INTRODUCTION

Opened in 1966, Cumbernauld Town Centre was a revolutionary concept - a towering “megastructure” that would sit at the heart of the life of the New Town, intended to incorporate all aspects of a traditional town centre within one complex. It would include shops, pubs, restaurants, hotel, leisure facilities, a town hall, library, offices, and penthouse apartments, all linked by walkways and ramps. This utopian ideal garnered praise, acclaim and awards, and was greeted with optimism.

It wasn’t long, however, before the dream would turn sour. The building was drafty and prone to leaks, and residents would find themselves regularly at the mercy of broken lifts and escalators, as they tried to navigate the confusing rabbit warren-like layout of the main building.

Within fifteen years the penthouses would be vacated and the hotel demolished. Later phases of building works would add extensions to the complex that bore little resemblance to the original architecture. Leisure facilities such as a cinema, an ice rink and bowling alley would come and go quickly.

By the 1990s the building looked drab and unloved, and a torturous attempt to develop a fifth phase of the complex would leave it semi-demolished, surrounded by piles of rubble. The town’s fortunes became inextricably linked to the much-maligned building, given the Carbuncle award and labelled the most dismal town in Britain.

Fast forward to 2026, and the building faces demolition, as part of North Lanarkshire Council’s masterplan to redevelop the entire town centre area. Public opinion remains divided on the issue, with some declaring it a brutalist masterpiece that should be preserved at all costs, while many locals are eager for its demise, pointing out that the building is simply no longer fit for purpose.

I was not born and raised in Cumbernauld, and I am not a resident, but I have worked in the Town Centre for over 20 years and am very fond of this strange, exasperating, yet unique and wonderful building. However, I am firmly of the opinion that it has served its purpose and can no longer be salvaged. The people of Cumbernauld deserve a town centre area that is vibrant, functional and accessible.

As we approach the final days of the Town Centre, then, this website is designed to fulfil two functions. The first is to tell the history of the Town Centre complex from planning and building, through 60 years of change, and ultimately look to the future. The second is to act as a digital archive of material relating to the Town Centre, bringing photographs, maps and plans, newspaper articles and audio-visual material together in one place.

This project has been a labour of love, and I hope my passion and interest in the subject is evident.

Andrew Davidson, August 2026

WHY “STREETS IN THE SKY”?

The concept of "Streets in the Sky" came from architects Alison and Peter Smithson in the 1950s, to describe a new style of housing that rose vertically, with flats and homes linked by terraces and walkways, separated from traffic (which would be on ground level). This in turn was inspired by the work of Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation. While Cumbernauld Town Centre is not a housing estate, its elevated living concept (particularly in its early days), with different street names inside the building and penthouses on top, certainly fits in with the "Streets in the Sky" ethos.