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St Enoch Centre turns to leisure post BHS

September 2 2016

St Enoch Centre turns to leisure post BHS
Plans to introduce a range of new leisure uses at Glasgow’s St Enoch Centre have been tabled by the mall owners in a bid to revitalise the development; including construction of a rooftop cinema and restaurant space and ground floor retail within the footprint of a former BHS store.

A perforated metal interior finish is being looked at together with a first floor restaurant space and dedicated outside seating with a ‘cinema box’ above with decorative interior elements specified to help reflect light into these spaces.

In their design statement architects Benoy wrote: “The proposed development delivers new retail and leisure uses by reconfiguring underutilised existing building space in the east end of St Enoch shopping centre. Additional space is generated by building on the roof space of the Debenhams bridge.”

Entrance canopies will be replaced and a series of public realm enhancements are also envisaged to improve pedestrian connections with Argyle Street through introduction of new seating, tree planting, signage totems and matt red painted setts.

New additions would be formed from perforated metal
New additions would be formed from perforated metal

15 Comments

Fraser
#1 Posted by Fraser on 2 Sep 2016 at 14:11 PM
In definite need of urban realm inporvemetns in this area. Getting some commercial units on the ground floor through this area would be good. The colours seem far too garish and unnecessary. There is a lot of potential to redevelop this site as well as those awfully maintained carparks which frankly are an embarrassment for a city centre location.
MoFloBro
#2 Posted by MoFloBro on 2 Sep 2016 at 16:16 PM
I see the plans for the exterior are up to the usual standard, I can't quite decide which side of this building is the ugliest. I think the south aspect is still winning that contest with its little motorway flyovers but the St Enoch square side is catching up fast, can't wait to see how this one turns out.
They should move the car park to border Stockwell street, demolish the flyovers and introduce shop fronts to Howard street. That's my tuppence worth.
EM
#3 Posted by EM on 2 Sep 2016 at 16:21 PM
Again Glasgow becomes more disgusting by the day, who all wants to move to Edinburgh with me? Where you can invite people to your city without utter shame!!
Charlie_
#4 Posted by Charlie_ on 2 Sep 2016 at 16:34 PM
Looks like a Blackpool amusement arcade.
Alistair
#5 Posted by Alistair on 2 Sep 2016 at 19:35 PM
Sorry to be blunt, but Glasgow needs to learn that you can't polish a turd!

The area south of the main shopping stretch of Argyle Street is a really depressing place to be. The key to integrating the Clyde into our city is to focus on this area and Tradeston on the other side.

What would I do? Knock down (or red mark) all the poor prognosis building then lay out a new grid of streets - a blank canvas to work on. This would clearly take years to complete but if we want to future proof any developments then such methods are necessary.
Charlie_
#6 Posted by Charlie_ on 2 Sep 2016 at 19:53 PM
Alistair, the last (and I do mean last, after Ebola, 30 foot sea-level rises and a nuclear strike) thing glasgow needs is another massive central gapsite awaiting possible future development. Yours the right plan for one day but that day is surely a long way down the to-do list.
Alistair
#7 Posted by Alistair on 2 Sep 2016 at 20:17 PM
Charlie, if you take a look at the area around the St Enoch centre, it's really already a massive gapsite (huge carparks etc.). Despite its prime location nobody wants to develop in this area due to the residual architectural monstrosities which you would have to plan area around.

You must agree that the St Enoch centre has to go at some point - the idea of funnelling money into it seems ridiculous.
Yaldy
#8 Posted by Yaldy on 2 Sep 2016 at 20:48 PM
#5, #6, #7

I agree with door number six.

I want to see a reasonable (and I really mean just half-arsed) connection between Argyle Street(ish) and the river before my dying grey matter dissolves our consciousness. The thought of 50 years of half development brown field empty plots is soul destroying
Alistair
#9 Posted by Alistair on 2 Sep 2016 at 22:51 PM
I suspect you will probably get your way - half arsedness appears to run in Glasgow's blood.

What I find soul destroying is that we are making the same mistakes as our grandparents in the 60s. A quick fix is never the answer.

