Tucked away on the Ayrshire coast is one of the most out-of-place buildings you're likely to find in the region.
And that's because the strange structure dubbed Africa House was never originally intended to be in Ardeer when it was constructed in 1938.
The now-crumbling building was built for the British Empire Exhibition in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow before being rebuilt in North Ayrshire.
More than 12.5 million people flocked to see the Dutch-style barn and many others during the six-month showcase large international trade fair months before the Second World War broke out.
The unusual build was transported and rebuilt in Ayrshire by the explosives company ICI Nobel.
The firm used the pavilion as a staff canteen until the early 2000s near to Nobel House at the gargantuan site.
But a report submitted to North Ayrshire Council last week reveals that the current owners want to demolish the B-listed building that has lain empty for 25 years.
Clowes Developments (Scotland) want to raze Africa House saying that the structure is in "extremely poor condition".
It's reported that storm damage, vandalism, arson and decay has meant the building is in an awful state with the roof also collapsing too.
More than 80 years ago, Africa House was was originally built as a temporary pavilion for the Union of South Africa during the 1938 Empire Exhibition.
And more than 100 temporary buildings were constructed in less than a year to sit in 174 acres of Bellahouston Park at the showcase event.
The Scottish Avenue promoted Scottish trade with exhibition spaces dedicated to Scottish companies, and the Dominion Avenue had Pavilions dedicated to countries with ties to the British Empire such as "Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, Southern Rhodesia, Burma, and over 30 of the Colonies and Dependencies."
After the Empire Exhibition closed in October 1938, almost all the buildings were dismantled and Bellahouston Park was restored to parkland.
After dismantling, a small number of buildings were purchased and transported elsewhere for re-erection. And Africa House is one of a rare few that remain to this day.
The Palace of Art was intended to be the only permanent building at the Empire Exhibition and it still stands in Bellahouston Park.
And the exhibition's links to Ayrshire don't end there as The Palace of Engineering was relocated from Bellahouston Park to Prestwick Airport, and was used by Scottish Aviation, then British Aerospace as an aircraft factory and is currently used by Spirit Aero Systems as an aero-structures factory.
The 1938 Empire Exhibition has been described as “the greatest demonstration of Scottish Modernism” yet the South African Pavilion is the only exhibition building which stood in clear contradiction to that, as "a pastiche of Dutch Colonial architecture".
It was thought that renowned architect James Miller designed Africa House but a report submitted to the local authority suggests that it was likely created by his son, George.
The applicant argues that while James was "a major Scots architect with an international reputation" his son could be "considered at best as a minor architect."
Alongside a range of structural damage, the reports says modifications made to the interior and exterior reduces its "architectural and historical value".
North Ayrshire Council planners will rule on whether to grant the bid to demolish the listed building at a future date.
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