Downing’s Anderston Quay Glasgow scheme: design and sustainability notes for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Downing has lodged plans for a 1,135-bed mixed-use scheme at 40 Anderston Quay on the River Clyde, comprising three blocks up to 29 storeys with a 3,700 sq ft ground-floor commercial unit on the former Daily Record and Sunday Mail site. Two blocks provide 551- and 282-bed PBSA towers (29 and 10 storeys), while a 13-storey block delivers 302 co-living studios, all with cycle storage, gyms, games rooms, study spaces and 24/7 management. A high-performance façade, air-source heat pumps and rooftop PVs target BREEAM Excellent, with red/white brick cladding and landscaped public realm and terraces to boost biodiversity.
Technical Brief
- Landmark PBSA tower concentrates 551 bedrooms into a single 29-storey vertical core on the quay frontage.
- Second PBSA block distributes 282 bedrooms across 10 storeys, allowing different structural grid and servicing strategy.
- Co-living block stacks 302 studios over 13 storeys, with communal amenity spaces on every floorplate.
- PBSA blocks mix cluster flats, studios and accessible units, requiring varied fire compartmentation and acoustic detailing.
- Co-living element uses only studios and accessible units, simplifying internal partition layouts and MEP riser coordination.
- Each block incorporates its own management suite, laundries and 24/7 security, driving duplicated back-of-house plant space.
- Facades combine red and white brick with high-performance envelope design to cut heating and cooling loads.
- Heat pumps and rooftop PVs are integrated as the primary low-carbon energy system to target BREEAM Excellent.
Our Take
Within our 52 Infrastructure stories, very few UK schemes target BREEAM Excellent, so Downing’s plan for 40 Anderston Quay positions Glasgow alongside only a small cluster of higher-spec city-centre regeneration projects in our database.
The high 98% stabilised occupancy cited for Downing’s Square Gardens in Manchester suggests lenders and planners in Glasgow may treat the 551‑bed and 282‑bed PBSA blocks at Anderston Quay as relatively low-letting-risk assets, despite their scale.
Stacking a 29‑storey PBSA tower on a constrained River Clyde site will likely push the structural and geotechnical design into high-rise territory more commonly seen in London than Glasgow in our coverage, with knock-on implications for foundation solutions and wind/serviceability criteria.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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