July 11 2022

A final public engagement exercise on the future design of George Square and the surrounding Avenues has begun.

An initial sketch has been developed to seed discussion around the finished form of both the square and around 2.5 kilometres of the surrounding streets in what is the George Square Area Project.

Councillor Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council, said: "This final engagement will not only see their thoughts on our city’s most historic and loved public space take shape; but also give Glaswegians a final chance to influence the final design.”

The final stage will feature online engagement at https://www.ourplaceglasgow.com/get-involved/george-square, a pop-up display in George Square and a series of sessions with stakeholder groups.

The redesign of George Square is being delivered alongside with the surrounding Avenues over two phases. The first phase will see George Square, John Street, Hanover and Miller Street, a section of North Hanover Street and Cochrane Street commencing construction in 2024 with completion due in 2026.

The second phase of construction - at St Vincent Street, George Street, Dundas Street and Dundas Lane - will be completed in 2028.

The scheme is part of the wider £115million Avenues public realm project.

15 Comments

#1 Posted by EM0 on 11 Jul 2022 at 13:18 PM

Looks beautiful I think! I hope they plant with some evergreen trees to keep some greenery in the winter months to.

#2 Posted by Fat Bloke on Tour on 11 Jul 2022 at 13:42 PM

Glesga cottage industry / middle class welfare -- producing plans for George Square.

The missing link is the infrastructure to support car ownership for the people that the council want to attract to city centre living.

Car use in the centre = bad.
Car ownership in the city centre = normal.

It can be wished away -- and Transport 1800 types do it on a regular basis -- but it will limit the supply of new residents.

Any review of a modern European city shows the infrastructure that is in place -- we seem to take the cheap way out and ignore it.

#3 Posted by Chris on 11 Jul 2022 at 13:43 PM

Look at that. Reduced clutter, plenty of greenery, no stupid gimmicks.

Just shows you how farcical some of the submissions from the previous design competition were.

#4 Posted by Sue Pearman on 11 Jul 2022 at 13:44 PM

If they're serious about opening the chambers directly onto the square then they need to bite the bullet and (perhaps controversially) move the war memorial to the other side of the square - at the moment the main entrance faces the back end of the memorial across the road. There is a case that it might honour the fallen more if the two faced each other across the public space.

#5 Posted by Chris on 11 Jul 2022 at 13:45 PM

Look at that. Reduced clutter, plenty of greenery, no stupid gimmicks.

Just shows you how farcical some of the submissions from the previous design competition were.

#6 Posted by John on 11 Jul 2022 at 13:58 PM

If i remember correctly the current administration mentioned when the got in the last time that they would create a space for events out with George Sq. so that the Christmas market and carnival etc would have a home. Is this still a thing?

#7 Posted by Mick on 11 Jul 2022 at 16:33 PM

. Whatever happens and I think the plans look great, please, please budget for a regular maintenance and clean up. Too many civic projects in the city look tatty after a year or so because they’re allowed to run down and neglect sets in

#8 Posted by Georwell 84 on 11 Jul 2022 at 17:23 PM

Looks like 5 statues have been cancelled. I wonder which ones?

#9 Posted by Billy on 11 Jul 2022 at 20:06 PM

Liking this. The Square looks much bigger just by removing the roads. Looks a pleasant place to rest.. A water feature would be nice.

#10 Posted by town planner on 11 Jul 2022 at 21:57 PM

A simple but effective design, with plenty trees can't really go wrong. Great that some neighbouring streets being brought into the scheme too. Might be tempted to add some more grass and a few more trees between the 6 statues, but overall encouraging to see, and hopefully it gets done this time!

#11 Posted by Gordon on 12 Jul 2022 at 09:12 AM

The drawings describe a beautiful place - no question. But can it be maintained? The council lift and relay the existing grass on a regular basis after big events. You can't just lift and relay that beautifully lush planting... Remember, the Council have been struggling to manage the open spaces and parks across the city for years. 2 things: the design must be robust enough to withstand mass gatherings and, there must be a fully adequate dedicated maintenance budget established that will secure the area for at least 20 years, the time it will take to mature into the landscape shown in the beautiful drawings now being presented.

#12 Posted by MR on 12 Jul 2022 at 10:15 AM

For decades George Square has been a glorified traffic island. The solution has been there all along, to get rid of the surrounding roads, but that would upset a lot of people I suppose. So this proposal of reducing the number of traffic lanes, taking away the tarmac road, and replacing with a same surface finish throughout the square and introducing a lot of green, is a giant leap in the right direction.

#13 Posted by 7yrsatuni on 12 Jul 2022 at 11:17 AM

Sorry...am i missing something...all these designs are doing is perpetuating the current scenario of a city centre piece utilized as a meeting place for limited if not undesirable activities.... like every other large city, lets create a place for social interaction rather than somewhere you pass through to be somewhere else....move with the times Glasgow

#14 Posted by Gandalf the Pink on 12 Jul 2022 at 18:30 PM

Final. Until next time. Then that'll be final. Until the time after that. And that.

#15 Posted by town planner on 12 Jul 2022 at 22:07 PM

PS - would agree with #4 Ms Pearman, about placement of war memorial. It does kind of block off the chambers from opening directly onto the square, and the chambers has such a beautiful facade it's a shame not to maximise this. If it could (non-controversially) be moved to another part of the square I would support that.

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