June 26 2019

Young & Gault architects have released further details of their proposal to erect a 20-storey hotel at Glasgow’s Dixon Street.

The 204-bed tower has been brought forward by Citihome with a view to forming a riverfront set-piece would double as a visual anchor for Buchanan Street.

Overcoming a tight footprint by extending upwards the tower seeks to enhance the city’s night-time appearance via a ‘rooftop lantern’ housing a rooftop bar and external viewing terrace, as illustrated in a series of atmospheric photomontages.

In a planning statement, the architects wrote: “We utilise an architectural device of visually stepping the datum lines around the building to respond to the existing and emerging context, thereby creating a unique 3D ‘sculptural’ composition that is locked into this important location.

“Historically where a tall building meets the sky a spire or dome is the celebration. We propose a refined structural glass box lantern to maximise transparency and to be a beacon of light in the wider cityscape.”

Finished in natural stone the tower would be decorated with ‘red oxide’ metal fins below clear glass upper levels housing a publicly accessible entertainment space topped by a cantilevered sky deck.

16 Comments

#1 Posted by FLW on 26 Jun 2019 at 13:16 PM

Nice addition to the Glasgow skyline.
Well done Young & Gault.

#2 Posted by Pleasantfield on 26 Jun 2019 at 13:18 PM

Architectural supporting statements are getting more and more ' Hansel and Grettel'. Its a rectangle vertically. End of.

#3 Posted by Jaded on 26 Jun 2019 at 15:09 PM

Fantastic. An interesting and elegant new building in Glasgow. Who'd have thought.

#4 Posted by jimmy on 26 Jun 2019 at 16:33 PM

what amused me was the image shows the completed hotel building alongstide the other Clyde Street building project opposite the bridge still under construction.

might not be far off the truth at the speed they are going

#5 Posted by David on 26 Jun 2019 at 17:10 PM

I really like it. However I keep asking myself, is this actually what we will end up getting? I suspect once the technical design phase commences it will lose some of the lightweight elegance and crisp detailing, particularly at high level.

#6 Posted by HMR on 26 Jun 2019 at 17:19 PM

a poor effort, much improved on the context but still very poor.

#7 Posted by Brian Sewell on 26 Jun 2019 at 17:43 PM

Well, at least it's more legible, now. Yeh, sure, it's of its time and a definite cut above what else is usually offered, in no small way helped considerably by the plot proportion and height, hence an elegance to the monolith. What's not to like? But, really, where is the sculptural architecture? Where is the invention, the creativity of facade design? I daresay, the designers elected not to go there, fair enough.

Instead, there is a little bit of this, a little bit of that - a collage, a potential chimera (?), an assemblage of derivative textural appliqué treatments hung on a mannerist grid and a scrapbook assemblage of industrialised components all seen through the Glaswegian fog of Denis Villeneuve's Bladerunner 2049. And that's where we are, at the movies, except we'll be watching this scene for some time to come.

Architecture imitating film set. Mind you, maybe on reflection, perhaps its probably no bad place to be.

#8 Posted by D to the R on 27 Jun 2019 at 13:31 PM

Yawn .....

#9 Posted by We build Glasgow on 27 Jun 2019 at 21:40 PM

First of all this isn't a contemporary building, but a box. Secondly there's no historic connection of which the article speaks "a tall building meets the sky a spire or dome", those were places of worship or other public buildings and thus were made landmarks to attract people. Such addition as this is only for profit development. Third is quality public space that is missing. If you create more density you need to provide amenities to support it.

#10 Posted by Chris on 28 Jun 2019 at 00:14 AM

I like it. Don't really understand why it's getting a slating. Compared to the usual budget-slashed guff proposed in Glasgow, this is positively palatial.

#11 Posted by wonky on 28 Jun 2019 at 12:04 PM

Y&G have shown real ambition here- it kind of reminds me a little of Renzo Piano's Maison Hermes' building in Tokyo- it has that 'magic lantern' effect. I like the clear shift in tonality between the vertical frames of the windows & the severance of monotony by the red oxide fins, it subtly softens the massing. It has a cantilevered restaurant- why hasn't Glasgow had one of these before? What more could you ask for? Maybe, if I'm being fussy, I would have liked to see more ornamentation, as I was a fan of the sculptural elements in the previous iteration by Stallan Brand, with its figurative designs. Nevertheless its a welcome addition, if & when it happens.

#12 Posted by Billy on 29 Jun 2019 at 09:48 AM

Glad to see the drift towards the Clyde. Two new hotels in the Square are a welcome addition and a bit of height too. Maybe the St Enoch hotel will get a refurbishment with increased competition in the area or is it targeting a centre market? It’s a pity they don’t make more of it given its central location.

#13 Posted by John scott on 30 Jun 2019 at 00:14 AM

I’ve more sculpture in my big toe!

#14 Posted by Stewart on 11 Jul 2019 at 07:33 AM

Yet another out-of-scale bland building destroying whatever individuality Glasgow's riverfront ever had. I've no problem with big glass boxes, but we really do deserve better architecture by the Clyde. How do projects like this get planning permission?

#15 Posted by John V on 5 Aug 2021 at 15:44 PM

What height will this be?

#16 Posted by UR on 5 Aug 2021 at 16:19 PM

It's 76m to the top of the plant screen. The rooftop bar is at 65m and there is a function room at 69m.

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