tour-de-force, characterised by multi-coloured brickwork on the facade facing onto Glasgow Green. Messrs Templeton vacated the premises for a new site in 1978 and the factory was converted in 1984 to become the Templeton Business Centre.
Disaster struck during construction on 1st November 1889, when unusually high winds brought down part of the partially-constructed facade onto adjacent weaving sheds, killing 29 women, aged between 14 and 15, with a further 32 injured. A plaque was unveiled in 1954 in a memorial garden on London Road, which was restored in 2010.
