John Baird was born in the village of
Dalmuir,
Dunbartonshire (now part of the town of
Clydebank). He was the son of Thomas Baird, a Wright, and Agnes Baird, and he was the elder brother of another architect with the name of Anthony Baird (practised, 1834-5). At the age of 15, he started training as an architect with a relative of his named John Shepherd, of John Shepherd & Co., which was a firm that consisted of architects and property agents and was located at 636 Argyle Street. While he was an apprentice, the firm completed the west terrace of Carlton Place for Peter Nicholson. In 1818, when he was 20 and barely out of his apprenticeship and after Shepherd’s death, he took over the business. Baird's design style was similar to Greek and Roman architecture with slight modifications and it also leans slightly towards the Tudor and early British Renaissance architecture styles. After his design of the Greyfriars United Presbyterian Church on North Albion Street, it began his public career in 1822. He never participated in architectural competitions, calling them "a species of professional speculation - to use a mild epithet - which he consistently protested against to the last" and he managed to progress his career significantly. Despite this, he was due to act as a judge on the necropolis competition with
David Hamilton. Baird designed a total of twelve churches, more than any other building type he has designed. These churches were fashionable to the time period, yet not quite of a Gothic style. Baird’s most important contribution to the city of Glasgow’s architecture was his spearheading use of the cast iron in his buildings’ constructions. The earlier use of the cast iron was for the roof trusses in the Argyll Arcade, in 28-32
Buchanan Street (1827). Baird designed the lands of Claremont, the numerous houses and grounds that needed to be replaced. He worked with the design of George Smith from Edinburgh for the adjacent lands of South Woodside and this consequently increased the value of both of these properties. Baird also designed Claremont House, which is now the centre of Claremont Terrace though it used to be a sole property. This house is an excellent example of Baird’s domestic design as it is a large and neatly arranged town house that has a frontage of 58 feet. Later in 1828, Baird was appointed by an organisation called the Merchants' House to work together with David Hamilton in figuring out and devising the layout of the Necropolis which is Glasgow's finest cemetery, but their plans were put aside and he was, not long after that, relegated as an advisor in approving George Milne as its eventual designer. In 1836, Baird took on his first apprentice,
Alexander Thomson, who then became his assistant until 1849 when he went into partnership with a second John Baird, Alexander's brother-in-law, not related to Baird. In 1840, Baird designed generous business premises for Sir James Campbell on Buchanan Street, known as the Prince's Buildings. Campbell then hired him to design his warehouse that sits on the corner of Ingram and Brunswick Streets and then the elevations were drawn up by the author of
"Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland.", Mr Billings. He designed the simple
Princes Square which has since been re-designed and upgraded. One of Baird's largest architecture projects would have been his
Jacobean design for the new
University of Glasgow building that was to be built on Woodlands Hill which is right by
Kelvingrove Park. However, the plans were abandoned after the land was bought to build Park Terrace and Circus. The design for this was shown at the International Exhibition of 1862. Later the University decided to move their College buildings to Gilmorehill and they used Baird for the design of the buildings. Early in 1853 he was accounted for the design of the pink granite sarcophagus for
James Ewing of Strathleven in the Necropolis, an eye capturing work of art, which featured four bronze relief panels by Mossman. In Baird's later life his knowledge of different kinds of properties allowed him to also work as a property valuator. He was known for his attention to detail and he was honest in his opinions. ==Personal life==