January 25 2023

Clydebank's urban centre of gravity has been nudged back towards the River Clyde with the completion of 146 apartments for social rent at the former John Brown's shipyard.

The Queens Quay development by Mast Architects has been delivered on behalf of the Wheatley Group, Clydebank Housing Association and West Dunbartonshire Council and incorporates four ground-floor commercial units for Clyde Regeneration.

Part of a broader masterplan for brownfield riverfront land the homes align with the landmark Titan Crane, which terminates the view from Glasgow Road along a tree-lined boulevard.

Opening up the town centre to the waterfront the development is grounded by an extensive new public realm overseen by Raeburn Farquhar Bowen Landscape Architects which balances private interior courtyards, gardens and amenities with new public routes and seating.

Further high-density residential development is planned for the area to help reanimate derelict waterfront land.

Credits

• Contractor: CCG
• Civil & Structural Engineering: G3 Consulting Engineers
• M&E Engineers: Hulley and Kirkwood
• M&E Energy: Stuart King Architecture and Design
• Cost consultants: NBM
• Landscape: Raeburn Farquhar Bowen Landscape Architects
• Photography Keith Hunter  

4 Comments

#1 Posted by spike on 25 Jan 2023 at 15:54 PM

Glad to see this, the town desperately needs this investment
The main Dumbarton rd running through the town destroys any community feeling.

#2 Posted by Roddy_ on 25 Jan 2023 at 16:01 PM

Gosh.
The designers have gone to more effort than most - which is commendable - but they have over cooked it somewhat by seemingly thrown every architectural trick at it; angled facades,staggered juliet balconies,regular balconies, mono pitches, flat roofs, oriels, buff brick, white brick, metal cladding,stretcher bond, double soldier courses, triple soldier courses, cantilevers. It has tried to be playful but has ended up all a bit visually jarring, but perhaps one can forgive that given the intent to add some interest to anotherwise dreich stretch of road. What cannot be forgiven - and not the fault of the architects - is the poor articulation of ground floor public realm especially in image 2.Having the axial view to the Titan really ought to be a show stopper but your eyes are irretrievably drawn to that rather poorly designed expanse of block paving unrelieved by any articulation/greening or street trees. Will the occupation of the ground floor units animate and elevate the space? I hope so.
The Queens Quay Masterplan is peppered with flaws and the Design Code is pretty vague on many fronts- perhaps were beginning to see the first fruits of this.

#3 Posted by Billy on 27 Jan 2023 at 09:22 AM

Just a quick comment the locals have already named the view coming from Glasgow as the gulags and it's pretty clear why and I agree with the comment above why hide the Clyde and crane or is this only for the private sector when they move into the prime site still to be built next to the river which I very much doubt will be flats

#4 Posted by Roddy_ on 30 Jan 2023 at 15:15 PM

Per #3
I'm not sure in what sense you think the crane is being hidden? I think setting the street up with an axial view to the Titan is a sound urban move. It's just that the public realm- which should be a foil to the view- is pretty dreary.

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