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342:, it housed shops, a hotel, ice rink, bowling alley, health centre and penthouse apartments, as well as police, fire and ambulance stations. There was also a library and technical college. Historian Rosemary Wakeman called it a "colossal living vessel" intended to "elicit new codes of community behavior." According to an
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was first coined in 1964. Regarded at the time as a "milestone in urban design," the centre would be surrounded by high-density housing without shops or other amenities, with each neighbourhood connected to the structure by pathways so that residents could easily walk there. Architectural critic Wolf
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and into new towns to solve the city's overcrowding. Construction of its town centre began under contractors Duncan Logan, chief architect Leslie Hugh Wilson and architect
Geoffrey Copcutt (until 1962 and 1963), and later Dudley Roberts Leaker, Philip Aitken and Neil Dadge.
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purchased the site in 1988 and maintained the "Red
Balloon Cafe" that was widely implemented in Gateway stores. In the mid-70s the Golden Eagle Hotel closed and was later demolished after a vehicle crashed into the building. Phase 4 was completed in 1981.
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Leonardo da Vinci, nearly five hundred years ago, envisioned a city where all the vehicles move underground, leaving man to move freely in the sun. Leonardo might also have sketched
Cumbernauld's town center, a soaring citadel surrounded by
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The structure was purchased by a shopping management group in 1996 when
Cumbernauld Development Corporation was wound up. Phase 3 was demolished in 1996 and in 2001 the rear outdoor section of phase 1 was demolished. The new
362:
By 1971 the town centre contained the largest supermarket in
Scotland and work on phase 2 had begun. The Corporation sought the building of a department store, completed in 1975 as phase 3. It was built for
480:
228:—to be a town centre consisting of "one huge multi-storey building," according to its preliminary planning report, housing shops, apartments, a hotel, ice rink, police station and other amenities.
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website, it was a "strange tribute to a moment when it was thought that old cities, with their narrow streets, haphazard layout, and confused, illogical centres were a thing of the past."
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In March 2022, North
Lanarkshire Council announced that they had reached a deal with the building's owners to purchase and demolish it in the future; eight months later,
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and would have met their special interest criteria, but the decision had been taken not to list it due to the advanced stage of the redevelopment plans.
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was built on those sites in 2006. The centre, with 350,000 square feet (33,000 m) of retail space, was opened on 6 June 2007 by
Princess Anne.
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The facility has been subject to harsh criticism over the years. It was voted "Britain's most hated building" in 2005, in a poll organised by
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style, to accommodate a town of 50,000–80,000 people, although architecture historian John R. Gold notes that the term
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he centre is topped by a rather unsightly block... Cumbernauld residents dubbed the 'Alien's Head', in homage to ET.
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584:"The making of a megastructure: architectural modernism, town planning and Cumbernauld’s central area, 1955-75"
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as the "Alien's Head", due to local people observing a resemblance to fictional character
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715:"Where tourists seldom tread, part 2: five great UK towns left out of the guidebooks"
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Leslie Hugh Wilson, Dudley
Roberts Leaker Geoffrey Copcutt, Philip Aitken, Neil Dadge
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In March 2022, North
Lanarkshire Council announced plans to demolish the building.
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Phase 1 lasted from 1963 to 1967. The idea was to create a megastructure, in the
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The
Practice of Modernism: Modern Architects and Urban Transformation, 1954–1972
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543:"Westfield retail park hits unexpected snag after town centre bosses get tough"
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260:. The top section of the building has been dubbed by writers including author
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527:"Cumbernauld shopping complex under threat as rivals claim it derails vision"
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Phase 1 was completed between 1963 and 1967, and the centre was opened by
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481:"Town centre, Cumbernauld New Town: close-up of the megastructure facade"
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with two levels of underground parking, and was sold to Gateway in 1986.
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was designated as a new town in December 1955, part of a plan, under the
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Practicing Utopia: An Intellectual History of the New Town Movement
746:"Cumbernauld's notorious town centre to be demolished and replaced"
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confirmed that the centre had been nominated and assessed for
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in May 1967. It was expanded in 2007 by the addition of the
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Wolf von Eckardt, "The Case for Building 350 New Towns,"
224:. It was designed in the 1950s—as what became known as a
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338:opened the centre on 25 May 1967. Built over a
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1405:Buildings and structures in North Lanarkshire
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945:Share your views on Cumbernauld Town Centre
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411:Prospect 100 best modern Scottish buildings
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913:, University of Chicago Press, 2016, 271.
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483:, Royal Institute of British Architects.
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299:. c. 68), to move 550,000 people out of
16:Shopping centre in Cumbernauld, Scotland
498:"Princess Margaret In Cumbernauld 1967"
1420:Commercial buildings completed in 1967
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515:"Cumbernauld Town Centre, Cumbernauld"
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135:Gatehouse Property Management, Glasgow
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636:"What's it called? Carbuncle-nauld".
