This is the abandoned Shawbridge Arcade in Pollokshaws, Glasgow, in its final days before demolition. The popular local shopping precinct was pulled down after lying largely empty for several years. Most tenants had moved out, leaving bookmaker William Hill as the last remaining business.
The Brutalist brick and concrete arcade was built by Strathclyde Regional Council in the late 1960s to serve the local community. In the 1970s and 80s, it enjoyed its heyday as the main shopping centre for Pollokshaws in the city’s Southside, well used by both residents and factory workers. It was a vibrant community hub, full of shops, including supermarkets, chemists, takeaways, newsagents, bakers, cafes, and a couple of pubs. It was also home to council housing offices and the Driving Standards Agency and included a car park on the roof, accessed from Greenview Street.
However, in the 1990s businesses started shutting up shop and leaving the centre, moving to more modern malls or retail units. The council offices closed in 2001, later followed by the Driving Standards Agency’s test centre. One by one, shops shut and the neglected arcade gradually fell into a state of disrepair. With more and more shopfronts shuttered, the site was a less welcoming place for shoppers who described it as eerie and depressing, and it was declared surplus to requirements by owners Glasgow City Council in May 2021.
While some shops on the outside of the centre remained open, the main thoroughfare within fell silent and was derelict by 2019, while the empty rooftop car park became increasingly popular with skaters. Over time, as walkways became overgrown through lack of use, the remaining shops moved to new premises, with William Hill the last to leave in 2022.
The arcade lay derelict for several years, earning a reputation as an eyesore until March 2022, when plans were unveiled to redevelop the site for affordable housing. After a £1 million sale to Glasgow Housing Association, it was to be demolished and replaced with a development of 75 new mid-market homes. Before the demolition, local street artists breathed new life into the crumbling site by painting colourful animal-themed murals on the building’s walls and shutters.
During its slow decline, scenes for an episode of STV’s popular Taggart detective drama were filmed in the arcade in 2007.
Towards the end of 2022 demolition commenced and, two years later, the first of the new housing blocks were completed, with the redevelopment finished in early 2026.
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