Yasmin Ali

Image Courtesy A+DS

Architecture + Design Scotland hosted their fourth Design Skills Symposium, this year at the Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow, with site visits in Dalmarnock, Sighthill and Port Dundas. Planned as a learning event running over two consecutive full days for built environment professionals, the programme featured a packed schedule including an itemised itinerary for site visits.

Day 1 included a morning of talks led by opening address from Jim MacDonald, the Chief Executive of A+DS and a ministerial address from Derek Mackay, Minister for Local Government and Planning. Notably, many of the attendees were planners, several of whom had benefited from a primer workshop the previous month focusing on drawing skills.

The keynote address was given by Geoffrey London, a government architect from Melbourne who gave an interesting perspective on architecture and civic regeneration, introducing several innovative projects. London referred to some Scottish policy as being amongst the world's best practice in championing design policy and as a precedent for advocating good design. He spoke of several recurring issues common to major building projects and guides and mechanisms the local authority had implemented to remedy these. Of note was the new procurement relationship known as an alliance which obviates blame from all parties within the project by conferring shared responsibility amongst the client, contractor and architect. In the alliance, there are financial incentives for meeting targets to ensure key performance indicators are met. London also introduced fifteen buildings from his state, many as a result of international architectural ideas competitions. He also gave an illustrated talk on Melbourne's regeneration from an empty centre in the eighties, to a lively, youthful and vibrant city. He leaves us with to question whether Melbourne has become a victim of its own success, with disproportionate investor-owned central residential properties making it unaffordable to many young workers to own a property.

The talks were concluded by homegrown perspectives to pave the way for the event's site visits in the afternoon and the proceeding workshops the following day. Glasgow's approach was discussed by Clyde Gateway's Director of Development Martin McKay and Glasgow's City Design Advisor Gerry Grams.  Overall, the East End's transformation for the advent of the Commonwealth Games is a tale of optimism, but it's part of a wider 20-year Development Framework planned for the Clyde Gateway area. Gerry Grams spoke broadly of the discrepancies in quality of life and built environment between east and west neighbourhoods, and the aspirations for the East End, as well as a detailed look at the masterplan for the Commonwealth Games and post-games legacy.

// With Thanks to A+DS & My Pinkie Promise