Sir Basil Spence and his assistant Robert Matthew were assigned their site in a series of meetings at the Department of Health for Scotland in late 1957 and 1958.

Spence and Robertson, partly inspired by Le Corbusier's giant maisonette blocks in Marseille, designed two "colossal, rugged 20-storey slabs" featuring inset communal balconies.

For the first ten years the building was reasonably popular with its inhabitants, particularly in comparison with the conditions they had endured in the dilapidated tenements,[8] although the reality of the 'ship in full sail' was that washing frequently blew away when hung out at such heights, while doors and windows were also subject to wind damage.

[10] The persistent dampness, coupled with the attendant problems of vandalism and the uncompromising design, meant that by the 1980s the complex had become a by-word for all that was worst in public sector housing.

In 1987 and 1988, the City Council undertook a major renovation, adding a sloping white roof with pediments, placing bright blue cladding around the exteriors of lift shafts, and enclosing the by-then unusable balconies in conservatories.

In early 1993 the council found that £15–20 million needed to be spent to make the flats habitable and the remaining tenants were decanted in preparation for demolition.

The public viewing area was placed too close to the building and debris hit the crowd, killing 61-year-old Helen Tinney who lived locally and injuring four others.

[14] The buildings were held up (along with other high rise estates such as Red Road) as monuments to the failure of Glasgow's post-war housing renewal policy, and despite their demolition they retain some notoriety.