Tall & Urban News

Glasgow City Council has granted permission for a 20-story hotel development to be built along the the River Clyde.

The CitiHome project had received an objection from Historic Environment Scotland, who felt there was a “detrimental impact on the setting of the A-listed St Enoch Square Underground Station” nearby. Because of this objection, city council planning officials had to notify the Scottish Government.

But, on 7 November 2019, the Scottish Government confirmed they would not be intervening in the application, allowing city council officials to go ahead with green-lighting the development.

The CitiHome Ltd application for the skyscraper includes 204 “aparthotel” rooms, a rooftop restaurant with glass-floored balcony, a ground-floor restaurant, café, and gym. The current three-story building at 8 Dixon Street, at the corner of Clyde Street near the Glasgow Bridge, will be demolished—paving way for the new hotel.

A report from the council’s planning officials read: “It is considered that the existing building is of little townscape value, due to it having been altered to incorporate the single-story section on Clyde Street, and that at ground floor, the appearance of the frontage contributes little to the streetscape.

Artist impressions show a vibrant, glass façade at the Dixon Street entrance—a vast difference to the current white stone building.

It is claimed by the developers that the rooftop bar and restaurant will  be a “public realm that is designed with boldness, simplicity of style and elegance, whilst providing inclusive, healthy and safe places of citizens to enjoy…This design proposal encourages public access to the top level of the building by providing a double-height rooftop restaurant/bar with spectacular views.”

The council’s report told how the building is “significantly higher” than those within the vicinity, but the purposefully distinctive building is justified by the prominent site position on the developing banks of the Clyde River.

“A key priority of the City Development Plan is to maintain the attractiveness of the City Centre as an investment location.

“The provision of a new serviced apartment development will address the existing shortfall in such accommodation and support wider aims such as tourism and conferencing within the City Centre.

“In addition, it will support local businesses and create jobs and opportunities for Glasgow’s residents.

“The creation of new short-stay serviced accommodation destinations, both within and on the edge of the city centre, will only help to maintain and strengthen the role of Glasgow City Centre as the key economic driver in the west of Scotland, and support the ongoing regeneration of the St Enoch’s area and the River Clyde.”

For more on this story go to The Evening Times.