590:, 21, April 2006 (109–131), 121–122.
891:, Open University, 26 November 2001.
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687:"The heroic failure of Cumbernauld"
639:Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
467:
177:Cumbernauld Development Corporation
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1425:Brutalist architecture in Scotland
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851:. 17 April 1962. pp. 236–237.
563:"Cumbernauld tops demolition poll"
14:
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973:
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961:Cumbernauld Town Centre decision
871:. 11 November 1966. p. 846.
831:. 2 July 1948. pp. 299–300.
779:. 13 December 1955. p. 746.
685:Kalder, Daniel (28 March 2022).
661:"What's it called? Cumbernauld!"
280:Megastructure (planning concept)
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1400:1967 establishments in Scotland
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284:New towns in the United Kingdom
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1265:East Kilbride Shopping Centre
965:Historic Environment Scotland
949:Historic Environment Scotland
744:David Leask (10 March 2022).
713:Moss, Chris (13 April 2022).
565:. BBC News. 11 December 2005.
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385:Historic Environment Scotland
358:Cumbernauld town centre, 2006
1415:Shopping centres in Scotland
406:List of brutalist structures
35:The Centre Cumbernauld, 2023
7:
1051:The Academy Shopping Centre
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10:
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1293:Livingston Designer Outlet
1232:Motherwell Shopping Centre
1166:The Mercat Shopping Centre
811:. 9 May 1947. p. 189.
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1255:New Cross Shopping Centre
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1189:The Forge Shopping Centre
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889:"Cumbernauld Town Centre"
596:10.1080/02665430600555255
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1319:Eastgate Shopping Centre
626:, BBC News, 25 May 2012.
533:(Glasgow), 12 July 2016.
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127:Belgate Estates, Glasgow
61:Location within Scotland
1156:Kingdom Shopping Centre
206:Cumbernauld town centre
161:Design and construction
1260:Regent Shopping Centre
1237:The Centre Cumbernauld
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202:The Centre Cumbernauld
24:The Centre Cumbernauld
868:The Edinburgh Gazette
848:The Edinburgh Gazette
828:The Edinburgh Gazette
808:The Edinburgh Gazette
776:The Edinburgh Gazette
588:Planning Perspectives
438:Other new towns were
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316:von Eckardt wrote in
191:.thecentrecumbernauld
1376:55.94683°N 3.99042°W
1117:Gyle Shopping Centre
665:Murder is Everywhere
642:. 21 November 2001.
108:Construction started
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1348:Scotland portal
659:(6 December 2013).
610:, Routledge, 2007,
75:Architectural style
70:General information
1381:55.94683; -3.99042
1324:Sterling Furniture
1184:Buchanan Galleries
967:, 23 November 2022
935:Wakeman 2016, 272.
909:Rosemary Wakeman,
517:, Belgate Estates.
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293:New Towns Act 1946
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1354:
1204:Silverburn Centre
1056:Bon Accord Centre
924:Harper's Magazine
350:Later development
332:Princess Margaret
297:9 & 10 Geo. 6
233:Princess Margaret
210:commercial centre
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166:Architecture firm
140:Technical details
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1161:Kingsgate Centre
1133:St James Quarter
1127:St. James Centre
1025:Shopping centres
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1084:Overgate Centre
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1194:Glasgow Fort
1107:Cameron Toll
1066:Union Square
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753:. Retrieved
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724:. Retrieved
720:The Guardian
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696:. Retrieved
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1410:Cumbernauld
1379: /
1309:Ayr Central
863:"No. 18509"
843:"No. 18025"
823:"No. 16556"
803:"No. 16436"
771:"No. 17351"
657:Caro Ramsay
624:Cumbernauld
450:(1962) and
289:Cumbernauld
262:Caro Ramsay
218:Cumbernauld
145:Floor count
119:25 May 1967
90:Cumbernauld
1394:Categories
1364:55°56′49″N
1288:The Centre
670:9 February
462:References
448:Livingston
444:Glenrothes
278:See also:
253:Demolition
204:(formerly
153:Floor area
103:75 tenants
81:(formerly)
1367:3°59′26″W
1302:Elsewhere
1099:Edinburgh
790:Gold 2006
322:in 1965:
309:brutalist
248:Channel 4
208:) is the
79:Brutalism
1314:Braehead
1129:(closed)
1047:(closed)
1037:Aberdeen
1029:Scotland
755:10 March
726:15 April
698:15 April
446:(1948),
442:(1947),
395:See also
327:meadow."
319:Harper's
222:Scotland
214:new town
132:Landlord
94:Scotland
86:Location
1176:Glasgow
454:(1966).
301:Glasgow
274:History
212:of the
182:Website
1076:Dundee
692:UnHerd
452:Irvine
365:Woolco
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