{"id":1153365,"date":"2026-08-17T08:56:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T08:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1153365\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T08:56:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T08:56:21","slug":"network-rail-shelves-overhaul-of-glasgows-hielanmans-umbrella","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1153365\/","title":{"rendered":"Network Rail shelves overhaul of Glasgow\u2019s Hielanman\u2019s Umbrella"},"content":{"rendered":"

The practice submitted plans<\/a> two years ago to rejig the Hielanman\u2019s Umbrella (Highland man\u2019s Umbrella) a historic landmark running beneath the city\u2019s glass-walled Central Station, after winning a competition for the job in 2023.<\/p>\n

Work was due to get underway on the \u00a3400,000 project this summer<\/a>, introducing a series of \u2018soft\u2019 interventions that would bring in more light and colour along Argyle Street. The work would have dramatically improved the aesthetics and pedestrian experience of the \u2018uninviting and unsafe\u2019 route via new surfaces, signs, colours and lighting.<\/p>\n

But Network Rail pulled funding for the landmark regeneration project after a review of the scheme earlier this year.<\/p>\n

A Network Rail Scotland spokesperson said: \u2018Following a review, the original proposal for Hielanman\u2019s Umbrella is currently paused. We remain in regular dialogue with Glasgow City Council and are exploring opportunities to take forward design and public realm elements in a future funding period.<\/p>\n

\u2018In the meantime, improvement works are ongoing, including upgraded lighting, enhanced cleaning and maintenance, and efforts to bring new tenants into vacant properties. We recognise the site\u2019s cultural significance and are continuing to assess what elements of the original plans can be progressed within current budgets.\u2019<\/p>\n

Dress for the Weather won the \u00a350,000 job to improve the bridge following a Glasgow City Council competition in 2023. The winning team also included local landscape architect Gross.Max, architect Fiona Sinclair, Toby Paterson and Nich Smith Lighting Design, alongside a wider advisory team including Gaelic Glasgow, Rachel E Millar, Civic Engineers, Hollis Global, and Healthy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dress for the Weather\u2019s submitted plans for Hielanman\u2019s Umbrella<\/p>\n

Source: Dress for the Weather<\/p>\n

The council has now said it will reconsider the future of the Hielanman\u2019s Umbrella as part of a study into regenerating the wider area following the fire on Union Street Corner last March.<\/p>\n

The blaze caused the partial collapse of Forsyth House in Union Corner, a 19th-century B-listed building designed by James Brown of Brown and Carrick in 1851 for Francis Orr & Sons, which has since been demolished for safety reasons.<\/p>\n

A council spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: \u2018As part of the Central Station Area Study which was prompted by the recent major fire on Union Street in Glasgow, we will be reconsidering the future of the Hielanman\u2019s Umbrella within that wider work.\u2019<\/p>\n

Last month, the council appointed O\u2019DonnellBrown<\/a> to design a meanwhile-use scheme for the site while it considers long-term plans.<\/p>\n

In June, local practices including New Practice and Collective presented concepts for restoring the site<\/a> as part of an event held at the University of Glasgow.<\/p>\n

Comment: Andy Campbell, co-founder, Dress for the Weather<\/p>\n

The Hielanman\u2019s Umbrella project was exactly the type of project we want to be working on. The design team were incredible to work alongside \u2013 people we have admired for a long time and have always wanted to collaborate with. The commission was only ever up to RIBA Stage 4, so we knew from the start we wouldn\u2019t be responsible for delivery. However, we\u2019re really disappointed that the project hasn\u2019t been delivered since we handed it over.<\/p>\n

\n

\u2018We need to get better at retaining and delivering these important cultural projects\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Everyone is looking at Glasgow, and we need to get better at retaining and delivering these important cultural projects. Our work at Hielanman\u2019s Umbrella is perhaps not as high profile as many other buildings in the city (Glasgow School of Art, Centre for Contemporary Art, Union Street Corner, Egyptian Halls) but it is an important, strange and special place that is very particular to Glasgow. It deserves some love! If Glasgow City Council and Network Rail do want to restart and deliver the project in the future, we\u2019d be delighted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The practice submitted plans two years ago to rejig the Hielanman\u2019s Umbrella (Highland man\u2019s Umbrella) a historic landmark…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1153366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7826],"tags":[1401,748,313812,918,10650,4884,113136,712,16,15],"class_list":["post-1153365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-glasgow","tag-bridge","tag-britain","tag-dress-for-the-weather","tag-glasgow","tag-glasgow-city-council","tag-great-britain","tag-public-realm","tag-scotland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117110021315350297","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1153365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1153365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1153365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1153366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1153365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1153365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1153365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}