Triple demolition kicks off Wyndford regeneration with a bang
March 24 2025
Glasgow's skyline has been forever changed with the explosive demolition of three tower blocks on a Maryhill housing estate, while a fourth tower looked on in the process of manual disassembly.
Wheatley Homes and Safedem brought down the trio at 151, 171 and 191 Wyndford Road within seconds at noon on Sunday following months of preparatory works.
The cleared site will now be prepped for the future delivery of 400 homes, expected to begin by the end of 2026.
Frank McCafferty, Wheatley’s Group director of repairs and assets, said: “This is a new dawn for Wyndford, and our regeneration work will transform the area for generations to come."
A £100m regeneration package will now be progressed for the estate by ECD Architects, including 400 new homes, a community centre, cycle storage and an improved play park. Footpaths, open areas and car parking will also be improved.
The remaining block at 120 Wyndford Road remains partially standing as it is demolished using a modular self-descending machine, a technique previously employed for the Whitevale and Bluevale towers in Dennistoun.
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17 Comments
Great news.
The ghost streets of North and East Glasgow will stay silent for another 10 years / no sorry make that another 20 to match the 20 years already.
Housing emergency my erse -- just PR flannel for gum bumpers to bump their gums.
Lots of positivity in Glasgow for us Glaswegians.
https://www.scottishdesignawards.com/2024/architecture-regeneration/sighthill-transformational-regeneration-area/index.html
However, as mentioned above, we are at long last starting to see real improvements in so many areas. Hopefully, in the near future the replacement homes and community facilities in the Wyndford will be a source of pride for residents living there.
Wheatley could have gotten into the student rental market using the existing blocks.
The project would have washed its face and then they could have used the £100mill investment in other areas where all we have left is ghost streets.
Unfortunately that would have taken energy / imagination / innovation / real effort -- and that is what we don't have in social housing.
You get the impression that HA's / social housing does not want to deal with people who can think for themselves and demand performance levels that are hard work / a challenge.
The point is there was already was source of pride and once a thriving community in Wyndford, people knew their neighbours, spoke and interacted with each other every day, in a real social housing and community mix that they could afford.
I doubt that will be the case in the future and I very much doubt that is the case in new Sighthill despite the awards. They won't know their neighbour and care even less.
#10 - Can’t speak for Messrs Dunlop and Fraser, but I don't think anyone here’s claiming that the towers are “so-called architectural masterpieces”. The issue is that there’s a housing shortage in Scotland, so it’s fair to ask why we’re demolishing housing, and whether it could have been refurbished and upgraded instead? That debate didn’t get a fair hearing, and it seems consideration of embodied carbon is just hollow talk when it comes to what actually happens on the ground in Glasgow.
If we had a real housing emergency and a real desire to make a difference we would have upgraded the towers and built new homes on the ghost street that pollute the north of the city.
21 months to the build starts -- not really setting the heather on fire to deliver new homes are they?
More a case of get them down quick before the absurdity of the plan reaches the news and the general public.
Not our finest hour.
Not as if the new houses are anything special.