Homes plan for Glasgow's 'obsolete' office space

Many of Glasgow’s older office buildings should be converted into city centre homes, a report has suggested.

Research found such properties were falling out of favour with businesses with smaller firms often favouring flexible, managed workspaces.

Overall demand for office space is also lower since the Covid pandemic due to a shift to home or hybrid working.

Glasgow has set itself a target of doubling the number of people living in its city centre to 40,000 by 2035.

The report, commissioned by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the city council, found that Covid lockdown restrictions “decimated city centre office working, retail and leisure custom, cultural and educational activity”.

After restrictions were lifted, a shift to home or hybrid working meant Scottish cities are now thought to be using about 25% less office space, according to the report by consultants Ryden.

Glasgow city centre has about 400 pre-1960s office buildings, which are becoming less attractive to businesses.

The report described many of them as “obsolete” as offices, but suggested they could be repurposed to deliver about 2,500 city centre homes, for up to 5,000 people.

The area to the south of Sauchiehall Street has some of the greatest potential.

Angus Millar, convener for city centre recovery at Glasgow City Council, said repurposing older office buildings was just one of a range of measures that could help revitalise the city.

He said: “The research into the challenges and opportunities facing the city centre underlines the need to consider what must be done to make it a thriving, sustainable place.

“Looking at how properties once used for retailing or commerce can be made into homes and other types of uses is just one course of action.”

The report found big firms are looking for less but higher quality floorspace, sometimes in bespoke buildings such as the new Barclays campus which opened in 2021. Environmental targets are one of the driving factors.

Smaller businesses are increasingly looking at smaller, flexible premises such as managed business centres where they can base their core staff.

Examples include Clockwise in Renfrew Street where rental packages range from a single desk to potentially a whole floor.

The student accommodation sector continues to be active, with more than 700 new rooms completed between 2019 and 2021, while Glasgow’s hotel rooms also increased during the Covid pandemic.

“Build to rent” is a growing trend, though these tend to be newbuild residential developments rather than conversions of existing properties.

Glasgow has for many decades has had a relatively small city centre population but the council is looking at a range of ideas to bring more people into the central districts.

One idea is create a garden cap over the M8 motorway at Charing Cross, which would reconnect the centre with the west end.

The owner of Glasgow’s flagship Buchanan Galleries shopping mall is currently consulting on plans to demolish it and replace it with a “mixed use” urban district including 350 homes and more green spaces.