Plans to transform one of Glasgow’s oldest bowling club sites could see new homes, student accommodation and a major publicly accessible green space created in the heart of the West End.
Developer Kelvin Properties is working on proposals for Burnbank Bowling Club at 235 Woodlands Road, on a prominent site close to Kelvingrove Park and the University of Glasgow.
The project has now reached its second round of public consultation, giving a clearer indication of how the site could look if redevelopment goes ahead.
Architects Cooper Cromar have drawn up a scheme centred around two substantial residential buildings set within new parkland.
The development would contain a mixture of private homes and purpose-built student accommodation, alongside community facilities and outdoor space which would be opened up for public use.
Illustrative proposals have included community growing areas or allotments, informal play space, an outdoor cinema and a new community pavilion, with areas of lawn and planting running between the new buildings.
The pavilion would form one of the focal points of the development and help negotiate the difference in levels between the site and neighbouring Park Drive.
Landscaped gardens would also sit between the residential buildings, while existing mature trees and hedgerows along Woodlands Road would be retained where possible.
Green roofs are proposed for the buildings, with the project also exploring solar energy, sustainable drainage and new pedestrian and cycling connections through the site.
Kelvin Properties says the intention is to make more of the site accessible to the wider Woodlands community.
Although Burnbank remains an operating bowling club, consultation documents say its membership has fallen to around 17 active members, with most of the grounds currently accessible only to members and club users.
Ideas being considered for the public areas include local markets and community events, art and cultural activities, community growing gardens, quiet areas and nature-based play.
Burnbank Bowling Club started in 1866 and originally operated from another site close to Willowbank Crescent. It moved to its present Woodlands Road home in 1889, when bowling greens and a clubhouse were established on land which had previously been farmland.
Earlier versions of the redevelopment proposals left open the possibility of retaining the existing building or replacing it, while the current vision features a new community pavilion as part of the landscaped public area.
The formal pre-application notice still allows for either demolition or retention of the clubhouse as the design develops.
Paul Holland, project director at Kelvin Properties, said the company wanted to create a development delivering “genuine and lasting benefits for Woodlands”, including new public green space, community facilities and homes.
He said: “We are committed to delivering a sustainable, thoughtfully designed development that makes the best possible use of the site while contributing positively to the character and vitality of the local area.”
The scheme remains at the pre-application stage.
A second public consultation was held at Burnbank Bowling Club on September 30 following an initial event in June, with the feedback now being used to refine the plans.
Consultation material previously indicated that, if permission is eventually secured, construction could begin in 2028.
For now, the proposals offer an early glimpse of what could become one of the more significant changes to this part of Glasgow’s West End – replacing a bowling ground that has occupied the site for more than 130 years with homes, student accommodation and a new piece of publicly accessible parkland.