Transformational for Glasgow
In Drum we trust !

The kindest thing you could say is that its pedestrian.

Rather a schizophrenic bunch

Difficult to see past Kingston Street which offers up the delights of a blank wall of louvres to the street at ground floor (urban design 101) or the commodification and privatisation of public space (didn't we used to have public streets - Centre Street and Tradeston Street - all now within the private realm- or publicly accessible private space - much beloved in London, Liverpool or Salford). I believe the walkway at the Clyde is also now within Barclays redline boundary.
I guess the best that you can say of it is that it is marginally better than the IFSD in that there are some places to live but as for great urbanism or placemaking- no- sorry.Anyone that understands urbanism knows full well this is a travesty of good placemaking. No issue with the jobs and economic activity that this kind of thing brings but couldn't we have a great place with great streets and a great active waterfront too? Even the supposed thousands of new workers don't want to dwell in the exposed public spaces enveloped by non-active frontage. Especially nice is sitting in the landscaped plaza behind the main frontage and waiting for the thrum of the energy centre kicking in every 15minutes or so.
The word is that Barclays are on the lookout to acquire more of the hinterland of Tradeston - we cannot allow the same obvious defects to pass muster this time. And we need to broaden the discussion to include the City's inability -due to austerity- to adopt new public spaces .

That second image tells you what it really is - it wouldn't look out of place in an out-of-town office or science park development and it has that look of provincial ambition . Introspective, non-active, shrinking away from the edge and a poor form that does nothing to mitigate the prevailing winds that whistle down the Clyde corridor- quite the opposite. And all the Cor-ten or faux Cor-ten just won't fix it.

It's all a bit STICKY-ON, isn't it? I love that its in use and it was brave investment and development. But the facades are definitely of the Disney Variety. There are issues at street level as discussed above too.

It probably tips into acceptable, on balance, but should have been much better. What bit is SB and what bit is HFM?

architectural integrity took a day off

Interesting filler -- time will tell how it matures / delivers on all the PR hype.

Some elements look very forced / trying too hard.

Only issue going forward -- will it be a cathedral in the desert or will other developments attach themselves and re-energise the area?

Plenty of space to fill.

'Transformational for Glasgow
In Drum we trust !'

Here, here! Roddy. Well said.

First Class Development
Well done to all involved
A class act

I think this is actually quite good. Reminds me of some of the London Opportunity Areas. AT least its not the normal Glasgow attempt at river front urbanism - object buildings in a huge car park a la 1996. So good to see something happening here. It is long overdue. I think the buildings work well together and there is a clear street based approach.

I do feel sorry for the apartments as they have no balconies! I know it rains a lot, but still what a waste of a tower!

How did they get away with this? City Design - any response?

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.8538888,-4.2603189,3a,52.2y,320.17h,98.09t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sSa_oonMES97oS9amP4xyug!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DSa_oonMES97oS9amP4xyug%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D356.05142%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0

If this is what is in store for the rest of Tradeston we may as well all give up...

When built in 1996, as it supposed to, it'll already be marked for demolition and quality replacement. Quite provincial , out of town office park, look - fits like a glove in Glasgow. Light years behind the likes of Dusseldorf's Mediahafen or Lyon's Confluence (cities comparable in size). Looking forward to others jump the bandwagon in Tradeston though.

@11 I understand this issue was raised right from the beginning but the council had their backs to the wall, so to speak.

@13 Shows that design governance (like many issues in planning) is only applied on a discretionary basis.We have a milk-and-water planning department.

If you have the money and the political backing you can pretty much get away with anything. And they did.