Planning
application submitted to enhance Glasgow City Centre and create landmark £70
million office development Further to the acquisition of Glasgow’s
General Post Office (GPO) building at Number One George Square in November 2005,
HF Developments and AWG Property have today (Friday, 31 March) submitted their
planning application to Glasgow City Council for a radical and eye catching redevelopment
of the prestigious city centre site. The joint venture plans to turn
the A-listed Victorian building – bought from Stefan King’s G1 Group
for £11 million in November of last year – into 127,000 sq ft of office
and public realm space with a striking glass roof extension. The intention is
to provide Glasgow with an iconic office development providing first class quality
office accommodation. New public realm will be available on the ground to engage
passers by and allow the people of Glasgow and tourists to the city to benefit
from the new site. The proposed refurbishment and extension of the former
post office building will help to reactivate the southern corner of the Square.
The submission follows an extensive design process which involved pre-application
discussions with Glasgow City Council and Historic Scotland. William Hill
of HF Developments said: “This is a key step in the long awaited redevelopment
of, after the City Chambers, Glasgow’s most prominent building. It will
create the most dynamic and attractive office in the city centre. If the planning
application is successful, we hope to start work at the end of June with an expected
completion date of September 2008. Stephen Kelly of AWG Property
said: “Number One Glasgow is a key city centre site which means a lot to
the people of Glasgow, it’s our intention to the make the very best of the
existing building to further enhance the overall appeal of George Square. “Since
initial planning consent was awarded in 2003, the commercial property market has
further evolved. Our application presents a workable, economically viable and
deliverable high quality office building in response to current market requirements.”
This is the latest development in the planning process for the former GPO
building. In the late 90s, consent was granted to demolish the interior of the
building, including the roof, and to subdivide the building to use the southern
half fronting onto Ingram Street for retail use. August 2003 saw consent
gained for the redevelopment of the interior behind a retained façade,
with a roof extension. No part of this development was implemented. 1
George Square was originally designed by civil servant Robert Matheson of HM Office
and his successor as the Board of Work’s principal architect for Scotland.
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