Pacific Quay

BBC Headquarters, Pacific Quay
©2022 Gazetteer for Scotland

BBC Headquarters, Pacific Quay

Pacific Quay lies on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the Scottish Exhibition Centre and a mile (2 km) southwest of Glasgow city centre. This 24-ha (60-acre) site was once the Prince's Dock but, in 1988, became famous as the location of the Glasgow Garden Festival. After that it lay derelict before being redeveloped as the centre of Glasgow's new media quarter with both BBC Scotland and Scottish Television relocating their headquarters here. The Glasgow Science Centre is located at the western edge of the quay, as are the IMAX Cinema, Millennium Tower and the Scottish Criminal Records Office. There are proposals for mixed housing, retail and business development nearby.

Built as the Cessnock Dock to handle general cargo between 1893-7, it was renamed the Prince's Dock in honour of the Duke of York (later King George V) who performed the opening ceremony. The complex comprised three basins, 2 miles (3 km) of quays and two-storey warehouses, which were unique in Glasgow. It was the first in Glasgow to install heavy cranes capable of lifting enormous engines and boilers into newly-built ships, but also for export, helping establish the city's industrial influence across the world. The A-listed red-brick former hydraulic power station which drove these cranes remains, now converted to offices and known as the Four Winds building. The docks closed in the 1970s and were partially infilled.


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