The original county offices in Dumbarton were in the
Sheriff Courthouse in Church Street. In the early 1960s, the council leaders decided that
Dunbartonshire County Council needed larger offices and they selected a site to the southeast of Garshake Road in what was once part of the Crosslet Estate. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the council convener, Hugh Gillies, on 26 June 1963. It was designed by John Armstrong Lane, Duncan Bremner, and Alan Bristow of the firm of Lane Bremner & Garnett in the
Brutalist style, built in concrete and glass at a cost of £800,000 and was officially opened by
Queen Elizabeth II, who was accompanied by the
Duke of Edinburgh, on 28 June 1965. The design involved a five-storey long and narrow main frontage facing onto Garshake Road. In front of the main building there was a large two-story structure and, behind the main frontage, there was a smaller single-story square building which accommodated the council chamber. A statue sculpted by James Barclay depicting a mother and child was installed outside the main entrance. After the abolition of Dunbartonshire County Council in 1975, ownership of the main building passed to
Strathclyde Regional Council and, following the introduction of
unitary authorities in 1995, ownership passed to
West Dunbartonshire Council. In the early 21st century, the council, finding County Buildings "out of date", "crumbling" and "in the wrong location", decided to commission new offices which were to be erected behind the façade of
Dumbarton Burgh Hall. After the staff moved into the new offices in July 2018, the structure on Garshake Road was demolished in summer 2019. The site was marketed for sale in September 2018 and, in November 2019,
Miller Homes acquired the site for around £6 million and subsequently secured planning consent to build 86 houses there. The new development was named Garshake Gardens. ==References==