Buchanan Street, Glasgow

Following Gillespies’ adopted public realm Strategy for the entire City Centre area of Glasgow, the practice won an international design competition for one of Glasgow’s central and most famous streets - Buchanan Street.

This £10m project involved the reduction of access to vehicular traffic and the creation of a pedestrian-oriented environment. Utilising the themes and directions identified in the Glasgow Public Realm Strategy, the practice produced a design for the street based upon the rich embedded vernacular traditions of the city, interpreted in a modern, clean and functional manner.

As well as using traditional, robust and durable natural stone paving materials, simple and elegant elements such as lighting and seating components were developed to create a strong rhythm along the street. The brief also required strong response to bring forward new development and express the existing underground access points as key features in the animation of the street. The project has won recognition for its quality both in the UK and abroad, winning numerous major awards.