With Glasgow emphatically securing the 2014 Commonwealth Games, easily eclipsing its nearest rival by a margin of 2:1, Progress Property have formed a collaborative partnership with Mace Group as construction manager & City Building (Glasgow) LLP for Construction Services at Dalmarnock Village. It is stated intention to develop an exemplar in ecological development with 1,000 homes for 7,000 athletes nestling in 40 hectares of verdant previously abandoned landscape at the Clyde Gateway. Housing stock will comprise a mix of apartments, townhouses, detached and semi detached houses which will be marketed for sale and rent in the games aftermath it remaining to be seen if Ian Simpson's services entail densification of ambition.
In addition to housing the Village will accommodate all ancillary services required of such an event producing a self sufficient community and introducing a number of key facilities foreign to present day Dalmarnock. These include a hotel, conference suites, security pens, media zones, shopping and entertainment facilities. The centrepiece of the Games will be a new stadium sporting two arenas under one roof, the 5,000 seat National Indoor Sports Arena and 2,000 seat velodrome with Sport Scotland HQ on a central avenue between, proposed for land adjacent to Celtic Park. These facilities will be accessible from the East End Regeneration Route, a new Parkhead train station and refurbished Dalmarnock station.
With demolition of four 24 storey tower blocks at 4, 40 & 50 Millerfield Place and 131 Allen Street and scores of corporation tenements Dalmarnock is now clear to host the Commonwealth Games rejuvenating the Dalmarnock area which presently resembles a ghost town. Demolition footage provided courtesy Zolita @ Flickr.
Opinion
Dalmarnock is full of latent potential, occupying a bend in the Clyde it enjoys a a semi rural aspect with much open space and a riverbank setting, if the Games can take advantage of this situation they will be spectacular. The city centre is minutes away by rail or bus and by 2009 the M74 and East end regeneration route should aid travel by car and of course now the Games.
What is critical to creating a genuine urban environment is restoration of the Edwardian tenements further down Millerfield Road. Pre war housing should be given utmost priority for grant aid as such homes constitute the very essence of Glasgow. The tenements surviving today have done so because they were rehabilitated in the eighties and nineties, although this is clearly futile if they are subsequently abandoned. The Games carry the carrot of a sustainable future for the area, the first such opportunity in a generation.
Prior designs
In design RMJM's Athlete Village concept is determinedly low density, perhaps symptom of the quantity of land available but also product of a generous proportion of green space, amenity and water features although designs have certainly been revised downward and contrast with the spectacular red herring at East One. The village is to be divided into 6-8 themed glens denoted by signpost and colour to aid orientation with a fleet of electric buses set to ferry athletes to the venues.
Site accessibility is to be catered for by the M74 extension and East End Regeneration Route (BLUE) alongside a possible reopened Bridgeton/Parkhead rail service (GREEN). The Indoor Athletics Stadium catering for the Commonwealth Games dominates. Photographs of the area are available in the East End Gallery.
Materials - Precast concrete panels with brick facing and granite cladding, PPL windows including coloured insulated panels
Height - 8 floors
Area - 13 acres
Commercial space - 550,000 sq/ft
Total homes - 400
Cost - £150 million
Location - Former College goods yard, bounded by High, Duke and Hunter Street
Status - Phase 1 planning submitted
Start date - Early 2007
Completion date - 2017 (2008 Phase 1)
Phase 1 will incorporate a 50,000sq/ft office block, 1,000 space multi storey car park, 190 bed hotel and housing. Successive future phases will add a further 500,000sq/ft of office space, 650 student flats and 400 homes. A hotel is scheduled for the High Street curve corner at plot A to make an urban statement with the rest of the huge site forming a green pedestrian corridor with canal, feature fountains and garden areas paralleling the Drumgelloch rail line. The proposed Crossrail extension at High Street station is a focus of the plans with New Station Street linking it directly with High Street.
Design philosophy follows the three archetypes of classical theatre, the comic (Gardens), tragic (New Station St) and rustic (Ladywell setting). In practical terms this results in a New Station Street that is a formal, sober avenue of reserved colour and architecture. Inset colour panels on garden elevations and a grill of waterjets sunk in paving provide the gaiety required of garden quarters whilst the setting of Ladywell is intended as timeless reflection of nature.
The masterplan traces site heritage by working with the original 18th century street layout whilst retaining the wall of the former goods yard fronting Duke st, historical significance is recognised through artwork and plaques. Construction of Blackfriars student accommodation has diminished potential for axial expansion of Ingram Street and is not accounted for in present plans, although not ruled out in the long term. The scheme borders but does not incorporate the grade A listed Ladywell business Park, Ingram Street masterplan and Great Eastern and should also complement the neighbouring Science Park and College Heights residential.
Opinion
A conscious effort to trace site heritage has created a somewhat retro feel whilst extensive use of brick, unusual for Glasgow though following the precedent of the Goods Yard, creates distinct identity. Dressing the car park in a mock warehouse skin has a hint of POMO about it but the High Street office block demonstrates ingenuity in working with the traditional to produce contemporary design. The scheme should come together in the landscaped pedestrian through route which promises to be an exciting addition to the city's public realm.
