O2 ABC and Jumpin Jaks dance hall could be demolished and rebuilt as student accomodation according to new proposals

The O2 ABC alongside old dance hall Jumpin Jaks could be entirely demolished and rebuilt if developers plans go through.

Developer Vita Group shared their first proposals for a 'combined food hall and student accomodation building' at Sauchiehall Street - these plans include fully demolishing the existing O2 ABC building (which is C-listed) alongside Jumpin Jaks. Other new developments in Glasgow have opted to keep the facade of historic buildings during redevelopment, although at the time of writing this is not the case with Vita's development on Sauchiehall Street.

Vita's proposal includes student accomodation, a food hall, and a streetside performance space that would be connected to the Glasgow School of Art by a public courtyard. A total of 371 new student homes would be provided in the city centre by the development.

Vita gave a statement justifying the demolition, they said: "With extensive fire damage to the ABC, retaining the building or its façade is not considered to be feasible due to the design, material condition, and strength validation challenges uncovered through a series of surveys and structural reports undertaken across the intervening period.

"The site demolition of both ABC and Jumpin Jaks does however offer the opportunity to develop a cohesive response for the site that interacts with both Sauchiehall Street and Glasgow School of Art as one unified city block."

An entirely new building would be built in its place in the form of a U-shaped block looking on to the southside of the Glasgow School of Art, accessible to the public through a new lane. A staircase of steeped terraces would rise to meet the Mackintosh building. Glaswegians can expect to see (and comment on) a planning application submitted to Glasgow City Council sometime in April.