Brickland intends to knock down unlisted buildings at 70-72 Waterloo Street, and “substantially demolish” the B-listed distillers building.

If plans are approved, the front third of the building and its facade will remain intact.

Council planners concluded the proposal should be rejected as it is “unsympathetic and over dominant”. However, members of the city’s planning committee have voted in favour of heating, giving Brickland the opportunity to defend its plans.

The committee was recommended to refuse the application on November 2 but agreed to the request from Brickland to allow a hearing following a vote, with seven members in favour and six opposed, the Glasgow Times reports.

Councillor Martin McElroy said: “I’m minded to suggest we go to a hearing because, while I don’t want to pre-judge any outcome, there are a number of potential policy issues which need to be debated by the committee if we are ever going to achieve some of the strategic aims that the city wants to see, including doubling the population of the city centre.”

Councillor Ken Andrew had wanted to make a decision on November 3, based on the report from council planners. He said: “There are a number of areas where this application is at odds with our city development plan, it is not marginal.”

A total of 13 objections to the application were voiced and nine letters of support were submitted Blythswood and Broomielaw Community Council said it was “delighted” to see a proposal for residential properties, but the building “does not fit the locale” and the height is “inappropriate”.

Historic Environment Scotland did not object but did say the proposals would “detract from the character” of the conservation area and have a “detrimental impact” on the listed building. It would prefer a “more conservation-led approach”.

Planners concluded that the current proposals are “considered to be excessive in scale to the point they would unacceptably impact on the setting of the Glasgow Central Conservation Area”.

They ruled the development was “unsympathetic and over dominant” and a suggested residents’ lounge and cafe, which would be open to the public, would “detrimentally affect the amenity value of this space”.

The “absence of details on flood risk” was also a reason for their recommendation.

In the application, the developer wrote: “The distillers building is underutilised and requires significant investment.

“When combined with the adjacent 70-72 building, the site provides a significant opportunity to create a new best in class residential-led mixed-use scheme to serve the Glasgow city centre market, whilst retaining and enhancing the historic assets of the distillers building, which contributes to its uniqueness.”

The delivery team includes Ryder Architecture, AA Projects, Woolgar Hunter, Futureserv and BB7. As part of the team, national planning and development consultancy Turley is providing planning, heritage, townscape and VIA, sustainability and economics services for the project.

Images courtesy of Ryder Architecture