Full retrofit on the cards for a ziggurat-style Glasgow office block
March 28 2024
A city block-hugging office building in Glasgow's CBD is set for redevelopment in a bid to rival new build competitors following a fall in occupancy rates.
Dating from 1986 the former Britoil headquarters at 301 St Vincent Street provides 308,000sq/ft of floor space for its current owner and occupier Santander, standing out in the streetscape for its distinctive landscaped terraces and courtyards. To update the property for today's tenants and reduce operational costs, the banking giant has appointed Osborne + Co and LOM Architecture and Design to fully refurbish the ziggurat-style landmark.
Major interventions will include a modular aluminium and glass curtain wall facade to improve energy performance and daylight as well as a realigned main entrance to improve kerb appeal. Internally spaces will be reconfigured to provide 244,000sq/ft of grade A floor space, augmented by 50,000sq/ft of co-working, meeting, event and hospitality space.
Championing the environmental credentials of these interventions the applicant wrote: "The proposals will strive for environmental excellence in terms of design, construction and building operations to de-carbonise 301 St Vincent Street as a best-in-class refurbishment. Fully electrified services and a fabric-first approach to the façade, along with a range of passive and active design measures will target low-carbon outputs to provide a healthier building environment for occupants."
Seeking to reuse materials where possible for a sympathetic approach the polished pink granite base will be retained in harmony with the planned hue of the new facade.
All-electric services and a new heating and cooling system will be installed
Interior atriums will be overhauled to improve daylight levels
Lower floors will house a gym, cafe and cycle store
Street elevations will remain largely as dead space
The main entrance will be reconfigured to avoid shrinking from the street
Underutilised terraces will be relandscaped as a key asset for occupiers
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3 Comments
Total word salad of the current / the trendy / attention seeking PR talking points that mean nothing in real life or real people.
Good to see the building being renovated -- was a landmark development back in the day even if the economic driver involved was privatised and exported to Aberdeen.
Britoil -- big miss for the city / look at what we could have won if Maggie had gone the way of her right wing mentalist mentor Keith Josephs.
Political obscurity would have been too good for her.
