177 Bothwell Street was not intended to be an ordinary office building. Having built many award winning offices throughout the International Financial Services District, client HFD Group sought to push the boundaries of what a commercial development could achieve in Glasgow. The ambition was a workplace of such a high standard tenants would want to occupy it not for the address but because the building and its services could make a material contribution to their business.
This required a change in engineering mindset. Success would not be measured solely in tonnes of steel, programme efficiency or construction speed, but in how seamlessly the structure enabled the architecture, workplace environment and long-term commercial ambition of the development.
The result is a building that seems deceptively simple – a clean, elegant form meeting every tenant need with well-coordinated services. But beneath that calm exterior are the countless design decisions that made it possible.
Flexibility
As the development wasn’t built for one specific occupant, we knew the design would have to serve any number of potential tenant uses over its lifespan, from trading floors to collaborative tech spaces to more cellular office configurations. For a development so committed to providing its tenants with the ideal environment, this meant flexibility within the design was more important than ever.
This flexibility was engineered intentionally from the earliest design stages. Rather than approaching it as a conventional workspace, the client and the design team conceived of it as a commercial framework capable of evolving with the city itself. The discipline of the structure also informed the architectural expression. The façade module aligned carefully with the structural grid, creating a calm and coherent rhythm across the elevations. Nothing felt forced. Everything aligned.
Continual Refinement
A final scheme capable of serving any tenant need comes around only through several years of continual design refining and improvement. Much of this was with the client, harnessing their understanding of long-term asset value to look beyond just capital cost to operational quality, tenant experience and adaptability.
Many of the decisions are near invisible to end users but have significantly enhanced the building’s offering, including:
· Subtle cantilevers round the edge of the floorplate, not affecting building proportions, but cumulatively significantly increasing lettable area across the building without adding height.
· Continual refinement to condense the building core, including integrating and better coordinating services, preventing unnecessary loss of floorplate space. This leaves maximum flexibility on the floorplates for future occupier demands.
· These changes to the core and floorplate reduced building depth in key areas and enhanced natural light penetration, resulting in a building that feels brighter and more spacious.
This was also a major driver of the project’s sustainability ambitions. Through refinement, material efficiency was continually enhanced, rationalising piece counts, refining structural depths, constantly balancing commercial needs with environmental ones. The continual refinement to remove barriers to future flexibility was also seen as key to ensuring the building would last, being enjoyed by future tenants rather than facing demolition.
Wellbeing Up Top
This strategy of maximising available space to provide benefit to occupants extended to the rooftop, where the design provides extensive tenant space without sacrificing on plant requirements. By carefully stacking and integrating plant areas, consolidating servicing zones and coordinating structural loading requirements, the roof could service the buildings practical plant needs while to tenants appearing a place for fresh air, movement and social interaction. To make this possible, increased live loads, drainage strategies, vibration considerations and waterproofing interfaces all had to be resolved without compromising the flexibility of the floors below
This allowed for the building’s most well known feature, the rooftop running track. Surrounded by landscaping, trees and places to sit and chat, the rooftop at 177is a place truly concerned with staff wellbeing and a statement on the changing nature of the workplace.
Infrastructure Down Below
Making the most of Glasgow’s sometimes tricky topography, the development boasts a double basement arrangement that steps naturally with the existing levels while maximising useable volume below grade. This strategy embraces the conditions for the benefit of the project rather than forcing an artificial flat footprint. As well as efficient servicing, this allowed for substantial attenuation infrastructure integrated directly beneath the building footprint.
The building also houses a DataVita data centre in the basement, requiring enhanced coordination between structure, vibration control, MEP systems, fire strategy and resilience planning. This stemmed from the client’s determination that the building would offer an unrivalled office experience in the city, ensuring digital resilience and infrastructure long before those were industry priorities.
The integration of these systems demanded extraordinary coordination. Structural transfer zones, plant spaces, riser locations and servicing routes were all refined repeatedly to ensure that highly technical infrastructure could coexist with commercially valuable office accommodation above.
There is no one secret to the success of 177 Bothwell Street. Rather it is the myriad design decisions working behind the scenes, adding up to maintain the calm exterior providing occupants with their every need. A thinner floorplate allowing another storey, a refined core providing more useable space, integrated services reducing future constraints. The building truly shows the best of what can happen when a client with a clear vision and a whole design team collaborate in complete alignment.