The Printworks – Site
History
Opened in 1899/1900 as the St Andrews Cross Electricity Works, this historic building served as a coal-fired generation station, providing power to Glasgow. However, its role changed in 1922 when half of the site was acquired by the Glasgow Corporation and re-purposed into a printing works. Renamed to reflect its new function, the facility printed and stored the city’s planning records. Today, the proposal seeks to revitalize the printing works portion of the building as half is still owned by Scottish Power. This initiative aims to preserve the rich heritage of the site while adapting it to modern needs.
Location
The chosen site sits between two key areas in the Southside of Glasgow, these are Laurieston and Govanhill.
Laurieston hosts some fantastic creative projects and is home to one of Glasgow’s most loved theatres, the Citizens Theatre, which has recently undergone massive refurbishment. Govanhill is one of Glasgow’s most vibrant, creative, and up-and-coming areas. It is the most ethnically diverse area of Scotland with about 40% of its people coming from ethnic minority backgrounds. There are a number of grassroots creative initiatives within Govanhill and it is now home to the outdoor performance and arts space Queens Park Arena.
The site for this project sits on the intersect of Pollockshaws Road and Victoria Road. This is the end of the Laurieston area and the start of Govanhill, making this site a prime location to pull from the Citizens Theatre and redevelopment in Laurieston and feed into the ongoing creative work happening in Govanhill as well as benefiting from its diversity.
