The city has a tricky relationship with building up. Brutalist tower blocks sprang from Glasgow’s edgy areas in the sixties and seventies making it the tallest city in Europe for a spell. Instead of concentrating the structures in a specific place they were scattered around, making parts of the city look like the Eastern Bloc.
Tower cranes at work on a building site (Image: free) As much as I adore looking up at a dystopian raw concrete monolith, these high rises were notoriously awful to live in. Damp, dark and isolating, they became breeding grounds for crime and alienation, as the story goes. So down they came. The Gallowgate Twins, Red Road Flats, Hutchesontown C, Sighthill Flats, Kingsway Court. Four Wyndford towers in Maryhill are currently awaiting execution by controlled explosives. In Glasgow, it appears what goes up must come down. And I worry student skyscrapers could be my generation’s steel-framed slabs and points.
Of the major planning applications to be approved, the tallest are all for students. The Ard, set to erupt from the former Portcullis House on India Street, will be the tallest at 36 storeys. Nearby at Charing Cross is the most exciting plan for the city to be announced this year: the £250 million Charing Cross Gateway scheme that could see the Tay House bridge over the M8 demolished, kickstarting a “future capping of the M8 to form a larger public space”.
Planning permission in principle has been granted for the project, which includes homes, student flats, hotel space and “active ground floor uses”. Elsewhere, a controversial plan to build a 19-storey student block on Cambridge Street has been recommended for approval despite feverish objections from the local community. In Anderston, plans for a 25-storey student block at Hydepark Street have been submitted.
Glasgow’s Tall Buildings Guidance will be introduced in early 2025. While the consultation was still open in August, I attended a lively debate at the New Glasgow Society which posed the question: Should we build taller? It struck an existential nerve. There’s a good argument against it. We should be focusing on bringing the beautiful, empty and rotting heritage buildings around the city back into use first. We should take a gentle density approach that maintains the character of Glasgow by integrating new housing respectfully into conservation areas. Agree and agree.
However there are areas where taller buildings could be concentrated, and these were highlighted in the consultation. Around the River Clyde, like where Graham Investment Projects wants to build its “elegant slim-line tower”. Or around the eyesore we call the M8 where CXG Glasgow wants to fix Charing Cross and Watkin Jones wants to build The Ard. If done well, I think bringing this corridor to the Clydeside back to life with modern skyscrapers could herald a new era of prosperity for the city. But there are glaring “ifs”.
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The first hurdle is actually getting approved plans built. There is a gross overestimation of how many student beds the city actually needs. While there is a “student housing crisis”, the shortfall is closer to 6,000 than 20,000 according to the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence. And what happens if relations between the UK and foreign countries deteriorate and the foreign student piggy bank that so many rely on evaporates? The buildings must be able to demonstrate that their use can be changed. I suppose they could all be converted into Swedish-style prisons. Could we slap some bars on the windows and solve our incarceration crisis if need be?
The next issue, which needs to be addressed before they chuck these things up in the first place, is active frontages. Wandering through Glasgow’s financial district where most of the tall buildings are currently located is like meandering through the set of The Last of Us. It’s the same in areas of Finnieston and Partick where most of the purpose-built student accommodation blocks are located. Tall buildings can’t just be a door on a street. Walking beneath the 14-storey Scottish Power Headquarters on St Vincent Street is one of the most awful, desolate experiences known to pedestrians. The Candleriggs Square development was a big win for the city, but it very blatantly has its back to Argyle Street.
On paper, the Charing Cross Gateway scheme has the best active frontage prospects. They potentially include a new healthcare facility, shops, leisure facilities and food and drink units. Walkable, desirable public spaces are key to convincing people to move back into the city centre. If we let these high rises spring up without a decent ground floor offering, I would find it at odds with the £115 million Avenues Programme’s aim of boosting our public realm.
The final issue is that the design of these tall buildings is at best, uninspired. There is a case to be made that designing skyscrapers as urban sculptures is wasteful, and at times this is true. But there are so many examples of beautiful buildings around the world. Many of these are social housing and add something positive to a city’s built environment.
The Royal Institute of British Architects awarded its 2024 International Prize to Modus Matrix, near Barcelona. The 85-unit social housing development designed by Peris + Toral Arquitectes is not just breathtaking in its design – it’s “democratic”, comfortable, flexible and functional. The building itself is designed around a central courtyard that fosters social interaction and community building. Sure, it’s not a tall building, but the simplicity of it proves that new builds don’t have to be a visual punishment for onlookers and residents.
I don’t expect Glasgow to get anything like the EZ Parque da Cidade in Brazil, but surely we can do a little better? Take The Beresford on Sauchiehall Street. When the seven-storey Art Deco hotel opened in 1938, it was the city’s tallest building at the time. We have a history of incredible architecture, incredible tall architecture. It would be nice to see it blossom again.
While I am not altogether opposed to Glasgow building up, I won’t pretend to be thrilled the only things anyone wants to build here are for students or transient build to rent customers. It would be fabulous if we could start building actual apartment buildings. And desirable social housing schemes. But until then, any cranes that crop up in the city are a welcome sight. Things can’t stay the same forever.
Marissa MacWhirter is the editor of The Glasgow Wrap newsletter. Each morning, Marissa curates the top local news stories from around Glasgow, delivering them to your inbox at 7am daily so you can stay up to date on the best reporting without ads, clickbait or annoying digital clutter. Oh, and it’s free. She can be found on X @marissaamayy1