Heritage chiefs consider protecting Cumbernauld town centre as demolition looms

Heritage chiefs are considering whether Cumbernauld’s 1960s town centre should be protected as plans develop to demolish and rebuild the site.

The Centre Cumbernauld could be demolished to make way for a new shopping, living and civic space in a greener, low carbon environment under proposals put forward by North Lanarkshire Council.

The demolition plan has been criticised by architectural historians given the centre, which originally contained shops, an ice rink, bowling alley, hotel, library and flats, was regarded as a “milestone in urban design” that shaped town planning thereafter.

The local authority has claimed that, while the building represented the future in the 1960s, it no longer fits with residents’ vision of what they need from a modern town centre.

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has now opened a preliminary consultation into listed building status for the centre after a member of the public urged the heritage body to consider the designation.

The applicant, who grew up in the town, said: “It is enormously important as an urban experiment and it shows its age, but imaginative and thoughtful refitting and refurbishment would bring it fit for purpose in the 21st century.

"It is also the right thing for our heritage and environment. I am applying because, having grow up in Cumbernauld like so many others, I love the brutalist and forward thinking design of the town centre.

The Centre Cumbernauld, first built in the 1960s, could be demolished under proposals to redevelop the town although a move has now been made to list the building, which could thwart the local authority's ambitions for the site. PIC: www.geograph.org.

"The structure dominates the skyline and is architecturally significant around the world. Demolition of the structure is environmentally ludicrous and historically shameful.”

An architectural expert claimed the building had been neglected over time and suffered due to poor decision making, with it argued the original centre could be restored to save its original vision and status.

Professor Miles Glendinning, director of the Scottish Centre for Conservation Studies at Edinburgh University said: “Cumbernauld Town Centre was a world-leader in the 1960s era of utopian modernist visions for cities, and its avant-garde ‘space-age’ architecture, bristling with steel-grey fins and antenna-like projections, attracted visitors from all over the globe – before systematic neglect and shoddy upgrading efforts by the ‘authorities’ pushed it into a spiral of decline, public stigma and disrepair.

"Yet it’s an incredibly robust structure and, with a bit of care and attention, it would be quite easy to resurrect that dramatic, original vision, and once more make Cumbernauld not just a mere ‘regional shopping centre’, but an international mecca for modernist enthusiasts and culture-tourists.”

An early impression of how Cumbernauld town centre could look after redevelopment. PIC: North Lanarkshire Council.

Dr Alistair Fair, reader in architectural history at Edinburgh University, said listing could still allow for improvements, even radical ones.

Cumbernauld was twice the winner of the Carbuncle Award, organised by Glasgow-based Urban Realm magazine, which rewards Scotland's most ‘dismal towns’.

Architectural historian Barnabas Calder earlier described the plan to demolish the centre as “cowardly and wasteful”, calling for the building to be renovated instead.

He has welcomed the consultation into the building’s future.

On Twitter, Mr Calder wrote: “It's really great that HES is running a proper, wide consultation on Cumbernauld town centre. Do take the time to fill it in if you can. I'd encourage people to be as specific and precise as possible, in your views both in favour of and against listing.

The HES consultation runs until June 12.