The Bluevale and Whitevale Towers were twin

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently ...

flats Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

situated in the

Camlachie Camlachie ( gd, Camadh Làthaich) is an area of the city of Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th l ...

district within the East End of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland. Officially named 109 Bluevale Street and 51 Whitevale Street, and often nicknamed the Gallowgate Twins or the Camlachie Twin Towers, the two towers were for a time the tallest buildings in Scotland. After originally being condemned in 2011, in early 2016 the demolition of both towers was completed.

History

Duke Street station looking south - 2012-04-25

Faced with crippling housing shortages in the immediate post-war period, the city undertook the building of multi-storey housing in

s 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", as they are known, were poorly planned, or badly designed and cheaply constructed, which led to many of the blocks becoming insanitary magnets for crime and deprivation. 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 next to the SECC. The 20-storey

Hilton Hotel Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton. The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As ...

Anderston Anderston ( sco, Anderstoun, gd, Baile Aindrea) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is on the north bank of the River Clyde and forms the south western edge of the city centre. Established as a village of handloom weavers in the early 18th ce ...

followed in 1992. From the early 1990s, Glasgow City Council and its successor, the

Glasgow Housing Association Wheatley Homes Glasgow (formerly Glasgow Housing Association or GHA) is the largest social landlord in Scotland with 40,000 homes across Glasgow. Wheatley Homes Glasgow is a not-for-profit company created in 2003 by the then Scottish Executive ...

, have run a programme of demolishing the worst of the residential tower blocks, including

Basil Spence Sir Basil Urwin Spence, (13 August 1907 – 19 November 1976) was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Moderni ...

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and employment opportun ...

blocks in 1993. The buildings were also unique in their construction - featuring hydraulic jacks in their foundations to combat sway due to their height. At one time the tallest buildings in Scotland, with only 29 occupiable floors (the 30th floor was a

mechanical floor A mechanical floor, mechanical penthouse, mechanical layer or mechanical level is a story of a high-rise building that is dedicated to mechanical and electronics equipment. "Mechanical" is the most commonly used term, but words such as ''utility ...

for building services and a drying area) the towers were not the buildings with the highest occupied floor level in the city (or Scotland); that distinction belonged to the contemporary

Red Road Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

estate on the north side of the city. They were briefly Scotland's second tallest freestanding structure following the demolition of

Inverkip Power Station Inverkip power station was an oil-fired power station in Inverclyde, on the west coast of Scotland. It was closer to Wemyss Bay than Inverkip, and dominated the local area with its chimney, the third tallest chimney in the UK and Scotland's ta ...

on the Firth of Clyde in 2013.

Demolition

In November 2011, it was announced by

of the intention to demolish the development, citing the unpopularity of the estate among residents and high maintenance and running costs. Demolition of the towers was originally scheduled to take place prior to the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

, but the complexity of the task pushed the date back to early 2015. Owing to the buildings' design, and their close proximity to the busy

North Clyde Line The North Clyde Line (defined by Network Rail as the ''Glasgow North Electric Suburban'' line) is a suburban railway in West Central Scotland. The route is operated by ScotRail Trains. As a result of the incorporation of the Airdrie–Bathgat ...

railway which runs immediately next to the site, a conventional "blowdown" with explosives was deemed impractical. The buildings instead would be literally disassembled floor by floor using the "top down" method. The deconstruction process began on in January 2015, starting with the Bluevale tower. The neighbouring Whitevale tower was deconstructed in a similar fashion in 2016.

References

External links

'Lights Out'
study of Gallowgate at ''Disappearing Glasgow'' {{coord, 55.85595, N, 4.21506, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Former skyscrapers Skyscrapers in Glasgow Residential skyscrapers in Scotland Demolished buildings and structures in Scotland Buildings and structures completed in 1968 Buildings and structures demolished in 2016 Parkhead 1968 establishments in Scotland 2016 disestablishments in Scotland Twin towers

History

Demolition

See also

References

External links