Candleriggs Quarter Scheme, Glasgow Project, Scottish Architecture, Design, Images

Candleriggs Quarter Scheme

Mixed Use Development in Scotland – design by Richard Murphy Architects

19 May 2015

Candleriggs Quarter Scheme in Glasgow

Design: Richard Murphy Architects

Location: Glasgow, Scotland

A planning application for the proposed Candleriggs Quarter mixed-use regeneration scheme was been submitted on 27 February 2015 by Candleriggs Limited, comprising a 50/50 joint venture between the investment arm of Mace and funds managed by Mercer Real Estate Partners, to Glasgow City Council (GCC).

The application follows nine months of detailed pre-application discussions with GCC and local stakeholders. A well-attended public consultation was held in September last year in City Halls with over 70 people attending the event and the scheme was also presented to the Merchant City and Trongate Community Council and the Glasgow Urban Design Panel. A number of comments raised at the event and presentations were positively responded to by the team and changes incorporated into the scheme.

The proposed development – bounded by Wilson Street, Hutcheson Street, Candleriggs and Trongate – is seen by many as one of the last pieces of the Merchant City regeneration jigsaw.

Site History
The site (1.49ha) has lain derelict following the closure of the Goldbergs store and was partly cleared of buildings last year to tidy up the area ready for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Irn-Bru created a popup venue on the corner of Wilson Street and Candleriggs during this period to promote the brand and following the Games this part of the site was then used for a pop-up restaurant.

The Candleriggs Quarter site has also been in the press recently in the lead up to the celebrations surrounding the birth of the first Canadian Prime Minister, Sir John A Macdonald, who was born in Glasgow 200 years ago. Although still not categorically proven there is some evidence to believe that he was born in a property situated in a lane called Brunswick Place where Post Office Directory records indicate John’s father Hugh ran a textile business in 1815. This location was also identified as his place of birth in a special memorial supplement in The Empire newspaper in 1891 after his death.

Brunswick Place no longer exists as a street name, instead Brunswick Street merges in to Brunswick Lane as it gets narrower towards to Trongate. However, the Candleriggs Quarter scheme proposes that the new public square be named Brunswick Place to reconnect to this historic link.

Proposed Scheme
The development proposes a mix of residential uses above a ground floor of retail, food and drink, and commercial arranged around extensive new public realm.

Green Credentials
As the proposed scheme is within walking distance to the main commercial area, rail and bus stations and universities car parking is limited to the private for sale apartments only. Secure cycle spaces are provided throughout the scheme for all uses. The buildings will be designed to modern day building warrant requirements and will include combined heat and power (CHP) units supplying power and hot water, low use water fittings, and low energy lighting to each of the buildings. In order to improve upon the existing biodiversity of the site the proposed scheme includes green roofs, communal podium and roof top gardens planted with native species and bird boxes.

Likely Timescales
A decision on the application is likely to be made summer 2015 with the works likely to commence spring 2016.

Quotes
Development Director for Mace, Mike Myles said: “We are delighted to maintain the momentum on the site and move the proposed scheme to the next stage following an extensive period of pre-application planning discussions. We have worked hard over the past six months with Glasgow City Council and local stakeholders to design a scheme which we believe will positively contribute to the already successful Merchant City.”

CEO Mace Investments, David Grover said: “We are extremely excited with the plans that have been developed so far which we believe provides a comprehensive mixed used scheme that will cater for all age groups. We very much see this as a place that people will want to live, shop and relax and look forward to moving the development to the delivery stage”.

Richard Murphy said: “The Candleriggs project represents a wonderful and rare opportunity to design virtually a whole city block and in a fascinating and rapidly changing part of Glasgow. It has been a pleasure working with our client and with Glasgow City planning department to ensure that this project is a real piece of 24-hour city. I believe it will be a major step forward in the already successful regeneration of the Merchant City as a place to live, work, study, shop and enjoy.”

Candleriggs Quarter Scheme – Building Information

• 135 private for sale apartments to the north east corner (Wilson Street/Candleriggs) of the site with entrances off Wilson Street and the new public square.
• 377 private for rent apartments along Candleriggs and to Trongate with a singular entrance off the south east corner of the square helping enliven the new public space.
• 124-room boutique hotel facing onto the public square with ground floor entrances on both Candleriggs and the square
• 597 bed student accommodation block to the west of the site fronting Hutcheson Street and the square
• Circa 5,300m2 (57,000 sq. ft.) of ground floor ‘high street’ and ‘food and beverage retail to Trongate, Candleriggs, Wilson Street and the public square. The units vary in size and cater for some of the smaller local niche retailers as well as the well-known high street brands.
• Circa 3,300m2 (25,000 sq.ft.) of ground floor public spaces including a new central square “Brunswick Place”, a new diagonal Southwest – Northeast route connecting Argyll Street/Trongate through to Merchant Square and City Halls and a new Southeast route opposite the pedestrian lane New Wynd to the square