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38-693: Elmbank Gardens is a multi-use commercial complex (and the name given to a former street) in the Charing Cross area of Glasgow , Scotland. Best known for its signature 13-storey tower (often nicknamed the Charing Cross Tower or the Elmbank Tower ) which overlooks the M8 motorway and stands directly opposite the Mitchell Library , it was designed by Richard Seifert and constructed between 1970 and 1972. It

76-499: A 270 bedroom hotel which was to be operated by the YMCA . The £4.5 million refurbishment of the building was undertaken by Taylor Woodrow (Scotland) Ltd to designs of Geoffrey Reid Associates and Structural Engineers Crouch Hogg Waterman, under the supervision of Surveylink who had their offices on the top floor of the building. The hotel opened in March 1995, creating 50 jobs. During the renovation,

114-428: A monument to the partial abandonment of the controversial Inner Ring Road project. As such, the podium was not developed until 1992 when Tay House (300 Bath Street) – a distinctive salmon pink 160,000 square feet (15,000 m ) office building, was constructed atop the structure. Although it contained prestigious tenants such as Barclays Wealth , Tay House was later derided as one of Glasgow's ugliest buildings, and

152-591: A new 36-storey student accommodation tower known as The Ard Centre Point Centre Point is a building in Central London , comprising a 34-storey tower; a 9-storey block to the east including shops, offices, retail units and maisonettes; and a linking block between the two at first-floor level. It occupies 101–103 New Oxford Street and 5–24 St Giles High Street , WC1, with a frontage also to Charing Cross Road , close to St Giles Circus and almost directly above Tottenham Court Road tube station . The site

190-566: A prefabricated structure (which now contains a snack bar) was erected on it. The building was also constructed in tandem with a replacement railway station on the subterranean section of the North Clyde Line which runs to the south of the site. The precast concrete elements were derived from those used in Seifert's other commission for the area - the Anderston Centre a few hundred meters to

228-447: A sunken garden in the centre, providing a focus for pedestrian flows from both Bath Street and Elmbank Crescent. Two cast concrete murals by local artists Charles Anderson and Keith McCarter feature on the internal pathways of the complex. A podium structure to the north west between the West and North blocks was originally intended to carry a public house, but it was never used. Eventually

266-461: Is one of the tallest and most prominent high rise buildings on the western side of Glasgow city centre, beyond Blythswood Hill . The surface buildings of the subterranean railway station which serves Charing Cross are also an integral part of the complex. Since 1995, the tower element has been used as a hotel, whilst the remainder of the complex is home to offices and a number of other leisure and entertainment businesses. However, as of 2023 much of

304-558: Is situated north of the River Clyde at the intersection of Sauchiehall Street , St George's Road, Woodlands Road, North Street and Newton Street, as well as being at a major interchange of the M8 motorway . Charing Cross marks the notional boundary between the City Centre and the West End of the city. Charing Cross borders Woodlands to the west, Anderston to the south, Woodside to

342-406: Is slated for demolition under the regeneration masterplan (see "Future Developments" below) In 2019, Glasgow City Council put forward plans to cover over more of the motorway with a parkland area to better connect the two districts on each side. Charing Cross railway station is a short distance to the south; the nearest Glasgow Subway station is St George's Cross , located at the junction of

380-468: The cut-and-cover method, its construction required the excavation of a massive trench (often nickamed "The Charing Cross Canyon" ) which necessitated the demolition of many Victorian and Edwardian buildings - notably the Grand Hotel at its heart. The most infamous structure of the motorway's construction, however, became the "Bridge to Nowhere" – a concrete podium over the motorway, on top of which it

418-552: The Broomielaw. The building was vacated, and stood empty for over two years until a new use was found. In the early 1990s, the Glasgow Development Agency had undertaken market research which showed that there would be a need for 650 budget hotel bedrooms in the city by late 1995. With this in mind, in 1994 the a lease on the building was taken by a company called Surveylink from its owner, Westmoreland Properties, to create

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456-537: The Burns Security Company, which was guarding the building.) From July 1980 to March 2014, Centre Point was the headquarters of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) which became, at 33 years and seven months, the building's longest-standing tenant. In October 2005, Centre Point was bought from the previous owners, Blackmoor LP, by commercial property firm Targetfollow for £85 million. The building

494-477: The asking price of £1,250,000; he was challenged to allow tenants to rent single floors, but consistently refused. At that time skyscrapers were rare in London, and Centre Point's prominence led to its becoming a rallying symbol for opponents. The homeless charity Centrepoint was founded in 1969 as a homeless shelter in nearby Soho , named Centrepoint in response to the building Centre Point being seen as an "affront to

