Forrest Hotels, owners of the multi-award-winning Radisson Red hotel on Glasgow’s Clydeside, is seeking planning permission to restore and transform its neighbour, the ‘decaying’ North Rotunda, into a world-class new entertainment hub and events venue.
The hotel bought the Rotunda building and its grounds back in June 2023, marking the start of a new chapter for the historic structure, which began its life in the 1890s as the north entrance – via a winched elevator – to parallel pedestrian and vehicular tunnels under the Clyde, paired with a matching elevator building on the south bank.
Since those tunnels were closed in the 1980s, the North building has been through several incarnations as a hospitality venue, with varying degrees of success and reinvestment. Since taking possession, Forrest Hotels has not shied away from describing parts of the structure as ‘rotting’, but has now stated that it intends to ’invest heavily’ – to the tune of £15million – to give the building a new lease of life.
The newly-published plan will divide the building into two distinct spaces – ‘The Roundhouse’ on the ground floor and ‘The Rotunda’, on the upper floors. Taking inspiration from Nashville’s world-famous live music circuit, the ground floor space will be designed with live performance in mind, while the two upper floors, under the cast iron and glass cupola, will be returned to open plan spaces for hosting weddings, conferences and events.
This new venue wll feature ‘state-of-the-art’ bespoke sound and lighting systems, plus a new extension and external stairwell, allowing it to meet modern building regulations and standards.
Forrest Hotels’ Keith Vallance will oversee the development. He said: “Sadly the old building is in a sorry state, but we are prepared to invest heavily in order to restore this architectural gem, bringing a new generation through its doors. Our proposals will create 60 much needed new jobs for the city.
“The North Rotunda is a beautiful old building with some lovely features, either covered up completely or worse, rotting away. We want to restore it and we have worked hard to come up with a design which enhances and showcases those features.
“We see the Rotunda as an important part of Glasgow’s heritage which we are keen to preserve and enhance, while creating a brand new venue to showcase the best of music and live events from Glasgow and beyond,” said Vallance.
The live music and entertainment venue on the ground floor of the building will be complemented by a new ground floor extension housing a bar set against the backdrop of the SEC, Hydro, Armadillo and Finnieston Crane, plus an external ‘beer garden’.
On the first floor, the proposal is to create a lounge and pre-event space with an outside terrace, retaining the existing floor to ceiling windows and offering views across the river.
The second floor space is now conceived as the heart of the venue, showcasing the full 360-degree windows and original cast iron cupola, with an almost eight-metre high roof at the centre.
“Capacity can be up to 500 for larger events or around 200 to 300 for seated, table-service events like conferences and weddings,:” said Vallance. “This will be a world class wedding venue. Just think of the views and photos from the terrace.”
Forrest Hotels noted that there is ‘strong support’ for its plans from both the SEC Campus and from Glasgow Chamber of Commerce.
Director of finance and development at the SEC, Billy McFadyen, said: “We very much welcome the Forrest Group proposals to enhance the North Rotunda and provide a much needed destination venue to the wider SEC Campus. The high quality design creating flexible function and entertainment space will provide excellent facilities that will augment our world class campus.”
Glasgow Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stuart Patrick said: “The North Rotunda is a prominent building that lends itself to being a standout destination in the city and we are pleased to see these carefully considered proposals come forward.
“The SEC Campus is just a stone’s throw away and as we know, this wider area has enormous potential for further regeneration and economic activity.
“This, coupled with the creation of much-needed new jobs, is why we must welcome investments that will further enhance our reputation as a leading city for events, entertainment and culture.”
The Roundhouse and Rotunda is intended to launch early in 2026 subject to planning consents and statutory approvals.
