The decision to encase a drab open space off Buchanan Street to create a five-storey, tastefully-designed shopping centre was one of the most innovative developments to happen in the city centre. It quickly became the poster-boy for urban renewal in Glasgow when it opened in 1988.
Princes Square still looks great today in its art nouveau finery. Sandstone, decorative glass, tiling, timber, the flowing escalators and ornate staircases, that wonderfully artistic metalwork on the outside.
The former courtyard was named Scotland’s best building of the last hundred years after a poll by the Festival of Architecture and Design in 2016.
Shops include French Connection, Sheila Fleet, Carvela, Ted Baker, Reiss and Kurt Geiger. Amidst the boutiques and conspicuous designer brands, the centre is studded with places to eat of various hues - try Cranachan for modern Scottish dishes, Tinderbox for coffee and Zizzi for pizza and pasta.
The Everyman Cinema in Princes Square recently hosted the premiere of Lewis Capaldi’s Netflix documentary. There’s October bar at the top, and at the lowest level, a sunken circle of steps where shoppers linger with bags or parents chat while kids invent games to play.
1. Journalists are shown the new shopping centre in 1988.
2. Princes Square in 1989.
3. Glasgow in 1990
Interior of Princes Square in August 1990. Photo: TSPL
4. The grand and ornate staircases are a defining feature.