List of tallest buildings and structures in Glasgow

The city skyline of Glasgow, showing some of the city's tallest buildings. The now demolished Bluevale/Whitevale "twin towers" – are visible in the distance to the left of centre

This List of tallest buildings in Glasgow includes built and planned high-rise buildings in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Faced with crippling housing shortages and overcrowding in the immediate post-war period, the city undertook the building of multi-storey housing in tower blocks in the 1960s and early 1970s on a grand scale, which led to Glasgow becoming the first truly high-rise city in Britain. However, many of these schemes were poorly planned and cheaply constructed, which led to many of the blocks becoming insanitary magnets for crime and deprivation.[1]

It would not be until 1988 that high rises were built in the city once again, with the construction of the 17-storey Forum Hotel (latterly the Moat House International Hotel, and now the Crowne Plaza Hotel) next to the SECC. The 20-storey Hilton Hotel in Anderston followed in 1992. From the early 1990s, Glasgow City Council and its successor, the Glasgow Housing Association, have run a programme of demolishing the worst of the residential tower blocks, including Basil Spence's Gorbals blocks in 1993.

The current tallest structure in Glasgow at 127 metres (417 ft), is the Glasgow Tower within the Glasgow Science Centre, however as this is an observation tower - not strictly speaking a building, then the 26-storey Balgrayhill tower blocks in Springburn area claim the title.

The tallest building ever to have stood in Glasgow was the 91.44m Tait Tower in Bellahouston, built for the Empire Exhibition of 1938, but pulled down the following year.

Since the late 1990s, property developers have been planning new upmarket residential and office high-rises along the River Clyde, and in the city's financial district, which will far surpass these in height.

Glasgow skyline

The term "tallest building in Glasgow" is itself ambiguous. Currently, two structures in the city have made a claim for the title depending on which measurement is used:

  • The Glasgow Tower as part of the Glasgow Science Centre on Prince's Dock on the South Bank of the River Clyde, holds the overall title as the tallest free-standing structure in Glasgow, and the whole of Scotland at a height of 127 metres (417 ft), however this measurement includes the structure's spire, It holds a Guinness World Record for being the tallest tower in the world in which the whole structure is capable of rotating 360 degrees.
  • Since the demolition in 2015 of both the Red Road Flats and the Bluevale/Whitevale twin towers, the two eastern tower blocks of the 26-storey Balgrayhill high-rise estate in Springburn are the tallest buildings within the Glasgow city boundary.

The tallest building within the city centre is the 17-storey St. Andrew House on Sauchiehall Street, originally an office block but now a Premier Inn hotel.

Tallest buildings in Glasgow

Rank Name Image Height
metres / ft		 Floors Year Primary use Notes
1Glasgow Tower127 / 41722001Viewing PlatformHolds a Guinness World Record for being the tallest tower in the world in which the whole structure is capable of rotating 360 degrees.
2Glasgow University Tower85 / 279?1887University
315 Croftbank Street74 / 243261964Residential
3=250 Edgefauld Road74 / 243261964Residential
3=22 Viewpoint Place74 / 243261964Residential
3=42 Viewpoint Place74 / 243261964Residential
3=120 Wyndford Road74 / 243261964Residential
3=151 Wyndford Road74 / 243261964Residential
3=171 Wyndford Road74 / 243261964Residential
3=190 Wyndford Road74 / 243261964Residential
11Glasgow City Chambers73 / 24041889Office
12105 Taylor Street72 / 237251967Residential
12=15 Grafton Place72 / 237251967Residential
12=178 Balgrayhill Road72 / 237251964ResidentialHighest man made point above sea level within Glasgow city boundary
12=198 Balgrayhill Road72 / 237251964ResidentialHighest man made point above sea level within Glasgow city boundary
16St. Andrew House71 / 233181964HotelConverted to a Premier Inn hotel in 2012. The rooms on the 18th Floor are the highest hotel rooms in the city.
18Glasgow Hilton70 / 230201992Hotel
17Anniesland Court66 / 217241968ResidentialTallest listed building in Scotland. Only tower block to have a Category A listing in Glasgow.
19Glasgow Harbour Phase 2 Building 168.70 / 225232009 Residential
20Argyle Building62 / 203202008Residential
20=Cineworld62 / 203162001CinemaTallest Cinema complex in the world.

Tallest under construction, approved, and proposed

Under Construction

Name Height
metres / ft		 Floors Year (est.) Primary use Location Notes
Scottish Power HQ60 / 197142016OfficeIFSD

Approved

Name Height
metres / ft		 Floors Year (est.) Primary Use Location Notes
366 Cathedral Street65 / 21323Student ResidenceTownhead
Atlantic Square Building 145 / 14810OfficeIFSD
Atlantic Square Building 234 / 1127OfficeIFSD

Proposed

Top 10 in Order of Height

Building Name Height (m) Floors Main Usage Other Usage
Savoy Centre Towers 110.00 32 Mixed None
Jumeirah Hotel 92.50 24 Hotel Residential
Custom House Quay 69.00 25 Hotel Residential
Sky Plaza 49.00 16 Residential None
10–16 Dixon Street 44.00 14 Residential Retail
Homes for the Future phase 2 44.00 13 Residential None
Central Quay Phase 5 42.00 10 Office Retail
145 St Vincent Street 42.00 10 Office None
Atlantic Square 40.00 12 Office None
Building 3 Atlantic Quay 35.00 10 Office None
St Andrews Wharf Residential 34.00 11 Residential None

Unbuilt

Name Height
metres / ft		 Floors Year Notes
East One180 / 59155
Cheapside Tower 1170 / 55850
Cheapside Tower 2170 / 55850
Cheapside Tower 3136 / 44640
Elphinstone Place134 / 44039Cancelled due to the 2008 Financial crisis. Now the site of the new Scottish Power HQ.
Elmbank Tower107.5 / 35328
Glasgow Harbour Tower93 / 30530
Elphinstone Urban Village Tower 181 / 29927
Graving Docks Tower 165 / 21321
Elphinstone Urban Village Tower 260 / 19720

Demolished

Name Image Height
metres / ft		 Floors Year built Year demolished Notes
Tait Tower91.44 / 300?19381939Built as part of the 1938 Empire Exhibition.
109 Bluevale Street90.8 / 2983019682015Was the joint tallest inhabitable building in Scotland.
51 Whitevale Street90.8 / 2983019682015Was the joint tallest inhabitable building in Scotland.
10 Red Road Court89 / 2923119672015Tallest Residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion.
33 Petershill Drive89 / 2923119672015Tallest Residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion.
63 Petershill Drive89 / 2923119672015Tallest Residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion.
93 Petershill Drive89 / 2923119672015Tallest Residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion.
123 Petershill Drive89 / 2923119672015Tallest Residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion.
21 Birnie Court89 / 2923119672013Tallest Residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion.
10-30 Petershill Court74 / 2432619672015
153-213 Petershill Court78 / 2622819672012
Clydesdale Bank Tower73 / 24011988?Built for the Glasgow Garden Festival, later moved to Rhyl in Wales

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Disappearing Glasgow: documenting the demolition of a city's troubled past". The Guardian. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
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