Dawn Developments are creating opportunity for new design talent in taking on a swathe of brownfield east end land, formerly home to a meat processing plant. When considered alongside the developers adjacent Collegelands proposal this open ended grid will re-establish a continuous urban area from Dennistoun to the Merchant City, a district of Glasgow lost to 1970's urban clearance programs. Bellgrove will feature a mixture of flats, townhomes and maisonettes capped with solar panels all with individually designed backcourt gardens with water features interspersed throughout and provision for a new supermarket within the listed former market sheds. A large public square will integrate Bellgrove Station with the development.
Materials - Natural sandstone, terracotta rainscreen and render
Height - 7 and 9 floors
Total homes - 111 (Phase 1)
Cost -
Location - Gallowgate, Spoutmouth, Molendinar St (Phase 1)
Gallowgate, Moir St, London Rd (Phase 2)
Status - Proposed
Start date -
Completion date -
Phase 1 will see two separate blocks linked by deck access around a triangular central courtyard. The taller 9 storey block flanks the Crossrail line, the smaller 7 storey block runs south wrapping onto Gallowgate. Each block terminates with curved forms at SW and NE points of entry and seek to address present weak street frontage by recreating a strong urban presence in the near east. Railway arches are to be refurbished with glass and steel to form an additional retail link. Phase 2 stresses the importance of improved connections by way of the high level Crossrail line bisecting the site. Building heights continue massing of the Mercat building but fail to breach it stifling skyline dynamism. A new civic space at Station Square will form the heart of the proposals.
Prior Designs
Early indicative proposals for an elegant tapering tower have been superceded as height gives way to bulk in the latest massing models, sacrificing visibility from Argyle Street and the Trongate.
A mix of flats, terraces, duplexes and mews homes for social and private occupiers are planned for land adjacent to Maryhill Locks as part of ongoing efforts to revitalise the canal corridor.
Xscape will incorporate a 200m ski slope, 12 screen Odeon Multiplex, bowling alley and restaurants. Works are underway on the first homes to win planning approval, Ferry Village.
Materials - Coloured Eternit panels with pattern transfers and Polycarbonate glazing (Business Units)
Cost - £250 million (Total), £2.6 million (Titan), £1.5 million (Business Units)
Location - Clydebank
Status - Approved
Start date - 2003
Completion date - 2010
The only grade A listed structure in Clydebank, the refurbished Titan is hoped to become an iconic new emblem for the town. Illumination forms a central part of the restoration, the engine cab and grounds will be bathed in white light with red emanating from within.
Four L plan industrial starter units finished to an unusually high standard thanks to public subsidy by Clydebank Rebuilt. Facades are patternated by a style known as Castle Stitch evoking imagery from the now closed Singer sewing machine factory and topped by polycarbonate light boxes.
Architect - Page & Park (Masterplan and conversion of listed former church into community centre), Holmes Partnership (Residential phases)
Height - 6 floors for blocks overlooking river and at focal points; 4 storey frontages to Richmond Park and main roads; 2 and 3 storey housing behind the main frontages.
Materials - Predominantly artificial stone (red or buff) and white render. Also panels of grey smooth render and some zinc cladding. No facing brick will be permitted on site.
Total homes - 1,275 (mainly flats, but with a substantial proportion of family houses). 144 social-rented houses will be subsidised to rehouse existing tenants
Cost - £200 million approx.
All aspects of development (except for property acquisition, 69 Glasgow Housing Association houses and grant aid to community facility) primarily funded by the lead developer.
Location - Rutherglen Road
Status - Detailed planning permissions in place for new road network and for Phases 1 and 2 of the housing. Planning applications under consideration for Phase 3 (150 houses, plus shop units and relocated allotments); for 32 houses at Silverfir Street; and for the upgrading of Richmond Park.
Start date - April 2005
Completion date - 2012
In addition to housing, shop units will be provided in the centre of the neighbourhood with community facilities, relocated allotments and major road diversion (including new boulevard) completing the mix. A family pub/restaurant will overlook the pond in Richmond Park which is itself subject to £2 million of improvements. The development will employ consistent use of colour (dark blue) for window frames, doors, railings, lampposts and street furniture, complementing an upgraded specification for roads and pavements.
Cost - £1.2 billion, £70 million (College), £29 million (Sports Facility)
Location - Wishaw/Motherwell
Status - Phase 1 U/C
Start date - Dec '06 (Phase 1)
Completion date - 2026, Summer 2009 (College)
Construction work is underway at phase 1 of Ravenscraig comprising a suburban housing scheme, Motherell College and a new regional sports facility. Sustainability is emphasised by providing employment opportunity, diversity of usage, specifying low carbon solutions, preserving habitat and encouraging public transport usage with a new interchange, walking and cycling routes. Design codes will be stipulated for developers to adhere to.
