This is a list of tallest buildings in Glasgow which are at least 40m (131ft) in height and above in the largest city in Scotland. The current tallest structure, at, is the Glasgow Tower within the Glasgow Science Centre. They include buildings ranging from 1960s tower blocks, to new office developments such as 1 Atlantic Square, St Andrew House, the Argyle Building and the Livingstone Tower. The tallest building ever to have stood in Glasgow was the 91m (299feet) tall Tait Tower in Bellahouston, built for the Empire Exhibition of 1938, but pulled down the following year.
Faced with crippling housing shortages and overcrowding in the immediate post-war period, the city undertook the building of multi-storey housing in tower blocks in the 1960s and early 1970s on a grand scale, which led to Glasgow becoming the first truly high-rise city in Britain. However, many of these schemes were poorly planned and cheaply constructed, which led to many of the blocks becoming unsanitary magnets for crime and deprivation.[1]
It would not be until 1988 that high-rises were built in the city once again, with the construction of the 17-storey Forum Hotel (latterly the Moat House International Hotel, and now the Crowne Plaza Hotel) next to the SECC. The 20-storey Hilton Hotel in Anderston followed in 1992. From the early 1990s, Glasgow City Council and its successor, the Glasgow Housing Association, have run a programme of demolishing the worst of the residential tower blocks, including Basil Spence's Gorbals blocks in 1993.[2]
Since the late 1990s, property developers have been planning new upmarket residential and office high-rises along the River Clyde, and in the city's financial district, which would far surpass these in height. Several proposed skyscrapers, such as Elphinstone Place which would have become the cities and Scotland's tallest, were cancelled due to financial reasons.
The term "tallest building in Glasgow" is itself ambiguous. Currently, two structures in the city have made a claim for the title depending on which measurement is used:
| Rank | Name | Image | Height | Coordinates | Floors | Year | Primary use | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 127m (417feet) | 2 | 2001 | Viewing Platform | Holds a Guinness World Record for being the tallest tower in the world in which the whole structure is capable of rotating 360 degrees.[5] | |||
| 2 | 85m (279feet) | ? | 1887 | University | [6] | |||
| 3= | Buchanan Wharf tower (1) | 80m (260feet) | 19 | 2023 | Mixed use | One of two towers; located in Buchanan Wharf complex.[7] | ||
| 3= | Buchanan Wharf tower (2) | 80m (260feet) | 19 | 2023 | Mixed use | One of two towers; located in Buchanan Wharf complex. | ||
| 5= | 22 Viewpoint Place | 78m (256feet) | 26 | 1964 | Residential | Located in Springburn. | ||
| 5= | 42 Viewpoint Place | 78m (256feet) | 26 | 1964 | Residential | Located in Springburn. | ||
| 5= | 120 Wyndford Road | 78m (256feet) | 26 | 1964 | Residential | Located in Wyndford.[8] | ||
| 5= | 151 Wyndford Road | 78m (256feet) | 26 | 1964 | Residential | Located in Wyndford. | ||
| 5= | 171 Wyndford Road | 78m (256feet) | 26 | 1964 | Residential | Located in Wyndford. | ||
| 5= | 190 Wyndford Road | 78m (256feet) | 26 | 1964 | Residential | Located in Wyndford. | ||
| 5= | 15 Croftbank Street | 78m (256feet) | 26 | 1964 | Residential | Located in Springburn.[9] | ||
| 5= | 250 Edgefauld Road | 78m (256feet) | 26 | 1964 | Residential | Located in Springburn. | ||
| 13= | 2 Taylor Place | 75m (246feet) | 25 | 1967 | Residential | Located in Townhead.[10] | ||
| 13= | 15 Grafton Place | 75m (246feet) | 25 | 1967 | Residential | Located in Townhead. | ||
| 13= | 12 Dobbie's Loan Place | 75m (246feet) | 25 | 1967 | Residential | Located in Townhead. | ||
| 13= | 7 St. Mungo Place | 75m (246feet) | 25 | 1967 | Residential | Located in Townhead. | ||
| 13= | 178 Balgrayhill Road | 75m (246feet) | 25 | 1964 | Residential | Highest man-made point above sea level within Glasgow city boundary. Located in Springburn. | ||
| 13= | 198 Balgrayhill Road | 75m (246feet) | 25 | 1964 | Residential | Highest man-made point above sea level within Glasgow city boundary. Located in Springburn. | ||
| 19 | 73m (240feet) | 4 | 1889 | Government Building | [11] | |||
| 20 | 71m (233feet) | 18 | 1964 | Hotel | Converted to a Premier Inn hotel in 2012. The rooms on the 18th Floor are the highest hotel rooms in the city.[12] | |||
| 21 | 70m (230feet) | 20 | 1992 | Hotel | [13] | |||
| 22= | Ten 1960s tower blocks of varying design (two at Hutchesontown, three at Cowcaddens, five at Knightswood) and one modern apartment block at Glasgow Harbour are all the same height. | 69m (226feet) | 24 | Various | Residential | [14] [15] | ||
| 32 | 66m (217feet) | 24 | 1968 | Residential | Tallest listed building in Scotland. Only tower block to have a Category A listing in Glasgow. Located in Anniesland.[16] [17] | |||
| 33= | 62m (203feet) | 16 | 2001 | Cinema | Tallest Cinema complex in the world.[18] | |||
| 33= | 62m (203feet) | 20 | 2008 | Residential | [19] | |||
| 33= | 62m (203feet) | 20 | 2021 | |||||
| 37 | 60m (200feet) | 14 | 2015 | Hospital | [20] | |||
| 38 | 58m (190feet) | 20 | 2022 | Residential and retail | ||||
| 39 | 55m (180feet) | 17 | 1989 | Hotel | Part of the SECC.[21] | |||
| 40 | 53m (174feet) | 15 | 1973 | Hotel | Originally an office block, converted to a hotel in 1995.[22] | |||
| 41 | 52m (171feet) | 17 | 1965 | University | Part of the University of Strathclyde.[23] | |||
Buildings with a Wikipedia article and over 50 metres in height.
