Foster + Partners releases first images of Glasgow’s Buchanan Galleries replacement

The Foster + Partners-led team behind proposals to flatten and replace the late-1990s Buchanan Galleries shopping centre in Glasgow have released the first images of its concept designsTo mark the launch of the second stage of the consultation on the project, developer and site owner Landsec has today (8 September) published new artists’ visualisation of the emerging plans.Landsec wants to pull down the 23-year-old mall, designed by Jenkins & Marr Architects, and a linked car park, replacing them with an £800 million ‘net zero, mixed-use urban district’.Fosters is working with Michael Laird Architects and budding local firm New Practice on the early proposals which have already attracted media attention .The latest plans follow a series of unrealised schemes to overhaul the sandstone-clad retail development. In 2015 BDP won consent to double the size of the 55,000m² centre, controversially removing the famous steps of the neighbouring Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall. The steps were temporarily saved when Landsec paused the plans while Network Rail redeveloped the neighbouring Queen Street Station.Five years later, Landsec won full detailed consent for an 11-storey 10,000m² mainly office scheme designed by Michael Laird Architects on a gap site in Buchanan Street, between the southern end of its Buchanan Galleries and the A-listed Dundas House. Benoy also looked at options for the site, including repurposing the existing centre, before the global pandemic hit.The developer says the latest new-build mixed-use scheme will blend ‘world-class shopping with places to work, live and play’ and extending ‘the city’s iconic and accessible grid layout’.Landsec says the redevelopment would open up the current site with ‘a number of flexible buildings and streets’, improving connections with public transport and helping people ‘move across the city more easily’. The workplace proposals would allow for a ‘variety of office sizes with a diverse mix of tenants’ and that a ‘larger, open and fully accessible public space’ was being considered. There are also plans for a terrace or pavilion to the rear of Queen Street Station for cultural and community events.The developer insists ‘no decisions have been taken on the Concert Hall steps’, however it admits the ‘proposals outline the potential options for reconfiguration to deliver a more accessible entrance which would continue to serve as an outdoor gathering place for public activities and events’.No car parking will be included anywhere across ‘the urban neighbourhood’ which, the developer claims, will be ‘designed and constructed in a sustainable way’ with the ‘amount of green space tripled around the area’.Responding to questions about the carbon cost of pulling down the centre and starting a new, Landsec’s senior development director Nick Davis, previously told the AJ: ‘Any demolition activity will be rigorously managed to minimise environmental impact and maximise opportunities for reuse and recycling wherever possible.‘We’re also committed to delivering net zero carbon buildings and open public spaces in line with our net zero targets.’Davis said today that the development team was hoping to hear more view and opinions on the latest proposals throughout September. He added: ‘These illustrative images aim to bring to life some of our emerging ideas for the masterplan which reflects the feedback we have received to date from the public.‘We want more local voices to help shape our masterplan for this exciting project to create a more accessible, green, safe and vibrant city centre which works for everyone, and we would encourage as many people as possible to have their say.’