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Planning sought for revised Buchanan Quarter scheme

November 12 2014

Planning sought for revised Buchanan Quarter scheme
BDP have submitted long-awaited plans for the redevelopment of Glasgow’s Buchanan Galleries shopping centre to Glasgow City Council on behalf of Land Securities.

Dubbed Buchanan Quarter the £300m project will attempt to better knit the giant mall into the surrounding urban fabric and transport infrastructure which have been broadly split into five key components; A new ‘Rotunda’ at the head of Buchanan Street, the existing Buchanan Galleries, a southern extension, a 1,700 space car park to the east of Queen Street Station and a new leisure and retail extension above the current north cutting.

Principally this takes the form of a four storey retail and leisure atrium will be built above the existing station, capped by a 10 screen Showcase cinema, that will connect to the car park via a glass link bridge.

Plans to build a circular rotunda at the head of Buchanan Street have been amended to include a rooftop view point, with the existing steps removed to improve access. This will serve to open up the roof level catering space populated by restaurants and external terraces.

Amongst planned public realm improvements is a new arrivals square at Queen Street Station, with BDP noting: “In Dundas Street the taxi turning area is to be removed to create a pedestrian friendly environment where the transport hubs converge. The existing steps and stepped ramp arrangement are to be reconfigured with natural stone finishes. Removing the traffic then creates a more attractive meeting space with a café kiosk to spill out onto this new square.”

Elsewhere an A-listed bridge over cathedral Street will be remodelled to accommodate a retail unit and multi-storey car park, although iron balustrades will be retained along the majority of the bridge. This will be flanked by a structural arch, mirroring the curves of the station below.

In their design statement BDP explained: “The north cutting building spans over the railway lines below. A
series of bow trusses support the majority of the building whilst an expressed arch is incorporated in to the façade giving this elevation a unique character. The arch forms a key feature in the lighting strategy.”

Cladding for these new elements will be a mixture of concrete panels, limestone and granite. BDP wrote: “Large scale concrete panels of the department store are continued along North Hanover Street. At street level the base of the building is expressed using granite cladding.

Limestone cladding is used to define the northern most building on North Hannover Street The smaller stone module contrasts with the larger panels on the department store. The cinema is recessed back from the façade and in contrast to the stone, is clearly defined using vertically jointed metal cladding panels. The cinema, and by extension leisure facilities generally, are signaled using a glazed light box at the south facing end of the cinema.”

Construction work was originally scheduled to commence this year but has now been delayed until April, with completion not expected until March 2018.
A new meeting space will be created on Dundas Street
A new meeting space will be created on Dundas Street
A southern extension will be topped by a rooftop eaterie
A southern extension will be topped by a rooftop eaterie

Revisions to a planned Rotunda building include provision of a 'deluxe' restaurant with its own roof terrace
Revisions to a planned Rotunda building include provision of a 'deluxe' restaurant with its own roof terrace
The revamped centre will include 100 shops and 25 restaurants
The revamped centre will include 100 shops and 25 restaurants

23 Comments

Art Vandelay
#1 Posted by Art Vandelay on 12 Nov 2014 at 11:51 AM
Taking away one of Glasgow's better spaces and replacing it with...a glass tube. Awesome.
james
#2 Posted by james on 12 Nov 2014 at 12:11 PM
We are now well and truly beneath the Yupas tree. This is what the movement of capital out of London looks like. It is rapacious and its footfall blights everything. Notwithstanding the Buchanan Galleries, Leslie Martin must be turning in his grave at this Dan Dare design (never mind the rubble club). Can anyone see this type of all-consuming, ultra-low grade, sprawling commercial development happening in the centre of Prague? Budapest? Paris? Dublin? Rome? But then again Scotland's a desert, and Glasgow in particular. What a legacy! Whatever next? Building over Buchanan Street Bus Station?! S.O.S.
ugh
#3 Posted by ugh on 12 Nov 2014 at 12:14 PM
I weep for Glasgow.
David
#4 Posted by David on 12 Nov 2014 at 12:21 PM
Strategy Option 1 - Enhance existing retail streets and bring life and vitality back to the city centre.

