Yorkhill

The social value delivery approach for the mixed-use development plan for the closure of Yorkhill.
Case Studies

Project Overview

This case study is featured in UKGBC’s report, A Guide for Delivering Social Value on Built Environment Projects.

Since the opening of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in June 2015 several NHS properties across Glasgow have been declared operationally redundant. The resulting consolidation of NHS facilities will result in Yorkhill Hospital, the former home of the Queen Mother’s Maternity Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children being permanently closed.

The impending closure of Yorkhill, and its prime location by the River Clyde, has seen it become a prime candidate for development. The initial development proposal produced Michael Laird Associates (with support from AECOM and JLL) promotes a mixed-use development masterplan incorporating the following:

  • Significant amounts of new public realm that will be linked to the existing context and site surroundings and will provide a distinctive and active pedestrian environment that will encourage social interaction and local spending within the masterplan area.
  • A series of new and engaging pedestrian accesses through the site making valuable connections to the North, East, South, and West.
  • New commercial frontages along Old Dumbarton Road with a suitable scale to ensure a vibrant new street edge is created. To inform the masterplan, JLL developed a toolkit that will be used to assess and report the socio-economic value of proposed development options against the project’s priority social value outcomes.

What makes the project interesting? 

  • The bespoke socio-economic toolkit helped to focus the design process.
  • The potential socio-economic contributions of Yorkhill are being discussed alongside more traditional economic contributions such as construction value.

Future considerations: 

The Yorkhill masterplan is currently awaiting approval. However, prior to the final approval and implementation of the masterplan a solution to the relocation of the residual clinical services remaining on site needs to be determined. This revaluation of clinical services will be considered in terms of the initial outcomes derived from the toolkit and will support the evolution of the masterplan.

UK availability

Yes

Date added

Oct, 2022

Project partners

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (Client), Scottish Futures Trust, Michael Laird Associates (Masterplan), JLL (Consultant), AECOM (Consultant)

Project status

Design

Related members

JLL

Approaches Used

Identifying priority stakeholders

  • Prior to commencing work on the toolkit, Scottish Futures Trust had entered into early stakeholder engagement and a review of local, regional, and national strategy.

The information gathered during early engagement and the results of the strategy review were used to develop a draft list of potential socio-economic outcomes for the site (Step 4). The list of socio-economic outcomes was then used to create the toolkit.

Understand stakeholder needs

  • Data for the Anderston/City/Yorkhill ward (Ward 10) was used. Where this was not available, data for Glasgow City has been used. When ward or Glasgow-specific data was not available, Scottish averages were used.
  • A hierarchy of data was established to ensure the toolkit is robust. Data from Scottish Government and the National Records of Scotland (NRS) and contracted sources (such as ScotCen) were first-choice data sources followed by other official sources, such as the ONS, and third-party research from credible sources such as The Red Cross and the Trussell Trust. As much as possible, data from recent years was used.
  • As often as possible, the toolkit compares data from Glasgow to that of the Scottish average, or that of a UK or Great Britain average.
  • To spot trends and track progress, data was plotted over time.

Put in place a social value measurement framework

  • Based on the data, recommendations were made on the changes that can be made to the existing Yorkhill masterplan, as well as the construction, detailed design, and operation of the completed project.
  • A bespoke report on the socio-economic context of Yorkhill with a full explanation of the socio-economic contributions and how they apply to the site and local communities was presented.

Key Sustainability Objectives/ Outcomes

The toolkit focuses on the following socio-economic outcomes:

  • Employment
  • Education
  • Greenspace
  • Gross Value Added
  • Accessibility
  • Safety

Related members

JLL

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