I used to work in the Scottish megastructure once called the UK's most hated building - now they plan to knock it down

Those memories certainly aren’t all fond: it was draughty, rain came in the windows, you had to go down endless pathways to move around and, to cap it all of, the office roof once caved in.

And that was after we had moved to a prime location in the centre, supposedly away from all the water ingress.

Planned in the 1950s and built in the early 1960s, the building designed to be the heart of Cumbernauld new town was a ‘megastructure’ – a single structure with a range of different uses – and included shops, offices, civic buildings, a bus station, hotel and apartments.

Yes, believe it or not, there was even penthouse living in this new metropolis. But the residents quickly found out the downside of living in homes on the top of a giant building, itself built on the top of a hill, and the wet Scottish climate.

However, the building can boast a royal opening with Princess Margaret doing the honours. Strangely, I can find no note of her thoughts on the centre.

I had only worked in journalism for six months when I was transferred to be the junior reporter on the Cumbernauld News.

Before then my only experience of the new town was driving past or should I say being driven past. With no licence under my belt at that stage, it meant getting the bus and making my way from the bus stop to the office added a new adventure to my journey.

Thankfully considerate colleagues quickly offered to give me a lift.

Every morning we would arrive in the bowels of the building where there was a vast car park and make our way up to the main shopping level. Now you would think that would be the perfect level for a newspaper office but no, the designers said shops and banks only.

This meant our staff – and our many customers – had to make their way up four ramped walkways to the next level. I can still visualise them decked in that red brick paint that was used in so many buildings at that time.

Yes there were lifts … but when you saw the state of the rest of the building, it was usually considered safer to walk.

But the journey still wasn’t finished as we had to got through a set of glass doors – from memory there was no signage so lost souls were regularly found wandering about – and then we went down another set of stairs till we finally reached the office.

The building was also designed with so many public spaces on the upper levels, including the library, town hall which hosted everything from weddings to the district court, and the new town corporation’s workers’ social club.

After years of pleading for a move to be on the shopping level to be nearer to the public we finally moved into what we all thought was a prime location. It was a corner site which linked the original centre and the second phase which had now been built.

However, what we didn’t factor in was it was built over the dual carriageway which runs through the heart of the centre. Couple that with some dodgy double glazing and we were still sitting at draughty desks, often with raindrops quite literally falling on our head.

Which brings me to the time the roof fell in: granted there had been some stormy weather but it was time to pack up our desks and typewriters – yes, it was that long ago – and relocate, albeit temporarily.

While the centre has been labelled ‘most hated” and twice received the Carbuncle award for being “the most dismal town in Scotland”, at the time of its construction, it won recognition as an outstanding example of town centre planning and modern innovation.

Its future has been under debate for the last decade and has now been bought by North Lanarkshire who have announced a major regeneration project which will see the centre demolished to be replaced by a “town hub”.

With that news came consultation by Historic Environment Scotland over whether the building should be listed.

Following the review, the body said: “We have considered the case for listing and have found Phases One and Two of the Town Centre meet the criteria of special architectural or historic interest. This is because the building is an early exemplar of its building type, known internationally as an icon of post-war megastructural design theory. We note that the structure and the plan form of the original phases are largely intact despite later additions and alterations.

"But while we have found the building to be of special interest in listing terms, we have also decided not to proceed with listing at this time.”

This removes a hurdle for the local authority who have announced demolition will begin in 2027 when the newest phase will be demolished.

Therefore, it seems within ten years the building we all know, but perhaps don’t love, will be no more.

Yes it was soulless, and in parts still is, but it also had a heart and that came from all the people who have worked and lived in it over the years.