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Glasgow's Red Road flats come down – but not without a fight Glasgow's Red Road flats come down – but not without a fight
(35 minutes later)
The demolition of a group of high-rise flats did not entirely go to plan with two of the six blocks still partially upright and some residents unable to return to nearby homes. The Glasgow skyline has been left with two broken teeth after the carefully planned demolition of six iconic tower blocks went awry on Sunday afternoon.
Four of the six Red Road multi-storey flats in Glasgow were brought down in a single blast, with two remaining partially upright due to an apparently unforeseen difficulty. The top half of two of the buildings remained standing at a slight angle after the bottom halves were destroyed. Hundreds of people had gathered around an exclusion zone to watch the simultaneous explosion bring down the notorious Red Road flats, on the north-eastern edge of the city.
It is understood that up to 2,500 people have been kept from their homes surrounding the site due to the failed demolitions, however Glasgow Housing Association are reportedly “working closely with their demolition partners” so residents can return home. But two of the six blocks have remained partially upright, with only their lower halves demolished.
The demolition is part of Glasgow Housing Association’s (GHA) plan to regenerate communities across the city which will see thousands of new homes built. Meanwhile, thousands of local residents who had been evacuated from the area before the demolition were waiting to learn when they might return to their homes.
When they were built between 1964 and 1969, the Red Road flats were the highest in Europe at 292ft (89 metres). Glasgow Housing Association insisted that they were working with the demolition contractor to ensure that residents could return promptly.
They were at the centre of a controversy last year when plans were announced to demolish the Red Road flats as part of the Commonwealth Games 2014 opening ceremony. In a statement, the association said: “Unfortunately today’s demolition has not gone completely to plan. The contractor Safedem is carrying out a technical assessment of the site and this will continue into tomorrow.
They eventually ditched the proposal to blow down five of the six remaining blocks live on television after a petition against the move garnered more than 17,000 signatures. “Going forward we will be working with the contractor to look at options for the safe demolition of what remains of two of the six blocks.”
Critics said it was insensitive to former residents and to the asylum seekers who still occupied the sixth block. Hailed as the solution to Glasgow’s tenement slums in the 1960s when they were built as a “scheme in the sky” to house over 5000 residents, the flats came to represent the failings of 20th-century high-rise housing.
One of the blocks was demolished in 2013 and another in 2012. Two of the original eight blocks were levelled in controlled explosions in 2012 and 2013.
The bottom 10 storeys of the blocks remained after Sunday’s blowdown and will be demolished using machinery at a later stage. Last year, a proposal from Glasgow city council to bring the flats down in a controlled explosion as a centrepiece of the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony sparked a public outcry. The plan was abandoned after more than 17,000 people signed a petition calling for the buildings to be “demolished with dignity”.
Increasingly run down by the turn of the millennium, the Red Road flats had acquired a grim reputation for squalor, violence and drug abuse. As they became increasingly hard to let, the flats were used to house asylum seekers, including the “Birdman of Red Road”. One of the flats’ most famous resident in later years, Jamal Hamad was a Kurdish refugee who lived alone in one of the cleared high-rises with only his canaries for company.
Researchers in the Housing, Everyday Life and Well Being team at the University of Glasgow are currently studying the long term experiences of those who were rehoused in high rise flats during the 1960s and 70s.Researchers in the Housing, Everyday Life and Well Being team at the University of Glasgow are currently studying the long term experiences of those who were rehoused in high rise flats during the 1960s and 70s.
They found that the vast majority of high-rise tenants at the time were said to be satisfied with their new homes.They found that the vast majority of high-rise tenants at the time were said to be satisfied with their new homes.
The flats became the symbol of isolation and crime … to others it was homeThe flats became the symbol of isolation and crime … to others it was home
Prof Lynn Abrams, head of modern history at the university, said: “Red Road polarises people. The flats undoubtedly became the symbol to some of all that failed in the city’s high rise experiment, associated with isolation, anti-social behaviour and crime. Prof Lynn Abrams, head of modern history at the University of Glasgow, said: “Red Road polarises people. The flats undoubtedly became the symbol to some of all that failed in the city’s high rise experiment, associated with isolation, anti-social behaviour and crime.
“To others, however, it was home. This is where they grew up, where they raised their children. They were an improvement on the housing conditions many had endured in Glasgow’s overcrowded and substandard rented sector, they were modern with all mod cons including hot water and indoor WCs.“To others, however, it was home. This is where they grew up, where they raised their children. They were an improvement on the housing conditions many had endured in Glasgow’s overcrowded and substandard rented sector, they were modern with all mod cons including hot water and indoor WCs.
“But it is clear that so early in the life of Glasgow’s high-rise experiment there were already signs of the problems that bedevilled this modern housing solution.“But it is clear that so early in the life of Glasgow’s high-rise experiment there were already signs of the problems that bedevilled this modern housing solution.
“Social problems such as isolation and loneliness and the absence of provision for children; economic problems surrounding high rents and expensive utility bills; and problems with the build quality of the flats with thin walls, ill-fitting windows, dangerous balconies and malfunctioning lifts.”“Social problems such as isolation and loneliness and the absence of provision for children; economic problems surrounding high rents and expensive utility bills; and problems with the build quality of the flats with thin walls, ill-fitting windows, dangerous balconies and malfunctioning lifts.”
The research follows on from a pioneering study of Glasgow’s high flats in 1968, conducted by social researcher Pearl Jephcott, which surveyed thousands of high rise tenants, including residents at Red Road shortly after they moved into their new homes.The research follows on from a pioneering study of Glasgow’s high flats in 1968, conducted by social researcher Pearl Jephcott, which surveyed thousands of high rise tenants, including residents at Red Road shortly after they moved into their new homes.
Questionnaires were completed by some of the Red Road residents at the time giving an insight into how people perceived new high rise living. They include a middle aged couple living on the 24th floor in Petershill Drive, who said there were no children in the block, although in fact there were two families living on different floors.Questionnaires were completed by some of the Red Road residents at the time giving an insight into how people perceived new high rise living. They include a middle aged couple living on the 24th floor in Petershill Drive, who said there were no children in the block, although in fact there were two families living on different floors.
One young mother living on the 19th floor, who had moved from Springburn, said her son would not go out to play because he was afraid of the lifts, which took too long to come and were often broken.One young mother living on the 19th floor, who had moved from Springburn, said her son would not go out to play because he was afraid of the lifts, which took too long to come and were often broken.
She also complained of a lack of shops, with residents having to rely on grocery vans which came round the flats and were more expensive.She also complained of a lack of shops, with residents having to rely on grocery vans which came round the flats and were more expensive.
Abrams is appealing for people who lived in Glasgow’s high rise blocks in the 1960s and 1970s to contact her team at the university to share their memories.Abrams is appealing for people who lived in Glasgow’s high rise blocks in the 1960s and 1970s to contact her team at the university to share their memories.