£180m tower block plan approved

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A £180m plan to add four tower blocks to Glasgow's skyline has been given the go-ahead by councillors.

Four 22 storey towers housing more than 850 private apartments will be built on the Clyde waterfront.

A report before Glasgow City Council's planning applications committee said the proposed site beside the Kingston Bridge was in a poor state.

The local authority has started a £96m project to demolish old tower blocks and replace them with new homes.

The majority, such as those in the Red Road and the Gorbals, were built in the 1960s to tackle the city's chronic housing problems.

However, problems soon arose and residents complained of poor living conditions.

The council plans on replacing them with thousands of new homes by 2011.

In this area the council is seeking to change the character of the area from a poor quality industrial area which is uninviting to a more vibrant area with residential uses Report to councillors

Architects Gordon Murray and Alan Dunlop have designed the new tower blocks for Dandara Ltd, the development company responsible for the second phase of Glasgow Harbour.

Mr Murray said: "It is a very challenging site on the river's edge but also right next to the Kingston Bridge and so is a gateway to the city.

"It is intended that this project will further enhance connections between the developments along the Clyde and Glasgow city centre."

The project near Anderston and the International Financial Services District also contains 17,500 sq m of office space, shops and leisure facilities.

Public piazzas

A report before councillors said: "In this area the council is seeking to change the character of the area from a poor quality industrial area which is uninviting to a more vibrant area with residential uses.

"The Kingston Bridge acts as a barrier and creates a degree of severance between the area and the city centre.

"The undercroft of the bridge is singularly uninviting and has been considered one of the main obstacles in getting pedestrians to walk to the city centre from the SECC."

The plans include six buildings arranged around public piazzas.

The tower blocks will house 180 one bedroom studio flats, 416 one bedroom flats, 248 two bedroom flats and eight three bedroom flats.

Peter Lackey, managing director of Dandara, said: "We look forward to bringing this scheme forward to enable commencement and delivery of another exciting major mixed-use urban regeneration project within Glasgow itself."