Climbing Great Buildings

I'm looking forward to watching the next instalment of Climbing Great Buildings.

‘Climbing Great Buildings’ is currently showing every night for the next couple of weeks, BBC2 at 6.30pm. Dr Jonathan Foyle, architectural historian and novice climber, scales Britain's most iconic structures, from the Normans to the present day, to reveal the buildings' secrets and tell the story of how our architecture and construction has developed over 1000 years. Jonathan is shown the ropes by Britain’s top female climber, Lucy Creamer. They explore British icons like the Lloyds Building, Glasgow School of Art, St Pancras and Coventry Cathedral. 

On Wednesday Jonathan scales the heights of the Mackintosh Building at the Glasgow School of Art. Designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, it is one of Britain's most celebrated buildings and last year it was voted the best designed building by a British architect of the past 175 years in a poll organised by the Royal Institute of British Architects.

With unprecedented access, Jonathan, aided by top climber Lucy Creamer, scales the school to reveal some of the hidden secrets and influences that Mackintosh combined to create his modernist masterpiece. On his architectural treasure hunt Jonathan scales over 90 feet to reveal how Mackintosh's building is modelled on a baronial castle and he discovers how Mackintosh plays games with traditional architectural forms.

Jonathan then explores the atmospheric Library, a timeless place where nature and the industrial revolution combine to create a wondrous symphony for the senses.

The oriel window of the Library