Scottish Opera has unveiled plans for a significant mixed-use development at its current site alongside Glasgow’s canal, featuring student accommodation, rehearsal and performance spaces, and film facilities.

The proposal, known as the New Rotterdam Wharf project, aims to consolidate Scottish Opera’s operations at 40 Edington Street, just north of Glasgow city centre, and is currently under consultation.

The envisioned development encapsulates music rehearsal and performance areas, film facilities, general industrial, office and production spaces, along with two student accommodation blocks. Additionally, the pre-application notice lists residential accommodation, retail and professional services, food and drink establishments, non-residential institution spaces, and assembly and leisure areas. The project also entails demolition work, associated landscaping, public realm enhancements, and infrastructure improvements.

As per Scottish Opera’s statement, the initiative is a stride towards reaffirming their commitment to Glasgow, aiming to secure their presence in the city for over six decades. The New Rotterdam Wharf project is expected to unify three out of five of Scottish Opera’s dispersed premises under one roof, thus showcasing tangible economic, business, and artistic benefits.

Currently, the organisation operates from various premises including a rented headquarters in a Victorian building at 39 Elmbank Crescent, Charing Cross, Glasgow, and a large orchestral rehearsal space at Hillington Park, Renfrewshire, on a short-term lease. The Edington Street production studios stand as Scotland’s sole integrated manufacturing and rehearsal facility, hosting a myriad of highly skilled artisans, orchestral players, singers, and technical teams from across the globe.

The transformative project aims to morph a single-sided ‘industrial estate’ plot into a bustling urban block, teeming with cultural, student-centric, and commercial activities. The development is also set to enhance connectivity with the western towpath of the Forth and Clyde Canal, adding vibrancy to this central city asset.

The outlined development strategy places the new Scottish Opera rehearsal and support building between the existing Edington Street production studios and the canal towpath, with core circulation routes linking a new canal-side entrance to the existing studio and Edington Street entrance. The student accommodation blocks are designed to ‘book-end’ the site, providing activated frontages on all plot corners, with pended access leading to two internal courtyards for service and visitor access to the Scottish Opera building.

At the essence of this proposal is the aspiration to enrich the public space, particularly along this section of the Forth and Clyde canal, encouraging more public engagement and activities.

Scottish Opera aims to submit a planning application in early 2024, with the aspiration that construction could commence in early 2025, marking a significant stride in Glasgow’s cultural and urban development landscape.