532-419: The building received a canopy on the roof, creating a covered "14th floor" to disguise the elevator penthouse. The two low rise blocks along Newton Street and Bath Street became legally separate entities from the hotel tower, and are owned by London & Scottish Property Investment Management (LSPIM), and assumed the "Elmbank Gardens" and "Venlaw Building" names in the 1990s after the original street address of

570-445: The building. The hotel tower itself was later operated by Premier Lodge, Premier Inn, and in 2022 was then taken over by Britannia Hotels. A proposal to demolish the unused podium at the north west corner of the structure and replace it with a 19-storey residential tower known as The Venlaw Tower (earlier styled as Elmbank Tower ) was proposed in 2004, but did not progress. The complex was externally refurbished between 2012 and 2013,

608-418: The buildings were originally named) would have made use of the infamous Charing Cross Podium which stretched across the motorway, but in the end only fragments of the Seifert scheme were built - likewise his nearby Anderston Centre was never fully realized either. The original tenant of the building was YARD (Yarrow-Admiralty Research Department) - part of the naval shipbuilder Yarrow Shipbuilders - and it

646-404: The city centre and the new West End, commencing at Woodlands and Sandyford . There are ornate red sandstone tenement blocks dating from the late Victorian period at two corners of the junction, at the north-west (St George's Mansions, Frank Burnet ) and south-east (Charing Cross Mansions, John James Burnet ), while nearby landmarks include the Mitchell Library . Charing Cross was also part of

684-581: The communities that were severed by the construction of the M8 in the late 1960s. A key plank of the proposals continues to be the construction of a raised garden to partially cover the trench in which the motorway runs The Charing Cross Gateway ("CXG") project was unveiled in August 2023 by London and Scottish Property Investments (L&SPI) – the owner of the Tay House and Elmbank Gardens office complexes which occupy much of

722-523: The complex is threatened with demolition and redevelopment as part of a wider regeneration plan for Charing Cross. The 1960s saw great change in Glasgow, following on from the Bruce Report with initiatives well under way to depopulate the overcrowded centre, removing slum housing and the construction of a new system of high speed roads around the central area. The districts of Charing Cross and Anderston lay in

760-414: The homeless" for being left empty to make money for the property developer. In 1974 an umbrella group of Direct Action housing campaigners, including Jim Radford , Ron Bailey and Jack Dromey , organised a weekend occupation of Centre Point from 18 January to 20 January to draw attention to its being deliberately left empty during a housing crisis in London. (Two of the occupiers had obtained jobs with

798-546: The motorway. In August 2023, the owner of the complex, London and Scottish Property Investment (LSPIM) - announced the Charing Cross Masterplan in conjunction with Glasgow City Council. The plans will entail the partial demolition of 300 Bath Street (Tay House) and the two low rise blocks of Elmbank Gardens, to make way for new offices and student accommodation. Under the initial proposals, the 13-storey hotel tower will be spared destruction and will be integrated into

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836-402: The new development. The redevelopment runs in parallel to two other proposals to regenerate the adjacent block between India Street and Elmbank Crescent, which will see Nye Bevan House and Portcullis House both replaced by high-rise student accommodation towers. Charing Cross, Glasgow Charing Cross is a major road junction and area within the centre of Glasgow , Scotland . It

874-431: The new development. The surface buildings of Charing Cross Station will also be demolished and replaced. The city block bordered by Bath Street, Newton Street and Elmbank Streets will be repurposed for new office developments and student apartment towers. Additional proposals for the adjacent block further south on India Street - will see the former sites of Nye Bevan House and Portcullis House cleared and redeveloped with

912-411: The north, and Garnethill to the east. Taking its name originally from a block of tenements named Charing Cross Place built in the 1850s, which continue at the south-west corner with North Street, the junction of Sauchiehall Street was formed as part of the original development of Blythswood Hill including Blythswood Square , St George's Road and North Street becoming known as Charing Cross, linking

950-538: The original plan. The pedestrian subway attracted anti-social activities. On 19 June 2006, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment pointed to the building as an example of bad design, where badly-designed pavements force pedestrians into the bus lane and account for the highest level of pedestrian injuries in Central London . With the planned redevelopment of Tottenham Court Road Underground Station,

988-543: The path of the Glasgow Inner Ring Road (now part of the M8 ) and consequently huge swathes of buildings were demolished to make way for its construction. The Richard Seifert Co-Partnership won the commission for much of the regeneration plan for the area, a grand scheme was planned which would stretch from the former Anderston Cross to the Charing Cross area. The original plans for the 'Charing Cross Complex' (as

