Bath Street student accommodation reaches major milestone as 550 students flats to be created

The team behind a huge student accommodation complex at Bath Street have completed the third core — with each core standing at 36m.

A target of summer 2025 has been set for work to be completed, with GRAHAM delivering the project for student housing firm IQ.

Plans to demolish offices and put up student flats on the site were approved by councillors in 2022, with the developers claiming it could help regenerate the surrounding area, including Sauchiehall Street.

Some local councillors had opposed the scheme as they believed there is an overconcentration of purpose-built student accommodation in the area.

The third core of the 551-bed complex, at 225 Bath Street, was completed by GRAHAM alongside its frame partner, Hampsey Ltd, in under eight weeks.

IQ, which also runs the 324-bed Elgin Place student development nearby, is set to offer a range of amenities, including a gym, gaming arcade, dining spaces and social areas.

Gary Holmes, regional managing director at GRAHAM Building North, said: “We’re really pleased with the significant progress being made at Bath Street since works commenced in July.

“The critical demand for new student homes across the city is an ongoing conversation and the new offering at 225 Bath Street will help to bridge the gap between supply and demand for students in Glasgow.”

Alongside GRAHAM, the wider project team includes architects Cooper Cromar, engineering consultant Woolgar Hunter, project manager Atkins Realis and cost consultants Cumming Group.

Documents submitted when planning permission was requested stated the project would “replace the outdated existing 1970s office building on the site with a carefully considered development”.

They added: “The development’s wide range of bedroom configurations is intended to provide accommodation for a much wider range of student age groups that normally use conventional purpose-built student accommodation; beyond their normal first and second year stay.

“It will therefore contribute to the removal of those older students from their typical accommodation, often poor quality HMOs, freeing those existing buildings for regeneration into more suitable residential accommodation to meet the needs of the city.”