Green light for Bruntwood SciTech’s £60m Met Tower project in Glasgow
06 November 2023
Glasgow City Council has given the green light to Bruntwood SciTech's ambitious vision for the iconic Met Tower, which will see a new tech and digital hub in the heart of the city centre within the Glasgow City Innovation District. Bruntwood SciTech is investing £60 million to not only refurbish the Met Tower but also to erect an additional 10-story structure, with Ryden providing project management and letting agent services to the scheme.
The plans include the refurbishment of the former City of Glasgow College, Grade B-listed building, bringing it back into use and ready to open in Winter 2025 following 10 years of vacancy. In addition, Bruntwood Scitech, UK’s leading developer of city-wide innovation ecosystems and specialist environments, will create a new 10 storey building which will interconnect with Met Tower via a new wellbeing plaza space.
Located next to Queen Street Station, the two towers combined will offer more than 200,000 sq ft of serviced and leased office space to supercharge the growth of the city’s tech and digital sector. Enabling works on the site are underway and will continue for the remainder of 2023, with construction work expected to commence on Met Tower in the spring of next year.
Businesses moving to the new cluster will gain access to Bruntwood SciTech’s UK-wide network, enabling them with the opportunity to collaborate with an 1100-strong specialist community of tech and science businesses, as well as access to highly skilled STEM talent, new markets, funding and finance support, and professional services advice. The new hub will be surrounded by exciting tech startups and highly skilled talent from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian University and the City of Glasgow College.
Both buildings have been designed in line with the UKGBC and LETI net zero carbon targets for operational and embodied carbon. The new tower will be net zero carbon in construction and both buildings will be net zero operationally in their shared spaces and have been designed in line with smart technology and wellbeing principles and will feature extensive biophilia.
The existing 110,000 sq ft 14 storey Met Tower will be redeveloped to offer 2-40 person serviced offices and larger leased office space, accompanied with multiple meeting rooms including a 16 person boardroom, flexible breakout spaces, a wellness and treatment room, grab and go cafe, and multi-faith room.
The 95,000 sq ft new 10 storey tower will offer medium-large office spaces, along with breakout space opening out into the new plaza, a grab and go cafe, speed gates for additional security, a secondary retail space, and a roof terrace, with direct access into all facilities in Met Tower.
Daron Williams, Building Consultancy Director, Bruntwood SciTech, said:
“Glasgow is already on its way to becoming a world-leading tech hub and one of the UK’s fastest growing clusters, and with approval of our plans now confirmed we’re very much looking forward to Met Tower becoming the beacon for the tech community in the city.
"We’re proud to be playing our part in galvanising the tech momentum in this city and couldn’t be better placed to do so in the heart of the city centre and Innovation District - surrounded by two brilliant universities, an exceptional College, and several established alternative training providers who will ensure that the businesses who locate to Met Tower can tap into a strong, highly skilled talent pool."
