MVRDV together with Glasgow-based Austin-Smith: Lord Architects and other local specialists, were selected by Glasgow City Council to work with Glaswegians to help redirect the future wellbeing of one of Europe’s most fascinating cities.
Under the wider umbrella of (Y)our City Centre, a collaborative framework initiated by Glasgow City Council will transform the centre into a lively, green, livable, attractive and competitive area. A centre not only thriving in commerce but one that importantly is re-populated by more Glaswegians residents considering only approximately 20,000 people currently live there.
All four edges of the city centre are very challenging areas, for a variety of reasons. The potentially stunning riverside is underused, inaccessible and unattractive. The city centre is defined at its edges by the River Clyde, the M8 motorway and the High Street, and changes are needed to all of them.
A reimagined urban motorway and road system, for example, will allow for a better integration of the M8 into the city. The aim here is to revive the qualities of these edges in order to re-connect adjacent neighbourhoods back to the centre. This will enable better use of the abundance of unused spaces for leisure, sports, events, open green spaces and also enhance pedestrian and cycle connections.
Taking on a holistic and integrated approach, the idea here is to fill up unused plots and utilise existing infrastructure i.e. making them more versatile, mixed and smart in their functions. The under-used Clyde riverfront offers an unmissable opportunity for connecting and re-energising the four districts up for redevelopment – Broomielaw, Blythswood, St Enoch and Central. This will create a positive impact on the centre with the potential to extend out to the wider city limits.
Glasgow is at a stage where collaborative efforts involving all stakeholders must result in long-term strategies that will ensure its future development into a world-class international city. These must now be put in place to ensure that visions for a more attractive, greener, inviting and efficient city centre. Source by MVRDV.
- Location: Glasgow, Scotland
- Architect: MVRDV
- Co-architects: Austin-Lord: Smith
- Project Team: Winy Maas, Kris Schaasberg, Jeroen Zuidgeest, Stephan Boon, Elija Kozak, Lorenzo Centioni, Chun Hoi Hui
- Client: Glasgow City Centre
- City centre (overall strategy): 400ha
- Year: 2016+
- Images: Courtesy of MVRDV