Billy
#10 Posted by Billy on 3 Sep 2016 at 02:36 AM
I still have reservations over another cinema in the city centre. Within 1 mile there are two complexes and the Gft. And a proposed further one in the Gallleries. Not to mention multiplexes at ,the Fort, the Forge, Clydebank ,Silverburn, Glasgow East and East Kilbride. Something will have to give. Is there really enough demand to support so many? Most people will go to a local cinema rather than venture into town and I don't think there are enough local city dwellers to keep all these existing and proposed cinemas in business every day of the week. Let's have a city centre bowling alley, indoor golf booths, few family friendly bar or restaurants at St Enoch as a pull. Maybe a climbing wall . The ice rink back. A roller disco. A few fairground attractions indoors. This could attract families back into town to enhance a shopping trip offering something for all members of the family and tourists especially on a bleak day. This would require significant expansion of the St Enoch Square centre but an extension eastwards getting rid of those awful excuses for overpriced car parks would be most welcome. The one next to the bus terminal is an embarrassment. Hardly worthy of a city centre location . And you have to pay for it! Any car parking spaces lost could easily be incorporated into the extension. Be a far more efficient use of prime city centre space. Let's be more inventive about getting people back into the city rather than the lazy ' I know let's build another cinema, that's sure to work'. Introduce a signposted historic walk of places of interest around the city centre to encourage people to stroll down to the cathedral along Clyde st to the Briggait St Andrews square , the Green,So many ways to encourage footfall into this neglected part of town. Another cinema ? Just plain lazy. Quick fix and probably unsustainable.
David
#11 Posted by David on 3 Sep 2016 at 13:40 PM
This scheme really lacks ambition. The redevelopment on the St Enoch Square side of the shopping complex some years ago was very successful, reinstating a strong urban edge that engages well with the city at street level.
For the eastern and southern sides of the complex, similar interventions are required. The biggest urban blight in central Glasgow would have to be the King Street carpark, and the carpark to the front of the shopping centre itself. These spaces must be redeveloped with high density mixed use blocks, similar to the proposals of the Candleriggs quarter. With the density of the New Laurieston proposals, alongside what is happening in Sighthill and other inner city areas, we are finally starting to see a coherent cityscape repairing significant damage done by the development of the M8 motorway. The St Enoch centre redevelopment must be mindful of the other efforts taking place nearby, and create something that will greatly enhance the city for years to come. A reclad with some coloured meshes and illuminating the structure is simply not going to cut it. However comment number 3 is a little ridiculous, I would hardly describe the few developments actually taking place in Edinburgh as prime examples of how to redevelop our inner cities.
Terra
#12 Posted by Terra on 3 Sep 2016 at 13:49 PM
*renders brought to you by MS Paint.
Glen Ferguson
#13 Posted by Glen Ferguson on 3 Sep 2016 at 21:21 PM
I agree with the comment about the blackpool amusement look. it looks a little too colourful. I also agree with the comments about the Cinema there is one at every shopping location now. Even at the science centre!. Judging by the sign it's pretty clear this would've been a VUE cinema which have another complex at Glasgow Fort i think this would've been a move to compete with Cineworld who have Several at Renfrew St, Parkhead, Silverburn and the Science Cente. The car parks are embarressing and this end of the city centre really does need a shake especially Trongate and Glasgow Cross it's looking very rundown of late and doesn't give a good impression given there is alot of people who visit the merchant city.

The Car Park at osborne street i would like to see gone maybe turn it into a bus interchange where the bus services queued along osborne st and nearly round the block could terminate and also passing routes could also serve. as the busy stop's at stockwell street and howard street can get a bit congested at times and this would ease congestion with bus services coming from the south over stockwell bridge could terminate there instead of Buchanan Bus Station. The other Car park right outside the St Enoch Centre needs to go also which would be better for the St Enoch Centre to extend right out to Stockwell Street with the new car park amongst the Extention removing the flyover and the indoor car park meaning the shopping centre can incorporate more space if it wishes by using the old car park space. and removing the flyover and the entrance to the old car park completely and redesigning the layout of the road onto howard street and Dunlop Street.
Jimbob Tanktop
#14 Posted by Jimbob Tanktop on 5 Sep 2016 at 13:43 PM
A cinema is such an uninspired choice for an expansion into leisure. The city is already over-served with movie houses, and cinema attendance in the UK and USA has begun to decline, as films become more tailored to a teenage Chinese audience.

If they wanted to show real imagination, they could build a small, 200-300 seat theatre. There is currently a shortage of affordable theatre space in Glasgow, which in turn leads to the city being rarely considered by touring contemporary companies. There's the Tron, but that offers a limited palate, the Citizens', which continues to offer its theatre-by-civil-service-committee stuff, the stuffy Daily Mailness of the Royal, cheesy Kings' musicals and the Mrs Browns' clones of the Pavilion, but actual modern, vibrant theatre has no home in Glasgow, and that's a shame. Small theatres are also adaptable spaces, and audiences tend to hang around before and after to eat, drink and socialise.

There's also a gap for a decent comedy venue. The Stand is fun, but audiences have moved on, and would like a comfortable, modern environment without having to fork out £60 to see some TV superstar at the Hydro.

There's possibilities in gaming too. But given how small developers' brains are, and their somnolent imaginations, an almost empty cinema, churning out Transformers 6, five times daily to bored pensioners and school dodging teenagers it is.

It'll fit the rest of the St Enoch district perfectly.
Mr Mr
#15 Posted by Mr Mr on 15 Nov 2016 at 14:30 PM
St enoch is in need of much modernization an development. The BHS unit and surrounding shops are low end quality. This part of the centre needs a face lift. The owners are doing a great job! I look forward to their development.

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