Cameron Young
Although two distinct academic projects, it is my intention that the following works be read as one. The proposed housing and urban building sit on either side of the road, revitalising an otherwise neglected urban block in the neighbourhood of Thornwood.
A symphony of sheds
Two new performance venues and a music school are being proposed for Thornwood in the West end of Glasgow on the site previously occupied by Partick Grid Rationalisation Works. The structure of the substation would be retained and the new volumes will hinge on the corners of old brick shed in an ad hoc manner reminiscent of the idiosyncrasies and the messiness of the urban block.
This new assemblage of buildings would frame a park and garden to the North of the site and a public square at the southern edge of the block. The new public squares heighten civic awareness of the historical site at Thornwood’s edge. The ground floor of the performance hall also forms a continuation of the public square, blurring the boundaries between inside and outside spaces.
Housing across the road
With the replacement of the railways with the A814, the neighbourhood of Thornwood in Glasgow’s west end became disassociated from the river Clyde and consequently from industry. There are few intact tenement ‘blocks’ left in Thornwood with the neighbourhood having a strong precedent for accretion of different types of houses and buildings of mixed use. Thus, this research looks at the development of an eclectic site and suggests a strategy of urban repair along with new opportunities for housing in the city of Glasgow.
The housing sits on a corner site adjacent to the A814 which cuts a swathe through the neighbourhood of Thornwood. By positioning the building here, the L-shaped block frames the approach to Thornwood as pedestrians emerge from the underpass onto Meadow Road. As part of a wider urban plan for the rest of the block, Beith Street leading onto Meadow Road would be pedestrianised and a green link would be created between the courtyard community garden and Sandy Road community garden at the eastern edge of the block.