Strategy Option 2 - Succumb to private developer cash building a new retail vacuum which sucks the life even further out of the rest of the city centre.

Is it any wonder we have Argyle Street, Trongate, Union Street, Sauchiehall Street (to name but a few) in such an embarrasingly poor state?
boaby wan
#5 Posted by boaby wan on 12 Nov 2014 at 12:32 PM
lets lose one of the only incidental public spaces in the shopping district and turn it into saleable floor space - truly terrible proposal, I really hope glasgow city council don't agree to forfeit a half decent public space but no doubt money will talk
Alf
#6 Posted by Alf on 12 Nov 2014 at 12:35 PM
I can see what they are trying to do with the exception of moving an entire car park the next block down, but agree that existing streets (in particular Argyle Street/Trongate) should see more investment as a priority (that will probably never happen anyway; what developer wants to put their money into the butt-end of Trongate??). Having said that, this Buchanan development was always going to happen, so it should be of no surprise to anyone.
iVoter
#7 Posted by iVoter on 12 Nov 2014 at 13:52 PM
Pah! An obvious attempt by the No campaign to reduce places for Yes voters to congregate... I bet the evil Sith Lords of the BBC are involved!
Tom Baruffati
#8 Posted by Tom Baruffati on 12 Nov 2014 at 15:15 PM
Post 4 - Private developer cash plus; "...the incorporation of a maximum £80million of public works (the scope of which will be agreed with the council in advance), up to £55m of which will be undertaken directly by the Developer as part of the Buchanan Quarter project contract, to be paid by the Council on completion of works. The remaining £25million of public works will be undertaken directly by the Council and includes improvements to the Concert Hall, Cathedral Street Bridge, and public realm improvements to George Square, Cathedral Street, and the general Buchanan Quarter area." GCC Report 22 April 2014
The big dog
#9 Posted by The big dog on 12 Nov 2014 at 16:45 PM
#8 Its all very well banding about headline figures but tell me what/which public spaces will be created/improved with this £55m. An internal shopping precinct i.e. Buchanan Galleries, is not public space, it is private space masquerading as public. Its all smoke and mirrors to fuel the fires of consumerism. Shopping centres are the churches of today for countless swathes of society seeking solace in the false gods behind the shiny facades.
NeilI
#10 Posted by NeilI on 12 Nov 2014 at 16:52 PM
It'll no doubt be commercially successful but the gains to the city will also bring costs. This type of enclosed mega-mall is a bit 1980s IMHO. The best big retail developments appearing feature higher quality architecture, mixed uses, distinct buildings that face outwards as much as inwards and a stronger commitment to integration with the cityscape.
wonky
#11 Posted by wonky on 12 Nov 2014 at 17:29 PM
I concur with everything the above posters say about this shockingly awful proposal, the colossal car park overlooking George Square is reason enough to reject this garbage. If we wanted to improve the public realm we could quite easily have used the money to do what Leeds has done & cover some of the streets/transforming them into mall like structures ( although infinitely more attractive than a modern generic shopping mall)- Buchanan Street, Argyle Street & parts of Sauchiehall Street could all have been covered-pedestrianized for the 60 million or so invested by the council. GCC are an utter embarrassment to the city ( they have no appreciation of how great an asset Glasgow is) with next to no vision- is it any wonder we lag so far behind other cities like Leeds or Manchester ( despite the superior potential of Glasgow)?
Big Chantelle
#12 Posted by Big Chantelle on 12 Nov 2014 at 20:33 PM
Whilst I've come to expect atrocious architecture from the concrete modernist brigade, this,even by your usually low standards, is disgusting.

You have a classical square in general (if u remove the modern tat) and you now propose to have a CARPARK overlooking it. Do you not have any shame?

Why are you so threatened by class, integrity and beauty that you wish to unleash such vulgar, weak, feeble and insulting architecture onto it?

