Buchanan Street

Buchanan Street is one of the main shopping thoroughfares in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. It forms the central stretch of Glasgow's famous "Golden Z", [Glasgow: Scotland with style - Shopping by Eva Arrighi http://www.seeglasgow.com/media-office/features/shopping/shopping-by-eva-arrighi] with a generally more upmarket range of shops than its two neighbours Argyle Street, and Sauchiehall Street.

History

The land around the north and northeast of Buchanan Street was formerly home to Buchanan Street railway station. Originally owned by the Caledonian Railway, then the London Midland and Scottish Railway and finally British Railways, Buchanan Street station was closed in 1966. It was not rated highly either for location, architecture or convenience. Glasgow Queen Street station is immediately to the east of Buchanan Street, and the Buchanan Street station on the Glasgow Subway (which also serves Queen Street Station) is underneath the north end of Buchanan Street. The St. Enoch station of the subway is at the south end of Buchanan Street.

Buchanan bus station was opened at the northern end in 1978, at the same time as the street itself was pedestrianised between Bath Street and Argyle Street. The most northern reaches of the street were badly run down following the closure of the Glasgow NAAFI and the railway station, but this was addressed in the 1990s by the construction of the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in 1990, and the adjoining Buchanan Galleries shopping mall in 1998. In 1999, the entire street was repaved with high quality granite stonework and striking blue neon lighting. The combination of impressive Victorian architecture and modern urban design won Buchanan Street the Academy of Urbanism 'Great Street Award' 2008, beating both O'Connell Street in Dublin and Regent Street/Portland Place, London. [Academy of Urbanism Awards 2008 http://www.academyofurbanism.org.uk/awards.htm] The area between Argyle Street and St. Vincent Street is particularly popular with buskers.

The bus station was also substantially redeveloped following the closure of the bus station at Anderston, and became the principal bus terminus in the city centre. It was renamed simply as "Buchanan Bus Station", since the street itself now terminated some distance away due to the building of the Concert Hall.

In May 2002 the Prime Minister Tony Blair unveiled a statue of the late politician Donald Dewar at the northern end of the street.

Location

It runs south from the junction with Sauchiehall Street. At its north end are the Buchanan Galleries and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. The Princes Square mall and a flagship branch of the House of Fraser department store are opposite one another further south, and the street meets Argyle Street at the south, just north of St. Enoch Square. Buchanan Street is now entirely pedestrianised, but the streets that cross it (Bath Street, George Street, St. Vincent Street, and Argyle Street) are not.

Buchanan Street cuts through Nelson Mandela Place (which was renamed after the former South African president) the site of St George's-Tron Church and the Glasgow Stock Exchange building, and Royal Exchange Square, which now houses the Gallery of Modern Art.

hopping

Major departments and shopping centres include:-
*Buchanan Galleries - including John Lewis Department store
*Princes Square - designer shopping mall including Whistles, Reiss, French Connection, Hugo Boss, Ted Baker and Space.NK.
*House of Fraser - Department Store
*Borders Bookshop
*Zara
*T.G.I. Friday's - American Restaurant
*Argyll Arcade - one of Britain’s oldest covered shopping arcades, built in 1827, which has the biggest selection of jewellers shops all under one roof.
*Apple Store

Culture

*Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
*Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in Royal Exchange Square
*The Lighthouse Centre for Architecture, Design and the City, is located off Buchanan Street, on Mitchell Lane.

"The Golden Z"

The Golden Z is the name for the collection of three streets in Glasgow City Centre, all of which are dedicated to shopping. The name originates from the alignment of the three streets: Argyle Street, Buchanan Street, and Sauchiehall Street. The latter and former both run East-West and are connected in a roughly North West - South East direction by Buchanan Street. This results in the streets being shaped in a "Z" shape; and, of course, Golden comes from the millions made each year from these prime-location streets. Hence, the Golden Z.

This, like "The Clockwork Orange", is a term used solely by the media, locals simply referring to streets by their name or collectively as the town/city centre.

ee also

*Glasgow
*List of upscale shopping districts

References