List of tallest buildings and structures in Glasgow

The city skyline of Glasgow, showing some of the city's tallest buildings. The now demolished Bluevale/Whitevale "twin towers" – are visible in the distance to the left of centre

This List of tallest buildings in Glasgow includes built and planned high-rise buildings in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Faced with crippling housing shortages and overcrowding in the immediate post-war period, the city undertook the building of multi-storey housing in tower blocks in the 1960s and early 1970s on a grand scale, which led to Glasgow becoming the first truly high-rise city in Britain. However, many of these "schemes", as they are known, were poorly planned, or badly designed and cheaply constructed, which led to many of the blocks becoming insanitary magnets for crime and deprivation.

It would not be until 1988 that high rises were built in the city once again, with the construction of the 17-storey Forum Hotel (latterly the Moat House International Hotel, and now the Crowne Plaza Hotel) next to the SECC. The 20-storey Hilton Hotel in Anderston followed in 1992. From the early 1990s, Glasgow City Council and its successor, the Glasgow Housing Association, have run a programme of demolishing the worst of the residential tower blocks, including Basil Spence's Gorbals blocks in 1993.

The current tallest structure in Glasgow at 127 metres (417 ft), is the Glasgow Tower within the Glasgow Science Centre, however as this is an observation tower - not strictly speaking a building, then the 26-storey Balgrayhill tower blocks in Springburn area claim the title.

The tallest building ever to have stood in Glasgow was the 91.44m Tait Tower in Bellahouston, built for the Empire Exhibition of 1938, but pulled down the following year.

Since the late 1990s, property developers have been planning new upmarket residential and office high-rises along the River Clyde, and in the city's financial district, which will far surpass these in height.

Glasgow skyline

The term "tallest building in Glasgow" is itself ambiguous. Currently, two structures in the city have made a claim for the title depending on which measurement is used:

The tallest building within the city centre is the 17-storey St. Andrew House on Sauchiehall Street, originally an office block but now a Premier Inn hotel.

Tallest buildings in Glasgow

Rank Name Image Height
metres / ft
Floors Year Primary use Notes
1 Glasgow Tower 127 / 417 2 2001 Viewing Platform Holds a Guinness World Record for being the tallest tower in the world in which the whole structure is capable of rotating 360 degrees.
2 Glasgow University Tower 85 / 279 ? 1887 University
3 15 Croftbank Street 74 / 243 26 1964 Residential
3= 250 Edgefauld Road 74 / 243 26 1964 Residential
3= 22 Viewpoint Place 74 / 243 26 1964 Residential
3= 42 Viewpoint Place 74 / 243 26 1964 Residential
3= 120 Wyndford Road 74 / 243 26 1964 Residential
3= 151 Wyndford Road 74 / 243 26 1964 Residential
3= 171 Wyndford Road 74 / 243 26 1964 Residential
3= 190 Wyndford Road 74 / 243 26 1964 Residential
11 Glasgow City Chambers 73 / 240 4 1889 Office
12 105 Taylor Street 72 / 237 25 1967 Residential
12= 15 Grafton Place 72 / 237 25 1967 Residential
12= 178 Balgrayhill Road 72 / 237 25 1964 Residential Highest man made point above sea level within Glasgow city boundary
12= 198 Balgrayhill Road 72 / 237 25 1964 Residential Highest man made point above sea level within Glasgow city boundary
16 St. Andrew House 71 / 233 18 1964 Hotel Converted to a Premier Inn hotel in 2012. The rooms on the 18th Floor are the highest hotel rooms in the city.
18 Glasgow Hilton 70 / 230 20 1992 Hotel
17 Anniesland Court 66 / 217 24 1968 Residential Tallest listed building in Scotland. Only tower block to have a Category A listing in Glasgow.
19 Glasgow Harbour Phase 2 Building 1 68.70 / 225 23 2009 Residential
20 Argyle Building 62 / 203 20 2008 Residential
20= Cineworld 62 / 203 16 2001 Cinema Tallest Cinema complex in the world.

Tallest under construction, approved, and proposed

Under Construction

Name Height
metres / ft
Floors Year (est.) Primary use Location Notes
Scottish Power HQ 60 / 197 14 2016 Office IFSD

Approved

Name Height
metres / ft
Floors Year (est.) Primary Use Location Notes
366 Cathedral Street 65 / 213 23 Student Residence Townhead
Atlantic Square Building 1 45 / 148 10 Office IFSD
Atlantic Square Building 2 34 / 112 7 Office IFSD

Proposed

Top 10 in Order of Height

Building Name Height (m) Floors Main Usage Other Usage
Savoy Centre Towers 110.00 32 Mixed None
Jumeirah Hotel 92.50 24 Hotel Residential
Custom House Quay 69.00 25 Hotel Residential
Sky Plaza 49.00 16 Residential None
10–16 Dixon Street 44.00 14 Residential Retail
Homes for the Future phase 2 44.00 13 Residential None
Central Quay Phase 5 42.00 10 Office Retail
145 St Vincent Street 42.00 10 Office None
Atlantic Square 40.00 12 Office None
Building 3 Atlantic Quay 35.00 10 Office None
St Andrews Wharf Residential 34.00 11 Residential None

Unbuilt

Name Height
metres / ft
Floors Year Notes
East One 180 / 591 55
Cheapside Tower 1 170 / 558 50
Cheapside Tower 2 170 / 558 50
Cheapside Tower 3 136 / 446 40
Elphinstone Place 134 / 440 39 Cancelled due to the 2008 Financial crisis. Now the site of the new Scottish Power HQ.
Elmbank Tower 107.5 / 353 28
Glasgow Harbour Tower 93 / 305 30
Elphinstone Urban Village Tower 1 81 / 299 27
Graving Docks Tower 1 65 / 213 21
Elphinstone Urban Village Tower 2 60 / 197 20

Demolished

Name Image Height
metres / ft
Floors Year built Year demolished Notes
Tait Tower 91.44 / 300 ? 1938 1939 Built as part of the 1938 Empire Exhibition.
109 Bluevale Street 90.8 / 298 30 1968 2015 Was the joint tallest inhabitable building in Scotland.
51 Whitevale Street 90.8 / 298 30 1968 2015 Was the joint tallest inhabitable building in Scotland.
10 Red Road Court 89 / 292 31 1967 2015 Tallest Residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion.
33 Petershill Drive 89 / 292 31 1967 2015 Tallest Residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion.
63 Petershill Drive 89 / 292 31 1967 2015 Tallest Residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion.
93 Petershill Drive 89 / 292 31 1967 2015 Tallest Residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion.
123 Petershill Drive 89 / 292 31 1967 2015 Tallest Residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion.
21 Birnie Court 89 / 292 31 1967 2013 Tallest Residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion.
10-30 Petershill Court 79 / 259 31 1967 2015
153-213 Petershill Court 79 / 259 31 1967 2012
Clydesdale Bank Tower 73 / 240 1 1988 ? Built for the Glasgow Garden Festival, later moved to Rhyl in Wales

See also

Sources

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