A STUDENT accommodation developer is looking to press ahead with a major development on a former publishing site in in central Glasgow.
Manor Property Group/Qdos Glasgow Ltd want to build at the old DC Thomson site at 144 Port Dundas Road, opposite Cowcaddens fire station, and have now submitted an application for planning permission in principle to the City Council.
The development would have 514 one-bed units for students plus 100 graduate apartments (90 with one bed and 10 with two beds). It would be part 11-storey and part seven-storey.
A statement included with the application explains: “Students will make use of the shared facilities on the ground floor for meals, socialising, exercising, cooking, laundry etc.
“This arrangement reflects demand from students for a move away from the shared student ‘cluster’ apartments (usually six bedrooms with shared kitchen and living room) that have characterised much of recent new-build student accommodation back to a form closer to the ‘halls of residence’ that used to dominate student accommodation in the mid to late 20th century.”
There will also be space for shop and food and drink outlets, a food hall, a gym and a courtyard.
Lyle Chrystie, managing director of architects Reiach and Hall, said: “We propose a new building of stature. Our team has looked beyond the current fashion for wilful shape-making and random pattern. We want the new building to make a place of enduring quality, based on an understanding of the rich Glasgow tradition of city grids, reinforced by rigorous building designs.”
He added: “This part of the city, which was almost entirely re-developed in the slum clearances of the 1960s, together with the closure and redevelopment of the Buchanan Street Railway Station in 1966, has struggled to recover from these dramatic interventions.
“Our proposals have been framed to begin the process of repairing this historic damage. We hope this building can be among the first steps in a continuing revitalisation of the Cowcaddens district.”
Mark Bailey, director at applicant Manor Property Group Development, said: “Qdos Student Homes have taken many years to develop. We have looked at what others are offering versus what the student wants and combined this with the latest technology to deliver a truly inspiring way of living and studying.”
The application is pending assessment by officials.
