A Planning application has been made to Glasgow City Council to demolish the O2 ABC in its entirety.
Objections must be made to Glasgow City Council by midnight on 16 August 2024.
To object simply email your concerns citing Objection to Planning Application Ref. 24/01680/FUL: 292 - 332 Sauchiehall Street Glasgow (incorporating nos. 304, 326, 330 & 332) to: Planning.Representations@drs.glasgow.gov.uk
My objection letter is below:
Ref. 24/01680/FUL: 292 - 332 Sauchiehall Street Glasgow (incorporating nos. 304, 326, 330 & 332). “Erection of purpose-built student accommodation with ground floor food hall (Class 1A) Food and drink (Class 3) Public house and hot food takeaway (Sui generis) and Assembly and Leisure uses (Class 11) with associated landscaping, amenity, access and other ancillary works.”
Dear Mr Gillespie,
I wish to object to planning application 24/01680/FUL because it does not provide sufficient justification for the complete demolition of a listed building in the Central Conservation Area. The application effectively assumes the complete demolition of the Category C-listed building currently extant on the site, formerly the ABC venue. No accompanying relevant listed building consent application has been submitted – the overall application should therefore be rejected or deferred until this has been submitted.
The application further claims (in Design and Access Statement (Part 1) – p.19 section G2 – Historic Context) that there are “a number of reports” that “consistently conclude that attempting demolition whilst retaining the ABC1 façade presents significant and potentially unacceptable risks. […] given the poor condition of the fire damaged façade, it is not
practical to save it in full or in part.”
The current planning application does not itself include or directly reference any of these reports. It is therefore not effectively evidencing its assertion of the need for full demolition.
The central flat arch is of robust construction. Added in 1929 by C.J. McNair, the original plan shows it is supported by reinforced concrete floors and roof, which appear still to be load-bearing, and continue to support heavy air-conditioning units some 73 months after the building was gutted by fire. This portion is the section of the building that was least damaged by the June 2018 fire. The ABC portico also incorporates a cast-iron glazing screen by the world-famous Walter Macfarlane & Co. Saracen Foundry in Glasgow, which is an important remaining aspect of the city’s industrial heritage. This flat arch is certainly capable of retention and re-use.
A structural condition report by M.J. O’Shaughnessy from Will Rudd Associates undertaken in October 2019 made clear that the outer wings of the 1920s façade containing a series of arched windows are beyond salvage due to their flimsy single leaf brick and timber construction but did not state that the central portico and stair cores are beyond salvage.
This is consistent with the view of Historic Environment Scotland in April 2020, who stated,
"Retaining the portico does not appear to be incompatible with the proposals for deconstructing the rest of the building, including proposed vehicle movements within the site boundary. The portico should, therefore, be retained unless it can be demonstrated that it too is not capable of being propped and repaired.
“We encourage salvage of any decorative masonry or metalwork that might meaningfully be incorporated into a replacement building or re-used elsewhere.”
The supporting information provided to justify this application for full demolition of the C-listed main façade is not compelling. It has failed to fully investigate methods for retaining the central portico of 1929, which is the most robustly constructed element. Indeed, recent listed building applications elsewhere on Sauchiehall Street 24/00525/FUL for the former Marks & Spencer store at 184 Sauchiehall Street and 21/02069/FUL & 21/02068/LBA for the B-listed former piano showroom at 520 Sauchiehall Street show how to effectively retain a main façade to the street, which should be a key priority in the Central Conservation Area.
There is no obvious reason why a similar method could not also be applied to the structurally sound concrete entrance portico at the ABC. I am certain that conservation-accredited structural engineers would corroborate this.
This is also why I am concerned about the scope of the Dangerous Buildings Notice (BC30/24/00002) currently served on the site by Glasgow City Council Building Control. The DBN notice requires the owner to,
“For the premises at 304, 326, 330 and 332 Sauchiehall St - Demolish and remove the front and side façades along with their immediately attached floor and roof structures along with any other unstable, collapsed or affected and adjoining construction, fixtures and fittings”.
This is an unusually wide scope for a Dangerous Buildings Notice. As a listed building, owners are required to demolish the structure or make it safe, with any demolition to be the minimum required to ensure public safety, yet this notice specifically requires the entire front and side façades to be demolished without explanation and without consideration of the significantly different structures that comprise the facades. Has a recent inspection or structural investigation by a conservation-accredited engineer taken place? If so, why has the report not been made publicly available?
Considering the clear deficiencies in the justification for demolition of the central 1929 entrance portico I would urge planning officers to recommend to the Planning Applications Committee that this application is refused. There has been no direct correspondence from the conservation-accredited structural engineers engaged by the Council or applicant to endorse the need for full demolition of this listed building, specifically why the central portico cannot be retained. I have no issue with the principle of redeveloping the site, but the main entrance portico should be retained and used as a feature on any new build proposal, recognising that it is an important and much-loved feature of Sauchiehall Street and the city’s social history.
I therefore object under City Development Plan Policy No. 9 in relation to preserving the built heritage of the city by retaining the external fabric of the C-listed building’s main façade within the Central Conservation Area, and under City Development Plan Policy No.1 in relation to the Placemaking Principle, due to the obvious permanent loss of a critical piece of cityscape at a prominent location on Sauchiehall Street.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Sweeney MSP
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