Monday May 18th 2026
The Arches
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Drew Sandelands
The company behind a £2.5m plan to convert the former Arches site into a bowling and games bar has secured licence changes which remove “dance events”.
Operating under the Lane 7 brand, the new bar is taking over Platform on Argyle Street, the events space formerly occupied by the popular Arches nightclub.
The owners, who run a similar premises, Level X, in the St Enoch Centre, have over 20 Lane 7 venues, including bars in Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
They offer bowling as well as arcade games and a range of activities like augmented darts, shuffleboard, ping pong and mini-golf.
Glasgow’s licensing board approved an application from the owners — Its All Food Group Ltd — to make changes to the venue’s premises licence on Friday to support the new operation.
They include the “removal of the reference to club style dance events” and allowing children to access the venue until 8pm, rather than 9pm.
Audrey Junner, the licensing lawyer representing the firm, said: “You have been addressed a lot over the last few years on the changing face of the night time economy and the move towards more entertainment based premises.
“Alcohol is very much ancillary to that entertainment in these types of venues. The Lane 7 concept is a perfect example of that type of operation.”
She added the owners are “very experienced at running this type of premises across the country”. “The project itself represents a £2.5m investment in the site and they are looking to recruit about 40 members of staff.
“I think importantly for Glasgow it means the preservation of a historic entertainment space in the heart of the city.”
Platform, sitting in the railway arches underneath Glasgow Central station, was a large bar, events and restaurant space. It had previously been home to the Arches, a much-loved nightclub which closed in 2015 after its licence was restricted.
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