1026-465: The precast concrete panels being restored to their original brilliant white finish. The development has a close conceptual similarity to Seifert's famous Centre Point complex in London , being a series of low rise offices and retail units between two and five stories, anchored by a high rise office tower. The complex also incorporated an unused extension to the adjacent King's Theatre . These elements frame

1064-612: The refurbishment of the lower rise buildings and the new affordable housing block. In 2015 work began on conversion of the building to residential flats. The restoration and conversion of the tower to a residential building was finished in March 2018. Much as had been the case at its original opening, the refurbished tower remains largely empty, with few windows lit in the evenings, the rest in darkness, despite at least half its units being sold. This has led to its being called one of London's "ghost towers". The promised transport interchange and highways improvements were not delivered following

1102-503: The required land. Under the proposals, the section of Tay House (300 Bath Street) which sits atop the infamous podium structure will be demolished, whilst the remaining structure of the building will be repurposed as either a new office block or residential complex. Meanwhile, the Elmbank Gardens complex will see both of its low-rise office blocks demolished with its 13-storey hotel tower remaining in place, which will be integrated into

1140-406: The same name to the north of Charing Cross, also much diminished in its importance by the installation of the M8. Nearby is an abstract concrete relief mural by Keith McCarter , made in 1971 as part of the Elmbank Gardens office complex. In 2022, a consultation was launched by Glasgow City Council on the regeneration of the area and plans to improve the public realm of Charing Cross and relink

1178-477: The so-called Square Mile of Murder , the location of a series of sensational murders which scandalised Victorian society. Much of Charing Cross' architecture (along with that of adjacent Anderston) was destroyed when the West Flank of the Glasgow Inner Ring Road (now part of the M8 motorway ) was built through it in the late 1960s. Although the road was partially concealed beneath an underpass constructed using

Elmbank Gardens - Misplaced Pages Continue

1216-543: The south, and were also used in a slightly different form in the Sheraton Park Tower Hotel in London, which was built around the same period. Although originally simply known as the "Charing Cross Complex", the Elmbank Gardens name originates from a lane which once connected Elmbank Crescent to Bath Street, and served a former church which stood on the site before the mass demolition in the 1960s to construct

1254-630: The time of its completion until 1975, and was briefly occupied by housing activists in 1974. Since 1995 it has been a Grade II listed building . In 2015, it was converted from office space to flats. The building was designed by George Marsh of the architects R. Seifert and Partners , with engineers Pell Frischmann , and was constructed by Wimpey Construction from 1963 to 1966 for £5.5 million. The precast segments were formed of fine concrete, utilising crushed Portland stone ; they were made by Portcrete Limited at Portland, Isle of Portland , Dorset, and transported to London by lorry. Centre Point

1292-537: Was built as speculative office space by property tycoon Harry Hyams , who had leased the site at £18,500 a year for 150 years. Hyams intended that the whole building be occupied by a single tenant, and negotiated fiercely for its approval. On completion, the building remained vacant for many years, leading to its being referred to as "London's Empty Skyscraper". With property prices rising and most business tenancies taken for set periods of 10 or 15 years, Hyams could afford to keep it empty and wait for his single tenant at

1330-461: Was extensively refurbished. As of 2009 occupants included US talent agency William Morris ; the state-owned national oil company of Saudi Arabia, Aramco ; Chinese oil company PetroChina ; and electronic gaming company EA Games . It has since been purchased by Almacantar . Almacantar approached Conran and Partners for the refurbishment of the tower including change of use from office to residential, whilst MICA, formerly Rick Mather Architects, led

1368-476: Was intended that an office building be constructed. Despite a string of new office blocks being constructed to replace the demolished buildings – Newton House, Elmbank Gardens , Nye Bevan House and Portcullis House in the early 1970s, and Fountain House in the early 1980s – the podium structure was left unused for over 20 years and became a source of much derision from both the local press and public, being looked upon as

1406-440: Was officially opened by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1976. YARD Ltd. was acquired by CAP Group when it purchased Yarrow plc in 1986, which in turn merged to form Sema Group in 1988. The YARD subsidiary remained the tenant until 1992 when the merger of CAP Scientific with British Aerospace to form BAeSEMA resulted in consolidation of its activities in the city and it moved to a new office building at 1 Atlantic Quay on

1444-441: Was once occupied by a gallows, and the tower sits directly over the former route of St Giles High Street, which had to be re-routed for the construction. The building is 117 m (385 ft) high, has 34 floors and 27,180 m (292,563 sq ft) of floor space. Constructed from 1963 to 1966, it was one of the first skyscrapers in London, and as of 2009 was the city's joint 27th-tallest building. It stood empty from

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