SAUCHIEHALL STREET
21
PATRICK MACKLIN
The Avenues programme has lent Sauchiehall Street a new lease of life but gap sites still abound
WE ARE BORED I N THE C I TY PATRICK MACKLIN, DEPUTY HEAD OF THE SCHOOL OF DESIGN AT THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART, UNDERTAKES AN INFORMAL SURVEY OF SAUCHIEHALL STREET’S MULTIPLYING VACANT, VOID AND BROWNFIELD LAND TO SEE WHETHER THE AVENUES PROGRAMME HAS PUT IT BACK ON TRACK.
Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow stretches 1.5 miles (2.5km) from the city’s central core to Kelvingrove in the west end. En-route it is criss-crossed by other streets, the names of which evoke flowers, gemstones, waterways, even Hope itself. In recent years, if certain headlines are to be believed, feelings of the latter have been in short supply, however closer inspection offers alternative readings. Things change. The street’s central section, from the city centre to Charing X, with its mid-nineteenth century shops, offices, recreational spaces, tenement flats and free-standing houses, was once a mere pathway through a willow grove. A casual survey of its current >