You should be ashamed. Wonky angles, zinc cladding, white render, carparks overlooking public squares, glass tubes replacing public space etc. Can you not see the stupidity of it all?
Art Vandelay
#13 Posted by Art Vandelay on 12 Nov 2014 at 23:00 PM
Chantelle…erm…not really seeing the concrete, or the modernism for that matter.

You need a more project specific term of abuse for folk who don't think like you.
Jamie
#14 Posted by Jamie on 12 Nov 2014 at 23:22 PM
And..... there goes the St. Enoch Centre!
Jeremy
#15 Posted by Jeremy on 13 Nov 2014 at 14:41 PM
Whilst the unlovely drum to Buchanan Street undoubtedly contributes negatively to the public realm on Glasgow's most important street.... if you look at the proposed car park hovering behind the Millenium Hotel on the images on the 4th page of this:
https://publicaccess.glasgow.gov.uk/online-applications/files/9347374FD09DD8E627769FB7F2C23367/pdf/14_02554_DC-DESIGN_AND_ACCESS_STATEMENT_PART4-3144213.pdf you'll see they've managed to negatively impact on Glasgow's most important public space. I this case a double negative is definitely not a positive...
Big Chantelle's Maw
#16 Posted by Big Chantelle's Maw on 13 Nov 2014 at 18:19 PM
#12 Big Chantelle hen, its yer maw...pipe down!
Joe Blog
#17 Posted by Joe Blog on 13 Nov 2014 at 19:09 PM
The problem Jeremy is there is no precedent for what they are proposing with the car park. Directly opposite the proposed car park is the truly atrocious future carbuncle winner 110 Queen Street which is already overlooking they square.

GCC has sold their soul to the devil. If this goes ahead with the proposed removal of the steps and the monstrosity of a car park over the square it'll be one of the worst planning decisions in the history of Glasgow.
Charlie_
#18 Posted by Charlie_ on 13 Nov 2014 at 19:48 PM
To the end of making myself super-popular I'll chime in with a few positives : 1) new frontage along & enlivenment of not one but four deadzone city centre streets where currently there's none. 2) The arch on the cathedral street entrance which will accentuate the station arch as viewed from Queen street/Goma. 3) The integration of the centre with Queen street station, encouraging more soulless people who might other go to out of town malls to use public transport. 4) the increased massing along the north side of George square, currently unbalanced by the lack of such. (granted the massing is a car park but I've seen some pretty passable new build carparks recently).
Big Chantelle
#19 Posted by Big Chantelle on 13 Nov 2014 at 21:30 PM
"A southern extension will be topped by a rooftop eaterie"

Sounds so cosmopolitan. By eaterie, do they mean some trendy foody place or a KFC though?

And to my maw in post 16, glad to see prison regulations have lightened up and you've got internet access from inside. Miss you. xx
Brian
#20 Posted by Brian on 14 Nov 2014 at 08:07 AM
Is the part on the bridge with all the lights on an entrance to the centre ? Because they have just completed really nice new railings along both sides of bridge painted blue.They are not in this plan!
Wee bazza
#21 Posted by Wee bazza on 14 Nov 2014 at 13:32 PM
#18 Charlie,

cites around the world already do the train stop/mall interaction but at queens street it's just too small a station to achieve. its disjointed because network rail want to put retail to the front and sides in a tight space but with limited access for more train routes at high level due to the tunnel, capacity can never be increased.
if it was london where money is no object: close queen street, sell the landto buchanna quarter... and build a new lower level station at central with faster links to edinburgh and the north by tunnelling.

?
SJF
#22 Posted by SJF on 14 Nov 2014 at 21:44 PM
Why is nobody giving them credit for their inventive cinema proposal in the new extension. This area of the City Centre has been crying out for a multi-screen cinema for years and this would finally see those dreams come true!!!
Dave Thompson
#23 Posted by Dave Thompson on 14 Nov 2014 at 22:12 PM
http://auchterness.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/in-praise-of-bdp-and-buchanan-quarter.html

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