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353:, 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
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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
491:
239:—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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595:"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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726:"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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554:"Westfield retail park hits unexpected snag after town centre bosses get tough"
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271:. The top section of the building has been dubbed by writers including author
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538:"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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492:"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
757:"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,"
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937:, December 1965, 93, cited in Wakeman 2016, 271.
349:opened the centre on 25 May 1967. Built over a
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1416:Buildings and structures in North Lanarkshire
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8:
956:Share your views on Cumbernauld Town Centre
422:Prospect 100 best modern Scottish buildings
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924:, University of Chicago Press, 2016, 271.
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494:, Royal Institute of British Architects.
310:. c. 68), to move 550,000 people out of
27:Shopping centre in Cumbernauld, Scotland
509:"Princess Margaret In Cumbernauld 1967"
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1431:Commercial buildings completed in 1967
526:"Cumbernauld Town Centre, Cumbernauld"
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146:Gatehouse Property Management, Glasgow
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647:"What's it called? Carbuncle-nauld".
601:, 21, April 2006 (109–131), 121–122.
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902:, Open University, 26 November 2001.
698:"The heroic failure of Cumbernauld"
650:Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
188:Cumbernauld Development Corporation
1436:Brutalist architecture in Scotland
862:. 17 April 1962. pp. 236–237.
574:"Cumbernauld tops demolition poll"
25:
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972:Cumbernauld Town Centre decision
882:. 11 November 1966. p. 846.
842:. 2 July 1948. pp. 299–300.
790:. 13 December 1955. p. 746.
696:Kalder, Daniel (28 March 2022).
672:"What's it called? Cumbernauld!"
291:Megastructure (planning concept)
63:
56:
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1411:1967 establishments in Scotland
412:DoCoMoMo Key Scottish Monuments
295:New towns in the United Kingdom
1:
1276:East Kilbride Shopping Centre
976:Historic Environment Scotland
960:Historic Environment Scotland
755:David Leask (10 March 2022).
724:Moss, Chris (13 April 2022).
576:. BBC News. 11 December 2005.
396:Historic Environment Scotland
369:Cumbernauld town centre, 2006
1426:Shopping centres in Scotland
417:List of brutalist structures
46:The Centre Cumbernauld, 2023
1062:The Academy Shopping Centre
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1304:Livingston Designer Outlet
1243:Motherwell Shopping Centre
1177:The Mercat Shopping Centre
822:. 9 May 1947. p. 189.
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1266:New Cross Shopping Centre
1200:The Forge Shopping Centre
900:"Cumbernauld Town Centre"
607:10.1080/02665430600555255
197:
51:
39:
1330:Eastgate Shopping Centre
637:, BBC News, 25 May 2012.
544:(Glasgow), 12 July 2016.
138:Belgate Estates, Glasgow
72:Location within Scotland
1167:Kingdom Shopping Centre
217:Cumbernauld town centre
172:Design and construction
18:Cumbernauld Town Centre
1271:Regent Shopping Centre
1248:The Centre Cumbernauld
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213:The Centre Cumbernauld
35:The Centre Cumbernauld
879:The Edinburgh Gazette
859:The Edinburgh Gazette
839:The Edinburgh Gazette
819:The Edinburgh Gazette
787:The Edinburgh Gazette
599:Planning Perspectives
449:Other new towns were
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327:von Eckardt wrote in
202:.thecentrecumbernauld
1387:55.94683°N 3.99042°W
1128:Gyle Shopping Centre
676:Murder is Everywhere
653:. 21 November 2001.
119:Construction started
1383: /
1359:Scotland portal
670:(6 December 2013).
621:, Routledge, 2007,
86:Architectural style
81:General information
1392:55.94683; -3.99042
1335:Sterling Furniture
1195:Buchanan Galleries
978:, 23 November 2022
946:Wakeman 2016, 272.
920:Rosemary Wakeman,
528:, Belgate Estates.
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304:New Towns Act 1946
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1215:Silverburn Centre
1067:Bon Accord Centre
935:Harper's Magazine
361:Later development
343:Princess Margaret
308:9 & 10 Geo. 6
244:Princess Margaret
221:commercial centre
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177:Architecture firm
151:Technical details
16:(Redirected from
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1118:Cameron Toll
1077:Union Square
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764:. Retrieved
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731:The Guardian
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1421:Cumbernauld
1390: /
1320:Ayr Central
874:"No. 18509"
854:"No. 18025"
834:"No. 16556"
814:"No. 16436"
782:"No. 17351"
668:Caro Ramsay
635:Cumbernauld
461:(1962) and
300:Cumbernauld
273:Caro Ramsay
229:Cumbernauld
156:Floor count
130:25 May 1967
101:Cumbernauld
1405:Categories
1375:55°56′49″N
1299:The Centre
681:9 February
473:References
459:Livingston
455:Glenrothes
289:See also:
264:Demolition
215:(formerly
164:Floor area
114:75 tenants
92:(formerly)
1378:3°59′26″W
1313:Elsewhere
1110:Edinburgh
801:Gold 2006
333:in 1965:
320:brutalist
259:Channel 4
219:) is the
90:Brutalism
1325:Braehead
1140:(closed)
1058:(closed)
1048:Aberdeen
1040:Scotland
766:10 March
737:15 April
709:15 April
457:(1948),
453:(1947),
406:See also
338:meadow."
330:Harper's
233:Scotland
225:new town
143:Landlord
105:Scotland
97:Location
1187:Glasgow
465:(1966).
312:Glasgow
285:History
223:of the
193:Website
1087:Dundee
703:UnHerd
463:Irvine
376:Woolco
127:Opened
440:See:
428:Notes
159:Eight
135:Owner
1159:Fife
768:2022
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711:2022
683:2014
380:Asda
345:and
293:and
277:E.T.
246:and
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122:1963
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623:173
603:doi
227:of
200:www
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