Elmbank Gardens clearance
Seven months after Reigart's machines moved in, the two 1960s blocks beside Charing Cross station have all but gone — and the cleared site will now wait a year for its tower.
20 August 2026
Demolition of the Venlaw building and the low-rise Elmbank Gardens block is scheduled to conclude this month, seven months after Reigart Contracts began clearing the way for the Charing Cross Gateway.
The work required approvals from both the council and Network Rail, given the site's position above the Finnieston rail cutting, and a temporary footway along Newton Street has maintained access to Charing Cross station throughout. The 13-storey former hotel tower at 10 Elmbank Gardens is being retained.
Curiously, none of this activity is visible on the council's planning portal. The demolition proceeded under a building warrant — granted in July 2025 on the Building Standards register — and the statutory notice that marks the legal start of works is not published at all. A reader of the planning record alone would believe the site untouched.
Once clearance completes, the site is expected to sit dormant until construction of the consented 620-bed student tower begins in 2027.