College accommodation will comprise a 5 storey teaching block alongside a cylindrical residential tower, designed to evoke the former Ravenscraig steelworks. The Sports Facility minimises dependance on artificial lighting by employing a serrated roof affording daylight penetration, metal bands that rise out from the ground to wrap the structure are a visual reminder of rolled sheets of metal. Biomass fuel will be employed along with rainwater harvesting.
Opinion
Ravenscraig has just overcome legal objections on grounds it'll exacerbate sprawl, opposition was centred on the development being classified as a town centre to circumvent strict out of town planning policy. Irrespective of the legal situation the scheme (just about) justifies its status certainly it’s preferable to a continuation of what's occurring already ie piecemeal ad hoc sprawl around the fringes of Motherwell and Wishaw, this promises to inject at least a degree of urbanity to a heavily suburbanized region. The plans have much to commend particularly in the breadth of facilities offered and infrastructural improvements, it is claimed that a 10,000 seater arena, multiplex cinema, church, schools, nature reserve and transport interchange via a Wishaw spur line.
Obviously the masterplan has serious failings, outdated traffic management (the road network with roundabouts have already been built ), low density housing and business units outside the city centre offer nothing new. It is also true that redevelopment of the existing town centres is much preferable but in the real world Motherwell/Wishaw will never raise £1 billion of private investment, the raw injection of capital here should percolate out to surrounding towns.
Original plans for a central tower are now gone and a sculpted roof designed to reduce wind shear at Motherwell College is no more.
Riverside Inverclyde : Published 09/10/06 Official site
Area - 120 acres (Total), 30.6 acres (The Harbours), 50 acres (James watt Dock)
Total flats - 3,200 (James Watt Dock) / 290 (The Harbours)
Cost - £342 million (Total), £45 million (The Harbours)
Location - Port Glasgow/Gourock/Greenock
Status -
Start date -
Completion date - 2020
Development focusses on The Harbours (pictured) which covers the former Victoria Harbour and East India Dock. James Watt Dock will be the largest of the Riverside Inverclyde regeneration areas. Development will also focus around Kingston, Cartsdyke and Campbell Street.
Total flats - 142 (The Timber Basin) / 176 (Mondriaan)
Cost - £14 million (The Timber Basin) / £8 million (Mondriaan)
Materials -
Location - Lochburn Road (Kelvin Quay) / Panmure Street (the Timber Basin) / Shuna Street (Mondriaan)
Status - U/C
Completion date - 2006
The Forth and Clyde Canal is being reconnected presenting many redevelopment opportunities, Speirs Locks being the most prominent, but many smaller schemes are underway such as Kelvin Quay faced in white render, Mondriaan which makes much of Dutch influences and Timber Wharf which attempts to harmonise neighbouring tenements with low density housing.
The Kirkintilloch Initiative is an umbrella organisation overseeing the implementation of a number of projects across the town, each aiming aim to improve amenity. An Arts and Cultural Centre , part funded by the Scottish Arts Council, is to be the schemes new centrepiece. The centre provides theatre and studio space alongside bar and restaurant facilities to assume real civic importance. The site augments Southbank Marina which is being transformed into a business and leisure park by provision of office space and a footbridge that connects both banks of the canal. Facilitating the success of these developments will be enhanced connections to boost accessibility. A new link road will connect the town to the motorway network and a series of pedestrian and cycle routes will be created open up areas in and around Kirkintilloch to leisure traffic.
Efforts are being mounted to redress the stagnant economies, population decline and peripheral isolation of the Irvine Bay area by tapping the economy of the greater Glasgow region through consolidation of business and residences to new commercial and waterfront centres, surplus land being turned over to parkland and mixed use development. Diluted impact from a geographic spread of investment is mitigated through creation of a coastal corridor interlinking the five towns through a series of 10 architecturally commisioned floodlit beacons exploiting tourism potential by economising the areas natural beauty. Commercial tree planting will be introduced to reduce exposure, define urban areas and facilitate recreation potential.
Key Features:
Stevenston - Beach sand dune landscaping, eco village, extreme watersports centre
Irvine - Links golf course and hotel, Magnum relocated to town centre, mudflats boardwalk, nature reserve, eco village, redeveloped riverside shopping centre, mixed use harbourside tower, maritime museum, civic prominence through expanded courts and police HQ
Saltcoats - landmark hotel on headland, coastal park, redeveloped pier
Kilwinning - Events space for fairs and markets, college expansion
Ardrossan - esplanade, residential towers on headland and marina, redevelopment of Montgomerie St council flats for mixed use
Opinion
Holmes's winning RIAS sponsored Saltcoats competition entry deploys stepping stone massing to bridge suburban volume inland by scaling proportions upward and rotating successive fingers through steady shallow degree in a gesture to primary seaward frontage. This mathematical consistency creates a rhythmic reference to the swelling waves of a seafront location whilst echoing the vibrant eclecticism of traditional beach huts and boats to forge a meaningful relationship between town and nature.
Barrhead Masterplan : Published 09/10/06 Official site
Masterplans
