M8 Bridge to Nowhere

When the western flank of the inner ring road was being prepared for tender in the mid-1960s the designer, Scott Wilson & Partners, advised Glasgow Corporation to include the development as part of the motorway construction contract.

[2] In the end, the Charing Cross scheme was pruned back in ambition, leaving the podium unused for over two decades,[3] attracting notoriety at a time when the entire M8 construction project was the subject of very divided public opinion.

[9] In 2022, Barclays completed the move of its Glasgow operations out of Tay House to its new purpose built campus[10] in the Buchanan Wharf development in Tradeston, south of the River Clyde, thus leaving the building redundant.

In August 2023, the owner of the building - London and Scottish Property Investments (L&SPI) - announced the Charing Cross Masterplan in conjunction with Glasgow City Council.

The Anderston Footbridge, 600 metres (650 yards) south of the Charing Cross Podium, was originally planned as the main pedestrian connection between the new housing estates on the western side of the motorway to the Anderston Centre but similar to what happened at Charing Cross, the new development was scaled back in size – meaning that the bridge terminated in mid-air above the vacant land, which was eventually built upon in 1981 when a Holiday Inn hotel (nowadays the Glasgow Marriott) was constructed on the site.

The former Albany Hotel was demolished leaving the pedestrian bridge, connecting it to the adjacent Anderston Centre, terminating in mid air over Bishop Lane at the end of Waterloo Street.