Magnet project raises hopes for troubled Sauchiehall Street

The plans have been inspired by the success of the McLellan Works, the flexible workspace directly across the street, which is now home to a range of high-profile tenants.

The McLellan project has been a rare success story on a street which has been challenged on a variety of fronts over recent years, from the pandemic and decline of the retail sector to the fires which ravaged Glasgow School of Art and other buildings.

READ MORE: McLellan project brings much-needed buzz to Glasgow's Sauchiehall Street

Designers at c2: concepts, the Glasgow-based interiors specialist, have secured the Magwrx project, on behalf of landlord Lujo Properties.

Jean Camplisson, design director for c2 in Glasgow, said: “It is not designed as an office building. The plan that we are looking at is to open up these upper floors. We are actually going to replace all the windows and put in better windows so they can actually have natural ventilation in the building as well. At the moment it is all smeared up windows.

(Image: c2) Visual of the Magwrx building

Ms Camplisson, who said the ground floor shop units at the building will remain, said: “It is going to be called Magwrx. The first two floors are going to be sub-divided into serviced offices, and the third floor we are going to put these lovely balconies in, which will be really nice and actually leave it as a ‘cat A’ building for somebody to take. Hopefully one tenant will take it. It will have these lovely views.”

Ms Camplisson, who joined c2 in 2014, noted that the project will involve staining the current blonde brick edifice great, which in colour terms will reflect McLellan Works across the road. She also explained the interior design scheme will prioritise natural and sustainable materials: suppliers will include Bute Fabrics.

“All the way through, with carpets and flooring, we have chosen local suppliers and stuff that has got a really good, cradle to cradle recycling policy,” she said.

READ MORE: Will Doctor Doom have a cunning plan to save our cinemas?

c2 managing director Mark Alcorn, who founded the practice in 2003, told The Herald that property agents may previously have said the building was too far away from the central business district to attract tenants. But he said the impact of McLellan Works, where c2 designed spaces for Cala Homes (West), Experian, and Mental Health Foundation Scotland, has altered that perception. “Of course, what is interesting about this building is that it is bang across the road,” he said.

Mr Alcorn added: “Its competitor is also its mate, in a sense, because they are proving that area as a destination for companies to go and settle. It is quite interesting that the colour ways are not dissimilar. It is with respect that it is reflecting that.”

Mr Alcorn and Ms Camplisson said the area immediately surrounding Magwrx and McLellan Works was a bright spot on an otherwise bleak landscape on Sauchiehall Street at the present time, with vacant units and the disruption from major public realm renovation works a source of ongoing concern.

“The quality is almost different to the rest of the street,” Mr Alcorn said.

He said it was encouraging that McLellan Works, which is owned by Bywater Properties, had been able to attract a diverse range of tenants, which also include For Anime, the UK’s largest distributor of Japanese animation.

READ MORE: 'This deal is the most significant step we have ever taken'

The ground floor of Magwrx will continue to trade as retail units. Tenants currently include a noodle outlet and a dessert cafe.

Meanwhile, asked to assess the mood in the Glasgow office market, Mr Alcorn said c2 was currently “really busy” as many of its landlord clients strive to make improvements to their buildings. However, he pointed out that sentiment was mixed across the sector.

Mr Alcorn said the kind of spaces offered by the likes of Magwrx and McLellan are appealing to businesses because of their size and flexibility.