April 11 2022

An outline master plan for the redevelopment of Glasgow's St Enoch Centre has been filed by site owners Sovereign Centros following an initial public consultation.

Preparing the ground for more detailed proposals to be drawn up the vision statement charts a course for the coming 20 years, setting out how the current mall could make way for a 2.5m sq/ft mixed-use development of up to 1,700 homes, offices, reduced retail and a four-star hotel.

Emphasising public space the plans call for a new civic square and performance space to be created, with only the historic Buck's Head Building and former Debenhams store remaining, the latter of which is being converted into offices.

Guy Beaumont, director at Sovereign Centros said: "A great deal of effort has been invested into the creation of this masterplan which reflects extensive engagement with key stakeholders across the city.

“We have been clear that there is still a lot of detail to be developed and this is the start of a long journey, however, we are confident what we have set out represents an excellent contribution to the city and will future proof the site.”

The project team comprises Leslie Jones Architecture; Oobe landscape; Iceni Projects; Woolgar Hunter and Atelier Ten.  

3 Comments

#1 Posted by Sven on 12 Apr 2022 at 09:39 AM

I like this idea as the street scape was damaged by the railway and the shopping centre left voids in the city centre. I would like to see some vernacular style architecture rather than anywhere modern building sod glass and precast sandstone that could be anywhere. Some references to Scottish architecture, Flemish cables, art nouveau and Georgian eras would work well to cement the area.

#2 Posted by The Flâneur on 12 Apr 2022 at 09:43 AM

While it is good to see a more interconnected street network appearing in the place of the monolithic St Enoch Centre, which effectively cut off much of the city centre to the north to the Clyde to the south, a key urban characteristic of a Glasgow Square is that it is rectilinear. Therefore, why is the applicant proposing to make the eastern flank of St Enoch Square more open and organic by introducing a diagonal skew to the building line?

In addition, St Enoch Square always throated down so it had might tighter spatial enclosure at the junction with Argyle and Buchanan Streets. This is a typical feature of the city centre’s tight urbanism which is key to its character. However, this proposal blows that apart and pulls the building line back so much that the ‘B’ listed art deco former Burton’s building on the northeast corner of the junction of Argyle and Buchanan Streets, will form part of the frontage of St Enoch Square.

Considering this part of St Enoch Square is in the Glasgow City Centre Conservation Area, I’m interested to hear the justification for that...

#3 Posted by Terra on 26 Apr 2022 at 02:35 AM

Braw! This is fantastic, get it done ASAP, lads and lassies.

Post your comments