August 25 2023

Longstanding efforts to redevelop the site of a famous Glasgow chippie have turned towards student housing following a lack of developer interest in a hotel.

The corner site at 109 West Nile Street lies within the Central Conservation Area and has consent in place for a high-rise hotel. Holmes Miller Architects will adapt this existing consent to provide student flats over 21 floors.

Located next to the B-listed 38 Bath Street the tower would host a gym and shared entrance at its base with tiered accommodation stacked above.

In a consultation statement, the applicant wrote: "Proposals for the redevelopment of the site are currently evolving, with the intention that these will be of high-quality design and appearance and that their scale would be managed through modulation of the building mass and setting back of the building line for upper floors above the datum of neighbouring buildings."

Backed by Tiger Developments and George Capital the development will be operated by Host.  

9 Comments

#1 Posted by Georwell 84 on 25 Aug 2023 at 11:50 AM

Why do the planners at GCC pretend they are consenting to building hotels, when they are always going to be changed to student accommodation. Why bother?

#2 Posted by Chris on 25 Aug 2023 at 12:09 PM

#1 The Virgin Hotel just opening was originally proposed to be student housing. Developers are following what the demand is in the market, and currently that is student accommodation, not hotels. Hotels have reached a saturation point after several large scale hotel developments over the past 5 years.

#3 Posted by James Hepburn on 25 Aug 2023 at 13:04 PM

Is the word 'mundane' central to every development GCC approves or is it just that developers in Glasgow are of such little imagination and quality?

#4 Posted by Robert Carey on 25 Aug 2023 at 17:37 PM

there is always so much negativity in the comments here

#5 Posted by Roddy_ on 26 Aug 2023 at 23:24 PM

That first sketch show where the real motivation of the designers lies.

Referencing the taller and more mundane local blocks in order to find a narrative that justifies height and bloated form, rather than the precedent of so much of the pre-modern city that is concerned with human scale,modulation,rythm,repetition and art. It seems to be the way the city has been going for the last 20-odd years.

Another 'fish tank made of graph paper'* it seems.

*Philomena Cunk

#6 Posted by MV on 28 Aug 2023 at 08:53 AM

If you can't sketh, don't sketch.

I'm pretty sure this has had an approval before, is this just for more height and a "Value engineered" facade?

#7 Posted by Whispering Andy on 28 Aug 2023 at 11:49 AM

#1 - Whisper it........ but I assume its easier to get funding for student accommodation than it is for a hotel? We read about huge shortages of student beds in the city, not so much hotel rooms. I'm assuming those clever bankers have read these articles too and will be chucking money at student beds.......not so much hotels.

#8 Posted by Lovely on 28 Aug 2023 at 14:04 PM

We will need an absolute ton of new hotel beds ready for 1st October when most of the city’s short term let’s sector is suddenly shut down. Hopefully a little less ugly and boring than this though. Will this be ready in time anyway? Or will it perhaps be another last minute abandonment of a badly cooked up law and then all these hotel plans become superfluous again as the short term lets sector proceeds totally unregulated again? Why can’t we find a sensible middle ground on literally anything these days? Sorry for negativity but this is actually the case.

#9 Posted by Paul Smith on 2 Sep 2023 at 08:54 AM

Generally the massing looks ok along the length of West Nile street. Glad it’s not just a glass tower.

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