Red Road (flats)

The Red Road Flats are a high-rise housing complex which lies between the districts of Balornock and Barmulloch in the north east of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It consists of eight multi-storey blocks. Two are "slabs", much wider in cross-section than they are deep. Six are "points" — more of a traditional tower block shape. The slabs have 25-32 floors, the points 30, and taken together they were designed for a population of 4,700 people. After two blocks in the Gallowgate area, which also have 30 floors, the point blocks are the tallest buildings in Glasgow at . Views from the upper floors draw the eye along the Campsie Fells to Ben Lomond and the Arrochar Alps, then west past the Erskine Bridge and out to Goat Fell on the Isle of Arran continuing south over Glasgow and East towards Edinburgh.

Construction and new hope

Designed in 1962 by architect Sam Bunton for Glasgow Corporation Housing Department, the flats were constructed between 1964 and 1969. They were of unusual construction, being the only steel-framed residential high-rise structures in Glasgow. Built to house a population of 4,700 people, the 25 and 32 storey tower blocks were at the time the highest in Europe.

From the time they were built until recent years, they were owned by the local authority.

For most of the early residents, living in the flats meant a considerable and welcome rise in their living conditions, since most had previously lived in much worse...
Read More