The Centre Cumbernauld - Glasgow

Emily W.

I really swithered about this rating. The Centre is set for demolition, a Brutalist monument to bad design decisions. However, I use the wonderfully staffed Wetherspoons (it's closing at Christmas and will be no more FYI) on a weekly basis and it contains some charities (like the wonderful Cumbernauld Community Hub and the Foodbank) that I really support. It's worth visiting to see some amazing liminal spaces but lots of the useful stuff is now across the road in the Antionine Centre. Having said all of that tihs is part of our built heritage. Come here and take some photos. Visit the pub and the wonderful charities that work out of it. Marvel at the Brutalist design. Wonder at how the local council (whose Council Tax I pay and feel abel to comment) probably will flatten and not replace a lot of what these buildings dreamed to be. The Centre is a thing. It's not a brilliant thing, but it used to be and could be again.

Chris M.

Variety of different shops can be found with the centre and newer shops like "Cherish Me Babywear" a laundry service & nail/beauty salons and to come a turkisk restaurant. All found near the old Royal Bank of Scotland.

All worth a visit......

Linda S.

Only good thing about this centre is the charity shops. Which sit amongst a ghost town. It was actually quite scary, it was that derelict. But the charity shops were cheap and cheerful. Really sad.... Sign of the times..

Rubén M. F.

Is the voted as ugliest building in the UK really so ugly? Well, first I would say that I am open minded, and I would add to that that I do not dislike brutalism. However, the experience of visiting the shopping centre was quite sad: from the car park up to the inner centre, it gave a pretty poor impression. I'd say that it needs a good amount of maintenance (ceilings leaking, or damaged panels, humidity stains, cracked paint).
Not that I found it empty, but both times I have visited there were only a few people, and few businesses had some clients. Besides, too many units are unoccupied or have been shut not long ago.
I found difficult to get a good sense of where to go once I was inside: loads of small ramps and stairs leading to slightly different levels, and so many corridors (some were even a dead end) gave me a sort of labyrinthic impression. A nightmare, for sure, to find your exit, especially if there is an emergency.
On the other hand, I found the place awkwardly attractive. You can definitely count me among the people who like the external shape with the famous long extension supported by a single column. I think that, after all, it has got some charm. I coukd see quite a lot of usual clients who know well how to navigate inside. I am sure that the centre makes their life easier, or they would not come often.
It seems to have a good net of public transport, too. However, I wonder how easy it is to walk to get here: I tried to walk from this to other nearby buildings, but I cannot say it was quick or easy.

Neil B.

This is distopian brutalism at its finest. A fascinating experience to walk round somewhere so broken and brutal that is somehow still hanging by a thread. A bleak place. I'm glad I got to capture it. But I hope the locals have a brighter future. It's really grim

Drew K.

What a baron place, throwback from the 80's buckets placed in mall to catch the leaks from roof, escalator wasn't working and we had a detour down the disabled ramp, was half expecting to get mugged.
Shame to see such a big shopping mall with such potential almost empty, it was clean enough, but virtually deserted place, I can't imagine how it survives.
Sign of the times as shopping trends changed to online now.

Richard T.

Don't shop here. Don't have coffee or tea or food here. If you spend a second longer than 3 hours, you will be charged for over staying in the car park.

It used to be you could talk to the centre or Tesco to get the ticket cancelled but not anymore.

Go and shop at Falkirk, or Glasgow Fort or anywhere else.

There's hardly any shops in here anyway.

Lisa M.

The best swimming pool in the town
On dry days we have over 100 buckets that can be used at the Twechar beach
But please bring them back as the centre needs them when it rains A+