Met Tower
The north elevation of the Met Tower taken in 2019. The podium structure in the foreground was demolished in 2023.
Former names	Glasgow College of Building and Printing Glasgow Metropolitan College
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Academic (1964-2014) Office (2025-, anticipated)
Architectural style	Modernist
Location	Glasgow, Scotland
Address	60 North Hanover Street
Coordinates	(55°51′48″N 4°14′47″W / 55.8634°N 4.2463°W / 55.8634; -4.2463 (Glasgow Metropolitan College, Cathedral Street Campus))
Year(s) built	1961-64
Completed	1964
Renovated	2023-
Owner	Bruntwood
Height
Roof	74.7 metres (245 ft)
Technical details
Structural system	Reinforced Concrete
Floor count	14
Lifts/elevators	4
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Peter Williams
Architecture firm	Wyllie, Shanks and Underwood
Main contractor	Melville, Dundas & Whitson

The Met Tower is a prominent high rise building in Glasgow, Scotland, and was the main building of the former Glasgow Metropolitan College. It originally opened in 1964 as the Stow College of Building, and for most of its life has been known as the Glasgow College of Building and Printing. Its official address is 60 North Hanover Street.

The 14-storey structure is a major landmark in Glasgow city centre, overlooking George Square, and is one of the city's celebrated Modernist buildings. Its distinctive roof structures were directly influenced by Le Corbusier's famous La Cité Radieuse block in Marseille. It currently holds Grade-B listed status, and as of 2022 is owned by the property company Bruntwood SciTech.

Construction and History

The tower was constructed for Glasgow Corporation by Melville, Dundas & Whitson^[1] between 1961 and 1964 as part of the new campus for the Stow College of Building^[2] – in 1972 this entity merged with the Stow College of Printing to form the Glasgow College of Building and Printing (GCBP). It was designed by Peter Williams of the local architectural firm Wyllie, Shanks and Underwood, responsible for many large academic buildings constructed in the area at the time such as the adjacent Central College of Commerce (with which the tower shares close aesthetic similarities, the two buildings are essentially "sisters" of each other), and the James Weir Building of the University of Strathclyde.^[3]

Like many high rise structures of the time, the building's aesthetic was influenced by the work of Le Corbusier, and Williams is cited as this being one of his major influences on his design.^[4] Williams was praised for his successful interpretation of Le Corbusier's famous Unité d'habitation housing block in Marseille, but into the design of an educational tower, with characteristic features such as the gable end walls being clad in white Italian Travertine slabs and exposed pilotis at the tower's base. Another feature taken directly from Le Corbusier's work is a rooftop gymnasium housed within a distinctive penthouse structure - often nicknamed the "upturned boat". Similar to its contemporary - the nearby Livingstone Tower which was built during the same period - the tower featured high speed elevators and electric heating. The building was opened by the then Prime Minister Harold Wilson on 24 April 1964.^[1]

The podium block, which was added to the north of the site and contained an assembly hall and canteen, was constructed in 1969. The tower was granted Grade B listed status on 14 February 2002 by Historic Scotland on account of its "outstanding importance due to the high calibre of design and construction as well as retention of original features".^[5]

In February 2005, Glasgow Metropolitan College was formed by the merger of the GCBP and Glasgow College of Food Technology, administered from the GCBP building; it then merged with Central College and Glasgow College of Nautical Studies in 2010 to create the City of Glasgow College. Thus the retronym Met Tower was applied to the building.^[6]

The south elevation of the tower in 2019 from George Square, showing the "People Make Glasgow" placard.

The tower remained in use until 2015, when the construction of the new City of Glasgow College 'supercampus' on nearby Cathedral Street rendered it redundant. Controversially, as part of the 2014 Commonwealth Games the empty tower was used to display a giant pink advertising placard entitled People Make Glasgow (at the time the city's marketing slogan) visible from George Square, which later became a source of much derision from the local press and public.^[7]

Future Developments

In 2022, it was revealed that a development company had purchased the campus for £16m^[8][9] with a plan to repurpose the tower as office space for new technology start-ups,.^[10] As well as restoring the building's exterior, the rooftop gymnasium will be converted into a private events space. To the north of the tower, an adjoining smaller tower will be constructed containing additional offices, with a plaza connecting the two buildings containing leisure and retail facilities.

Reconstruction work on the site began in January 2023, with the soft stripping of the tower itself. The demolition of the podium block on Cathedral Street took place over the summer of 2023. The new complex is scheduled to open in mid 2025.

References

External links

• Media related to Glasgow College of Building and Printing at Wikimedia Commons