A look back at a night in The Arches as famous dance venue set to become bowling alley

In 1991, former punk-turned-theatre director Andy Arnold walked into the disused red brick Victorian railway arches underneath Glasgow's Central Station and saw the potential of the space. It became simultaneously one of the most famous electronic music venues in the world and a major player on the European theatre scene.

Until its closure in 2015, The Arches carved its own path as a distinctive venue uniting clubbers, DJs, artists, actors and audiences.

Death Disco started in 2002: “The Arches' monthly night of electro-disco excess and open-minded clubbing”. We join the club night in September 2011 for a look back and what made that moment in Glasgow nightlife special. If you would like to find out more about the story behind the venue, look for Brickwork: A Biography of The Arches by Kirstin Innes and David Bratchpiece.

New owners Lane7 will take the venue in a different direction. Since launching in Newcastle in 2013, the “competitive socialising” brand has opened 20 venues across the UK and Ireland. Six more sites will open in the months ahead. The company say they will accelerate growth, and Glasgow is part of that.

Their concepts include Lane7 ten-pin bowling bars, Level X venues featuring graffiti art decorated gutterball bowling lanes, mini golf and virtual reality games, and ML7 concepts, an arcade bar with pool and duckpin bowling. Lane7 say its core demographic is “18 to 35-year-olds looking for something a bit different on a night out”, as well as post-work groups seeking a less typically corporate venue.

Gavin Hughes, managing director of Lane7, told The Caterer about future plans: “It’s all about the character of the location. Some cities are primed for the full-throttle Lane7 experience. Others suit something more focused – like Gutterball, which leans more family-friendly. We look at the space, the audience and what that location wants but doesn’t have yet – then we build accordingly. We don’t just bolt a game onto a bar.”

Images by Dasha Miller and Tommy Ga-Ken Wan