Glasgow Charing Cross £250m revamp given go-ahead

A £250m plan to transform Charing Cross – which could include demolishing a bridge over the M8 – has been given the go-ahead.

Homes, student flats and hotel space are among the proposals from CXG Glasgow Ltd for land around Charing Cross train station.

It also plans to knock down Tay House bridge over the motorway.

Planning permission in principle has been granted for the ‘Charing Cross Gateway’ scheme. However, before the project begins, more detailed applications will need to be approved by Glasgow City Council.

The masterplan focuses on 300 Bath Street – an office building part constructed over the M8, previously known as Tay House – as well as Elmbank Gardens and the Venlaw building.

Phase one would cover student flats at Elmbank Gardens, a new healthcare facility, and other “active ground-floor uses such as shops, food and drink, and leisure”.

The second phase is set to include the redevelopment of 300 Bath Street, with private homes, offices and a hotel. It could also see the removal of the bridge.

Plans state the demolition of the bridge would “fully remove the visual barrier” at the Charing Cross junction, allowing a “future capping of the M8 to form a larger public space”.

The developers want to create “a new sustainable community around Charing Cross railway station” and have described the project as a “unique opportunity to redefine the western edge of Glasgow city centre”.

They added the current buildings were built between 30 and 60 years ago and are now “outdated and create an undesirable streetscape and hostile walking environment”.

Michael Laird Architects have worked with CXG Glasgow on the masterplan, with images submitted with the application showing how the removal of the bridge could look.

Charing Cross bridge facing demolition LDRS

The office element of 300 Bath Street belongs to the building owner while Glasgow City Council owns the concrete bridge structure.

However, the plans state pre-application talks included an agreement that “removing this element of 300 Bath Street is key to opening up vistas north and south along the M8 corridor”.

They add: “This could also allow for the future implementation of the envisaged garden cap over the M8.”

A cap, or roof, over the motorway between Sauchiehall Street and Bath Street is an idea which has been under consideration by the council for several years now.