KEY PLANNING ISSUES
- Planning history – planning permission in principle (21/03803/PPP) for office development and, separately, for the wider site as part of a ‘placemaking’ approach to future development in Broomielaw which accepts the proposed scale and massing. A wider mix of uses on site is supported in the Glasgow City Centre 2050 Strategic Regeneration Framework.
- National Planning Framework (NPF) 4 – ‘Clyde Mission’ – defines the waterfront, and site, as a ‘National Development’ with strategic focus. NPF4’s climate focus sites front and centre.
- Glasgow City Plan and guidance documents emphasise area:
- Change
- Opportunity to ‘repair’ the urban fabric of under-used brownfield site
- Reinvention, reconnection, repair
- Accessibility
- Suitability for residential development
- Broomielaw Mixed-Use City Living
- Opportunity for City Centre Place Based Design Led Approach.
The proposal reflects the site’s location in an area where higher density is encouraged in the Glasgow City Plan. It will help meet ambitions for city centre densification and mixed-use activity in the Broomielaw, creating a catalyst and anchor for a neighbourhood in need of repair as part of a connected River Clyde. Commercial ground floor active frontage will deliver both economic and public realm benefits. A south-facing landscaped ground floor courtyard will create opportunities for an east-west route between the site, and a future development site to the south, with dense planting beds and in-ground rain gardens integrated with seating areas. A series of landscaped roof terraces, and trees at elevation, add visual and functional interest/use which interact with internal amenity spaces. The proposal will help facilitate the reinvigoration of Glasgow’s Broomielaw area, and the wider urban fabric, enhancing its attractiveness as a destination and urban gateway in a way which strengthens the city block. Significantly, the adjacent Glasgow Mission Building is retained and woven into the design, creating a fitting backdrop. Design and massing have been fully justified through detailed Townscape Visual/Heritage/Design/Landscape and Key View Analysis.
This development will seek to achieve the following:
- Creation of managed student accommodation units, (more than 70% clusters), that will seek to ease the current student housing shortage.
- A car-free development that promotes cycling, walking and use of public transport in an accessible sustainable location.
- A positive redevelopment of an under-utilised brownfield site within the city centre.
- Catalyse the wider ambitions reflected in the GCC ‘(Y) Our Broomielaw’ and the more recent River Clyde Development Corridor Strategic Development Framework.
- Building on the recent planning permissions with a use aimed at need and market requirements.