Glasgow's 19th-century faded-red wharves are soon to be refreshed by architect Zaha Hadid's GBP50 million (HK$785 million) Riverside Museum. It will join existing projects such as the Clyde Arc, which has curled its bowstrings over the river since last year. Although tobacco and sugar are no longer traded in the area, there's still plenty to stock up on in today's design-conscious Glasgow and most of it is just as addictive.
One of the best places to head to is the Princes Square shopping centre. Inside this restored listed building is more aestheticism in the romantic shape of Fifi and Ally (unit 51, Princes Square, 48 Buchanan Street, tel: 0141 229 0386), which has fashion, food and ceramics. For something more minimal take the open lifts down to the ground floor and Dwell (unit 3, Princes Square, tel: 08700 600 188). Its glossy, wide, three-drawer cabinet in shiny black (GBP95) would make a compact centrepiece while a cube-based floor lamp (GBP225) will light up your living room.
Opposite Princes Square is the Mackintosh Willow Tea Room (97 Buchanan Street, tel: 0141 204 5242), where you can admire the original works of Scottish art nouveau designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Step into another (converted) Mackintosh building, the Lighthouse (11 Mitchell Lane, tel: 0141 221 6362), for works by today's young British designers. Cat lovers will adore the angular light (GBP50) in the shape of a white feline that reveals the silhouette of a fishbone when switched on.
For more design steeped in the regional vein of humour and darkness there's Timorous Beasties (384 Great Western Road, tel: 0141 337 2622), which takes its name from a Robert Burns poem. Its wallpapers of insects and hand-printed fabrics featuring devils' faces join the far less sinister rose print (left, GBP72 per metre). You can admire the surreal designs while sipping a brew at The Left Bank cafe/bar (33 Gibson Street, 0141 339 5969), which also features the prints.
For more in Scottish design that would silence even loud-mouthed local chef Gordon Ramsay, visit Felix and Oscar (459 Great Western Road: tel 0141 339 8585). The Michael Graves' salt castor and pepper mill set in solid steel (GBP65) would be a sleek addition to any kitchen.
For the most encompassing glimpse of the city's design future, get back onto the Clyde River and take in the smoky glass cubes of the Radisson SAS Hotel, which is perhaps the best indication yet of Glasgow's modernist face.