Buchanan Street

Considered the “spine of the city”, Buchanan Street is a 1km street that runs north-south from the Royal Concert Hall to St Enoch’s Square. Gillespies has delivered a new public realm that has re‑connected and refashioned the street to provide a more pedestrian-orientated environment.

Utilising the themes and directions identified in the Gillespies’ original Glasgow Public Realm Strategy, the design for the street is 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 repetitive elements such as lighting and seating components were employed to create a strong rhythm and pattern along the street and connect the street into the surrounding urban fabric. The refurbishment scheme also included reconfiguring the city’s underground, with new canopies and station entrances.

The project has won recognition for its quality in the UK and abroad, winning numerous major awards.