RIVERSIDE INNOVATION CENTRE
Project Value: £100 million Investment Type: Various options available Location: Thistle Street, Gorbals, Glasgow Landowner: City of Glasgow College Timescale: 2025-2027 Status: Business case in development
PROJECT OVERVIEW
City of Glasgow College (CoGC) presents a £100 million investment opportunity to create a new Innovation Centre with integrated student and conference centre accommodation.
CoGC is an award-winning super-college, and one of the largest technical and professional skills colleges in the UK. The College records an annual enrolment of over 32,000 students, spanning 130 nationalities.
Recognised by EFQM with a ‘7 Diamond’ rating and a Global Award for Driving Innovation, the college’s recent Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education, is further evidence that the college is at the forefront of innovation and pedagogical development in the tertiary sector.
This project is focused on the next stage of development of the Riverside Campus, one of two campuses in Glasgow City Centre. Analysis highlights the Gorbals area, adjacent to Riverside as featuring in the lowest 10% of a majority of data points in the Scottish Index of Multiple Depravation. This project will bring investment and economic stimulus to this locale and the wider Innovation eco-system.
The Project seeks to deliver a Workforce Skills Innovation Centre that will provide a dedicated space for collaboration between CoGC Students and pan-sector industry partners. It will be supported by the inclusion of an Exhibition and Conference Centre and adjacent accommodation (circa 700 rooms) to serve both the College and the wider student market.
The Innovation Centre, lying within the City’s Innovation District will provide a unifying focal point for skills focused development centred on projects already taking place across the current campus, and attracting many more. In so doing, it will create greater opportunities for collaboration and sharing of technology and best practice. The College is the home to the Scottish branch of the Institute of Innovation & Knowledge Exchange and the proposed development will encourage and support the growth of this activity, as well as providing a dedicated space expanding on the current College Incubation Hub.
Creating opportunities for the College’s student population to work alongside their chosen sector at an early stage of their training and personal development, the Centre will also provide a catalyst for partnership and staff-led innovation projects, championed by industry, ensuring students are better prepared for the world of work.
The Innovation Centre will additionally offer dedicated space for the pedagogical development of tertiary education professionals from across the region and for the many international partners already enjoying a relationship with the College.
In both design, and sustainability credentials, it will be an icon that inspires and delivers and is future proofed for emerging technologies and sectors, including Artificial Intelligence, Space, Defence and E-sports wherever possible. It will demand a preference for local employment in its construction and offer access to College educational opportunities for apprentices involved in the build.
On the ground floor will be a circa 300 seat Conference & Exhibition Facility. Such a facility does not exist within this part of the City and would be a welcome addition to the City’s Conference and Event portfolio. The venue would operate as an E-sports (Computer Gaming) arena outside of core hours.
Adjacent to the Innovation Centre will be an accommodation facility which replaces CoGC’s current reliance on rental accommodation and brings much needed and added capacity beyond the immediate needs of the College. Current capacity is met from a disadvantageous lease arrangement with no surge capacity to meet the needs of the Innovation and Conference Centre once operational.
The project is coherent with the City’s Innovation Action Plan and the Scottish Enterprise’s recent Paper ‘Our Focus on Economic Transformation’.
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Site ownership or control is secured
The 8,000m2 site is owned by City of College Glasgow. It lies on land immediately to the South of the Riverside Campus.
Proposed use is identified or permitted in planning
Planning Permission has yet to be sought, but the land is surrounded by current developments and lies within the Glasgow City Innovation District.
The project offers a potentially acceptable investment return
The Conference Centre and Accommodation build represent a ready opportunity for an immediate return on investment.
The project is near market and investor-ready
The Strategic Outline Business Case is complete. The next stage of the process needs investment to commission the requisite professional skills to develop the Outline Business Case.
The project caters for a market with identifiable demand
The Conference Centre and Accommodation offers an immediate commercial return. There is no Conference Centre facilities in this area of the City. The demand for Student Accommodation is increasing with the rental sector becoming increasingly unattractive to the private provider. The proposed build would exceed the immediate demand of CoGC allowing for a mix of wider student use in addition to serving the needs of the Conference Centre.
Small scale innovation projects within the College have all been met with welcome acclaim from industry and students. The scaling up of this activity, along with the provision of more capacity for Scottish Innovation Knowledge Exchange activity, and the increased capacity for shared projects between students and industry, is seen as a welcome development.
STATUS UPDATE
Land ownership is in place. Potential partnership conversations with developers and Glasgow City Council have been undertaken.
MORE INFORMATION
Roy Gardner
Vice Principal, Corporate Development & Innovation, City of Glasgow College email: Roy.Gardner@CityofGlasgowCollege.ac.uk tel: +44 (0)141 375 5555
