A LANDMARK Glasgow building’s “upside down boat” roof structure will be retained and transformed into a 60-person lounge and double-height event space with floor-to-ceiling windows in a major redevelopment.
The Met Tower, formerly a City of Glasgow College building, is being redeveloped by Bruntwood SciTech, a property provider focused on the science and technology sector.
A £60 million investment will see Bruntwood SciTech bring the current B-listed building back into use, opening in summer 2025, following a 10-year period of vacancy, and construct a new, adjacent building set to open in 2026. Combined, the two towers will offer more than 200,000 sq ft of serviced and leased office space, with Bruntwood aiming to “supercharge the growth of the city’s tech sector”.
Bruntwood noted enabling works on the site are already under way, with work on the Met Tower expected to start this winter, subject to planning approval.
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Its detailed plans for the technology and digital hub outline how the existing 110,000 sq ft, 14-storey Met Tower will be redeveloped to offer serviced offices for between two and 40 people and larger leased office space, along with multiple meeting rooms including a 16-person boardroom as well as flexible breakout spaces, a wellness and treatment room, a “grab-and-go” café, and multi-faith room.
The new 95,000 sq ft, 10-storey tower will offer medium to large office spaces, along with breakout space opening out into a new plaza, a café, retail space, and a roof terrace, with direct access into all facilities in Met Tower.
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The two buildings will be interconnected by a double-height atrium which will provide “wellbeing and leisure facilities”, including a workout studio and break-out lounge, showers, changing facilities and a sports kit drying room, and a large internal cycle store with repair and maintenance stations. The landscaped space between the buildings and in front of Met Tower will become public open spaces for the city, with Bruntwood saying this will improve connectivity to and from neighbouring Queen Street station on North Hanover Street.
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Pete Crowther, property director of Bruntwood SciTech, said: “Met Tower is the perfect location to build a new tech and digital cluster in Glasgow - not only is it located [a] mere 50 metres from Queen Street Station, it’s in the heart of the Glasgow City Innovation District surrounded by two exceptional universities and the college, where future talent and some of the most exciting university spin-outs in Scotland and all of the UK can be found. We’ve already been establishing relationships so that as soon as Met Tower opens its doors businesses have direct access into places for collaboration opportunities and to access highly skilled STEM talent.”
He added: “We’re delighted to reach this milestone and unveil our vision for Met Tower and the new building, where there will be world-class spaces available for all sizes of tech and digital business, whether you’re a startup or a global household name, all with the same access to a host of standout facilities and amenities. We know that Glasgow is on its way to becoming a world-leading hub for tech and hope Met Tower can support in galvanising this momentum.”
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