| Name | Image | Height | Coordinates | Floors | Year | Primary use | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 125m (410feet) 80m (260feet) | 2013 | [24] | |||||
| 68.6m (225.1feet) | 1197 | Cathedral | [25] | ||||
| 67m (220feet) | 1852 | Church | [26] | ||||
| 61m (200feet) | 1904 | Cathedral | [27] | ||||
| 60.5m (198.5feet) | 1893 | Cathedral | [28] | ||||
| 53m (174feet) | 1931 | Cantilever crane | [29] | ||||
| Building Name | Height | Floors | Main Usage | Other Usage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portcullis House[30] | 114m (374feet) | 35 | Student Accommodation | None | |
| Dandara City Wharf | 87m (285feet) | 28 | Residential | None | |
| Custom House Quay[31] | 69m (226feet) | 25 | Hotel | Residential | |
| Sky Plaza | 49m (161feet) | 16 | Residential | None | |
| 10–16 Dixon Street[32] | 44m (144feet) | 14 | Residential | Retail | |
| Homes for the Future phase 2 | 44m (144feet) | 13 | Residential | None | |
| Central Quay Phase 5 | 42m (138feet) | 10 | Office | Retail | |
| 145 St Vincent Street | 42m (138feet) | 10 | Office | None | |
| Building 3 Atlantic Quay | 35m (115feet) | 10 | Office | None | |
| St Andrews Wharf Residential | 34m (112feet) | 11 | Residential | None |
| Name | Height | Floors | Year | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East One | 180m (590feet) | 55 | |||
| Cheapside Tower 1 | 170m (560feet) | 50 | |||
| Cheapside Tower 2 | 170m (560feet) | 50 | |||
| Cheapside Tower 3 | 136m (446feet) | 40 | |||
| 134m (440feet) | 39 | Cancelled due to the 2008 Financial crisis. Now the site of the new Scottish Power HQ.[33] | |||
| Elmbank Tower | 107.5m (352.7feet) | 28 | [34] | ||
| Glasgow Harbour Tower | 93m (305feet) | 30 | |||
| Elphinstone Urban Village Tower 1 | 81m (266feet) | 27 | |||
| Graving Docks Tower 1 | 65m (213feet) | 21 | |||
| Elphinstone Urban Village Tower 2 | 60m (200feet) | 20 |
| Name | Image | Height | Coordinates | Floors | style= width:50px;" | Year built | Year demolished | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 138m (453feet) | N/A | 1859 | 1928 | At J. Townsend Chemical Works, Port Dundas. Tallest chimney in the world from 1859 to 1889.[35] [36] [37] [38] | ||||
| 133m (436feet) | N/A | 1842 | 1922 | At the St Rollox Chemical Works, Springburn. Tallest chimney in the world from 1842 to 1859. Demolished after being struck by lightning.[39] [40] | ||||
| Pinkston Power Station cooling tower | 94m (308feet) | 1952 | 1976 | Largest cooling tower in Europe at time of completion. Complex in Port Dundas (providing energy for the Glasgow Corporation Tramways) also included two 263feet chimney stacks.[41] [42] [43] | ||||
| 91.4m (299.9feet) | ? | 1938 | 1939 | Built as part of the 1938 Empire Exhibition. | ||||
| 90.8m (297.9feet) | 30 | 1968 | 2015 | Was the joint tallest inhabitable building in Scotland. Located in Gallowgate.[44] | ||||
| 90.8m (297.9feet) | 30 | 1968 | 2015 | Was the joint tallest inhabitable building in Scotland. Located in Gallowgate. | ||||
| 89m (292feet) | 31 | 1967 | 2015 | Tallest residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion.[45] | ||||
| 89m (292feet) | 31 | 1967 | 2015 | Tallest residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion. | ||||
| 89m (292feet) | 31 | 1967 | 2015 | Tallest residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion. | ||||
| 89m (292feet) | 31 | 1967 | 2015 | Tallest residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion. | ||||
| 89m (292feet) | 31 | 1967 | 2015 | Tallest Residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion. | ||||
| 89m (292feet) | 31 | 1967 | 2013 | Tallest residential buildings in Europe at the time of completion. | ||||
| 78m (256feet) | 28 | 1967 | 2012 | |||||
| 74m (243feet) | 26 | 1967 | 2015 | |||||
| Clydesdale Bank Tower | 73m (240feet) | 1 | 1987 | 1989 | Built for the Glasgow Garden Festival, later moved to Rhyl in Wales.[46] | |||
| 240 Roystonhill | 72m (236feet) | 25 | 1967 | 1992 | Located in Royston.[47] | |||
| 20 Rosemount Street | 72m (236feet) | 25 | 1967 | 2013 | Located in Royston. | |||
| 40 Rosemount Street | 72m (236feet) | 25 | 1967 | 2016 | Located in Royston. | |||
| Ten 1960s tower blocks of varying design (four at Laurieston, two at Gorbals, two at Hutchesontown) were all the same height. | 69m (226feet) | 24 | Various | Residential |