Water Row is a key development site in Glasgow, pivotal in transforming the city’s waterfront. Recognised in Glasgow’s City Plan as a key priority site, it connects Glasgow West to Glasgow South, highlighted by the delivery of a new pedestrian bridge which, together with the new housing has transformed this part of the city. 

The first phase, completed in May 2024, comprises five distinct linear blocks addressing the River Clyde waterfront to the north and Govan Cross Shopping Centre to the south. Each block is four to six storeys high providing 92 apartments and six ground-floor commercial spaces.

The initial phase of development included the construction of a £29.5m bridge investment to link Govan and Partick completing a major milestone in delivering the Glasgow City Council’s vision to make the river corridor a vibrant, inclusive and well-connected place.

Carbon Futures was appointed to develop a cost-effective and practical energy and sustainability strategy for the Water Row masterplan. Since 2018, our involvement included in-depth discussions with the key stakeholders to determine the most practical energy strategy for the development.

Our team delivered a wide range of consultancy services from concept design stage through to completion including Masterplan Feasibility Analysis, Energy Strategy Analysis, Statement On Energy, Client Workshops, Approved Certifier of Design, Building Regulation Compliance, Operational Energy Performance Analysis (TM54), LZCGT Feasibility Studies, Thermal Bridging Analysis, provision of Energy Performance Certificates.

For commercial elements we also produced Daylight and Sunlight Impact Assessments, Thermal Comfort Analysis, and Indoor Air Quality Analysis to ensure the environment of each commercial space was designed to promote the health, well-being and productivity of occupants. This façade optimisation exercise considered the use of passive design measures (i.e. solar shading and night-time purging) before employing energy-intensive mechanical plant to achieve best-practice indoor conditions.

The project was designed to achieve Glasgow City Council’s Gold Hybrid standard under policy SG5: Resource Management, providing a minimum 20% carbon emissions abatement using low and zero carbon generating technology.

In response to the climate emergency, we worked closely with our design team colleagues from concept stage to develop an energy strategy which includes the following key features:

Off-Site Manufactured Timber Frame System
Enhanced Fabric U-values
Thermal Bridging Anlaysis
Triple Glazed Windows
Zero Direct Emissions Heating Solution
Thermal Storage
Wastewater Heat Recovery Systems
Solar PV

19.8 kWh/m² Average Annual Space Heating Energy Demand
40.59 kWh/m²/year Total Energy Load
30.1% On-site Energy Generation
16.46 kgCO2/m² Carbon Emission

2025 Scottish Home Awards Winner: Housing Regeneration Project of the Year
2025 Scottish Design Awards Winner: Silver Award
2025 Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) for Scotland Awards Winner: Best Project Winner
2025 Homes for Scotland Awards Winner: Affordable Development of the year Medium

______ Design Team

Glasgow City Council
Govan Housing Association
CCG (Scotland) Ltd
Collective Architecture
G3 Consulting Engineers