IT IS the first image of a new office block which will transform the Glasgow skyline and have more workers under one roof than any other base in the city.

This is the £100million headquarters of ScottishPower which will accommodate 1900 staff across 14 floors, if the ambitious building pro-ject gets the green light.

The energy giant this week lodged plans with Glasgow City Council in the hope that construction work could begin next year.

ScottishPower wants to close its ageing South Side city hub at Cathcart and switch the workforce to a new building on the derelict site of the old Strathclyde Regional Council HQ at the corner of St Vincent Street and India Street.

The new HQ would also house workers currently based elsewhere in the city, at Yoker and Atlantic Quay, as well three other satellite offices.

The multi-million pound project comes several years after developers had planned to build Scotland's biggest skyscraper before going bust.

ScottishPower which became Spanish-owned five years ago has stepped in to breathe new life into that part of the city centre.

The move also reaffirms the energy firm's long-term commitment to Glasgow.

London property developer and investor Helical Bar Plc and its Scottish partner Dawn Developments would build what would be Glasgow's largest single-occupier office block. ScottishPower will not own the building but senior officials have signed a 25-year lease.

They hope their new HQ will be operational in 2015.

gordon.thomson@ eveningtimes.co.uk