Glasgow Chinatown
A community reborn
Our masterplan will rejuvenate Glasgow’s Chinatown as a thriving cultural and community destination, delivering new homes, retail, leisure, and community spaces.
The new Chinatown will be a landmark mixed-use destination for Glasgow, designed to meet the vision for the site as a reinvigorated cultural hub and thriving mixed residential community.
This is a confident, long-term investment in the city – one that will create a vibrant, inclusive destination, celebrate Chinatown’s unique cultural heritage, and deliver high-quality homes, public spaces and opportunities for local businesses.
The masterplan responds to the severed urban fabric caused by the construction of the M8 in the early ’70s, carefully stitching back lost connections and re-establishing clear pedestrian routes from the surrounding streets. We’ve prioritised intuitive, pedestrian-first routes to draw visitors into the new Chinatown Lane, which acts as the social centre of the development. This space anchors the scheme, offering a shared setting for community life, commerce and cultural expression.
At ground level, the rich mix of uses has been developed through close collaboration with existing Chinatown vendors. Food, retail, and local services will animate the streets, ensuring a lively and welcoming atmosphere throughout the day and night. Above, a layered approach to living combines student residential and new homes.
Central to the development of this masterplan has been a strong commitment to listening to and engaging with existing Chinatown tenants, alongside close collaboration with a trusted and experienced project team.
The architectural language echoes the surrounding context, with carefully chosen materials to reflect the tones of neighbouring built heritage. Together, the elements form a contemporary interpretation of place that honours the past while shaping a confident, connected future.
Project details
Project name: Glasgow Chinatown
Location: Glasgow, UK
Value: > £100M
Scope: Architecture, Masterplanning
Clients: Keltbray Chinatown Development Ltd.
Status: Live
Completion date: 2031
Architecture: Hawkins\Brown
Development manager: Keltbray Group Ltd
Planning: CBRE
Daylight & sunlight, wind: GIA
Ecology: EnviroCentre
Landscape design, acoustics, TVIA, air quality: SLR Consulting
Cost consultant, BREEAM : Hollis Global
Interior design: Gfivethree
Structural engineering: Wentworth
Transport: Systra
Fire engineer: Astute Fire Engineering Ltd
MEP engineering: Henderson Warnock
CDM Principal Designer: Adams Consulting
Civil engineering & geotechnical: Woolgar Hunter
