List of tallest buildings and structures in Glasgow

The city skyline of Glasgow, showing some of the cities tallest buildings

The Crowne Plaza Hotel situated in Finnieston, one of the well known and modern tall buildings in central Glasgow

This List of tallest buildings in Glasgow includes built and planned high-rise buildings in Glasgow, Scotland. Glasgow has a higher concentration of high-rise buildings than any other city in the UK.^{[citation needed]}

Faced with crippling housing shortages 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", as they are known, were poorly planned, or badly designed and cheaply constructed, which led to many of the blocks becoming insanitary magnets for crime and deprivation.^{[citation needed]}

It would not be until 1988 that high rises were built in the city once again, with the construction of the 16-storey Forum Hotel (latterly the Moat House International Hotel, and the Crowne Plaza Hotel) next to the SECC. The 20-storey Hilton Hotel in Anderston followed in 1990. 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 buildings in Glasgow are the "Gallowgate Twins": Bluevale Street and Whitevale Street, in the East End of the city, both at 90.80 metres. 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.

Tallest extant buildings

The tallest building in Glasgow is a subject of considerable debate. At present three structures in the city can make 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, the observation deck is at a height of 105 metres, and the structure does not have floors continuously from the ground and therefore it is not considered a building by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).

• The twin public housing tower blocks in Camlachie - the so-called Gallowgate Twins at 109 Bluevale Street and 51 Whitevale Street are the tallest buildings in the city overall, with a ground-to-roof height of 90.8 metres (267 feet), but have a highest occupied floor level of 28 stories.

• The 89m (292 ft) high point blocks of the Red Road high rise estate in Balornock have a claim to the title for having the highest occupied floor level of 31 stories, and stand on a higher point above sea level than either the Glasgow Tower or the Gallowgate Twins, therefore making the roof (32nd floor) of these buildings the highest point in the city on which a person can actually stand.

The situation is likely to change by the year 2016, by which point both the Red Road estate and the two Gallowgate towers are expected to have been demolished. At this point the Glasgow Tower will hold the ultimate record, but the 26-storey Balgrayhill tower block estate in Springburn will acquire the title of both Glasgow's tallest building and the city's highest occupied floor level, this based on the assumption that various proposed schemes such as the Savoy Towers or the Jumeriah Hotel developments (which range between 26-32 stories) in the city centre do not get built by this date.

The Glasgow Tower situated next to the Glasgow Science Centre stands as one of the highest free standing structures in Scotland.

109 Bluevale Street towers, stand as both Glasgow and Scotland's tallest buildings.

Glasgow Hilton Hotel, City Centre

Building Name	Area	Height(m)	Floors	Main Usage	Year Built
Glasgow Tower	River Clyde	127	1	Observation tower	2001
109 Bluevale Street	Camlachie	90.80	29	Residential	1968
51 Whitevale Street	Camlachie	90.80	29	Residential	1968
21 Birnie Court	Red Road	89.00	31	Residential	1969
123 Petershill Drive	Red Road	89.00	31	Residential	1969
33 Petershill Drive	Red Road	89.00	31	Residential	1969
63 Petershill Drive	Red Road	89.00	31	Residential	1969
93 Petershill Drive	Red Road	89.00	31	Residential	1969
10 Red Road Court	Red Road	89.00	31	Residential	1969
153 Petershill Drive	Red Road	79.90	28	Residential	1969
15 Croftbank Street	Springburn	74.10	26	Residential	1964
10 Petershill Court	Red Road	74.10	28	Residential	1964
250 Edgefauld Road	Springburn	74.10	26	Residential	1964
22 Viewpoint Place	Springburn	74.10	26	Residential	1964
42 Viewpoint Place	Springburn	74.10	26	Residential	1964
178 Balgrayhill	Springburn	71.90	25	Residential	1966
198 Balgrayhill	Springburn	71.90	25	Residential	1966
12 Dobbies Loan	Cowcaddens	71.90	25	Residential	1967
Grafton Place	Townhead	71.90	25	Residential	1967
20 Rosemount Street	Royston	71.90	25	Residential	1967
40 Rosemount Street	Royston	71.90	25	Residential	1967
240 Royston Hill	Royston	71.90	25	Residential	1967
105 Taylor Street	Townhead	71.90	25	Residential	1967
81 Taylor Street	Townhead	71.90	25	Residential	1967
Glasgow International Hilton Hotel	Anderston	70.10	20	Hotel	1990
2 Dundasvale Court	Cowcaddens	69.00	24	Residential	1968

Approved

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

Under Construction

Top 10 in Order of Height

Building Name	Height(m)	Floors	Main Usage	Other Usage
Glasgow Harbour Phase 2 Building 1	68.70	23	Residential	None
Glasgow Harbour Phase 2 Building 2	51.80	17	Residential	None
Glasgow Harbour Phase 2 Building 3	51.80	17	Residential	None
Glasgow Harbour Phase 2 Building 4	51.80	17	Residential	None
Glasgow Harbour Phase 2 Building 5	51.80	17	Residential	None
QE3 (Festival Park)	50.00	15	Residential	None
Unicorn	47.00	14	Residential	None
Lancefield Quay (River Heights)	46.00	14	Residential	None
Aurora tower	45.00	14	Residential	None
Isokon	43.00	13	Residential	None

Planned/Proposed

Building Name	Height(m)	Floors	Main Usage	Other Usage	Status
East One	180.00	55	Residential	Hotel
Cheapside Tower 1	170.00	50	Residential	Hotel
Cheapside Tower 2	170.00	50	Residential	Hotel
Cheapside Tower 3	136.00	40	Residential	Mixed
Elmbank Tower	107.50	28	Office	Residential
Glasgow Harbour Tower	93.00	30	Residential	None
Elphinstone Urban Village Tower 1	81.00	27	Residential	None
Graving Docks Tower 1	65.00	21	Residential	None
Cadogan Square	62.00	20	Office	Residential	Complete - now known as the Argyle Building
Elphinstone Urban Village tower 2	60.00	20	Residential	None

See also

• List of tallest buildings and structures in Scotland

Sources

• http://skyscrapernews.com/bdbsearch.php?city=Glasgow
• http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.2536220.0.0.php