February 19 2025

A Glasgow office block is to be transformed beyond recognition to help accommodate the city's burgeoning student population.

Occupancy at 33 Bothwell Street has declined to 50% as tenants shift to hybrid working and more modern accommodation, prompting Cordatus Real Estate and 3DReid Architects to pursue a change of use application.

A rooftop extension will build up the corner profile of the existing six-storey 1970s building with two additional floors and a feature lantern mirroring a domed tower opposite, allowing the building to accommodate 99 rooms. Building upon the current ashlar stone facade the extension will feature bronze metal cladding with perforated details extending the horizontal banding of the floors below.

In their design response, 3DReid wrote: "The design concept aims to accentuate the building’s horizontal recesses, using this distinctive banding to inform the architectural language of the rooftop extension. This approach creates a harmonious dialogue between the new and existing elements, with the series of horizontal bands complementing the deep recesses in the sandstone facade."

A cut-away roof terrace will respect the roof line of Atrium Court to the rear.

8 Comments

#1 Posted by Roddy_ on 19 Feb 2025 at 21:05 PM

An ugly, but quite well-behaved block (deferential to the astonishing Mercantile Chambers) rendered uglier and badly-behaved.
Another of the city's filigree skyline nibbled away. The Central Conservation Area is increasingly meaningless...

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.861312,-4.2616422,3a,74y,129.17h,110.23t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1soi27xyzwV6PTzi_Grjn3zA!2e0!5s20150701T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-20.229145547031436%26panoid%3Doi27xyzwV6PTzi_Grjn3zA%26yaw%3D129.17237599981502!7i13312!8i6656?authuser=0&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDIxNy4wIKXMDSoJLDEwMjExNDU1SAFQAw%3D%3D

#2 Posted by Occam's Razor on 20 Feb 2025 at 08:17 AM

There is no intellectualising this away. It just doesn't work visually and is sadly a missed opportunity. Ugly is the only word to ascribe to this.

#3 Posted by Lovely on 20 Feb 2025 at 08:49 AM

Yet another case of 'would have been better to just leave it alone'.

What kind of crazed exhibitionist would want to live in that pig-ugly, top-heavy 'lantern' thing plonked on top anyway?

#4 Posted by Mark on 20 Feb 2025 at 22:02 PM

Q - What kind of crazed exhibitionist?
A - Perhaps a Glaswegian version of Patrick Bateman, the anti-hero from American Psycho?

The two stepped-back horizontal upper storeys would have worked fine on their own, I'm not sure why you'd need to "make the corner" with the vertical glazed shoebox as well.

#5 Posted by Showbiz Sam on 21 Feb 2025 at 07:25 AM

The story here must be how something like this gets through a system. Client understandably has to max any profit. Architects agree to minimal fees for commercial reasons. Planners don't insist on qualitative improvements so as not to stymie employment etc. And so it goes.
This is not about aesthetics.

#6 Posted by Lovely on 21 Feb 2025 at 14:50 PM

Agreed, this design is clearly not about aesthetics.

Let's hope the city centre conservation area planning team do their jobs for once and get it adjusted back to something that does not look so ridiculous.

#7 Posted by town planner on 22 Feb 2025 at 11:26 AM

To take a slightly more positive view, the general principle is right, building up the density, and adding to the corner profile within Glasgow's wonderful grid.

After that, clearly it ain't going to win many prizes, but then the current building is not a thing of beauty itself, and I actually don't mind the "feature lantern" as they term it.

#8 Posted by Occam's Tazer on 22 Feb 2025 at 12:38 PM

Well, town planner, if you think that is the case, then I think there is no point anymore and Glasgow deserves the dross it gets. I am genuinely shocked.

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