Quarriers detail epilepsy centre plans
February 24 2012
A spokesperson for Quarriers told Urban Realm: “The Scottish Epilepsy Centre (SEC) will be one of the most advanced assessment and treatment centres for the condition in the world.
“The location of the SEC on the St Kenneth Drive site in Govan means it is less than a mile from the Southern General Hospital and the world-leading Institute of Neurological Sciences whose staff will provide expert support to patients at the centre.
“The new building has been designed to incorporate residential and diagnostic accommodation on one level. This is to ensure the safety of patients for whom it could be extremely dangerous to navigate stairs due to epileptic seizures they may have during their stay of up to eight weeks. It allows patients to move around freely without fear of suffering serious injury.
“In addition, it will incorporate artwork, such as etched glass screens, in keeping with the work of Bruce and Hay, the Glasgow architecture practice behind Elderpark Primary School which stood on the site. Original cornerstones from the old school building have also been retained for use in the grounds of the centre.”
Existing perimeter railing will be retained
The new pavilion is scheduled to open in the spring of 2013
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8 Comments
#1 Posted by ian on 24 Feb 2012 at 13:08 PM
Good job they just appointed Dawn Construction to Build it !
#2 Posted by Spartacus on 24 Feb 2012 at 15:25 PM
Unleash the KEVIN!
#3 Posted by kevin toner on 24 Feb 2012 at 17:43 PM
The perspective images are a little misleading.
The ‘before and after comparison’ images make the centre appear bigger than it will be in comparison to the former school - or has conversely given the impression that the school was much smaller than it was.
I’m sure this was not the intention! Otherwise note ARB Standard 1: “Be honest...”
This is achieved by using the natural eye-line level for the proposal, but choosing to raise this datum for the ‘as existing’ perspective. The existing school would partly disappear off the screen in a true natural eye-line comparison. The ashlar front of the centre is therefore not around half of the height of the original stone frontage. It’s actually about a third of this.
I originally said this was too suburban in the preceding article, but now must commend the attempt to produce a redeeming overhang that points upward, i.e. because there’s nothing substantial immediately flanking the street frontage to either side. This will therefore continue to help keep/put onus on any of the surrounding redeveloped sites that have underachieved.
Other than offering welcome shelter, the overhang will help to
The commendable overhang will help obscure the centre’s suburban nature provided that the CGIs are not manipulations and that its ridge really is or will be almost in line with the adjacent 4-storey tenement eaves. The multi-acting piloti will therefore be essential and hopefully won’t be discarded later to make for a cheaper and shorter overhang.
I don’t see cars infiltrating the site, which is also pleasing to see.
The ‘before and after comparison’ images make the centre appear bigger than it will be in comparison to the former school - or has conversely given the impression that the school was much smaller than it was.
I’m sure this was not the intention! Otherwise note ARB Standard 1: “Be honest...”
This is achieved by using the natural eye-line level for the proposal, but choosing to raise this datum for the ‘as existing’ perspective. The existing school would partly disappear off the screen in a true natural eye-line comparison. The ashlar front of the centre is therefore not around half of the height of the original stone frontage. It’s actually about a third of this.
I originally said this was too suburban in the preceding article, but now must commend the attempt to produce a redeeming overhang that points upward, i.e. because there’s nothing substantial immediately flanking the street frontage to either side. This will therefore continue to help keep/put onus on any of the surrounding redeveloped sites that have underachieved.
Other than offering welcome shelter, the overhang will help to
The commendable overhang will help obscure the centre’s suburban nature provided that the CGIs are not manipulations and that its ridge really is or will be almost in line with the adjacent 4-storey tenement eaves. The multi-acting piloti will therefore be essential and hopefully won’t be discarded later to make for a cheaper and shorter overhang.
I don’t see cars infiltrating the site, which is also pleasing to see.
#4 Posted by Another one bites the dust on 24 Feb 2012 at 18:11 PM
It is depressing to think that a fine Victorian building was demolished for the sake of this ridiculous aviary which was rejected by the Mongolian Ornithological Society on the grounds that it was insignificant and boring beyond words.
#5 Posted by kevin toner on 24 Feb 2012 at 21:33 PM
Presumably the photo was Urban Realm’s image and not ABC’s (?) Trustingly, the CGIs are genuine and not a guise for a smaller building or is it the other way round?
It appears to be scaled fine against the tall people, but looks over-scaled against the tenements despite the promise of height...
If it’s on site then it is either one thing or the other, I wonder which (?)
It’s either the height of the tenement’s top storey and therefore not ‘dreepy’-able on the gable; or vice versa, it’s ‘dreepy’-able on the gable and not the height of the tenement’s top storey.
To concede I’m sure it’ll be somewhere in between. Looking forward to seeing what size it’s meant to be!
How confusing, apologies!
#6 Posted by E to the M on 24 Feb 2012 at 21:40 PM
Scale is irrelevant. This is probably one of the worst planning decisions of all time.
#7 Posted by Fred Astaire Ate My Hamster on 25 Feb 2012 at 23:18 PM
It would be interesting to know why several giant redwoods are necessary to support such an unneccessarily overscaled - and frankly useless - roof overhang, and why they have to be deployed in such a random configuration.
Are vertical columns not "architectural" enough these days?
In a building purporting to help people with a severely debilitating condition, this arrangement appears less than sensitive.
If they reduced the size of the superfluous overhang and lost the deforestation factor there might just be a good building here.
Are vertical columns not "architectural" enough these days?
In a building purporting to help people with a severely debilitating condition, this arrangement appears less than sensitive.
If they reduced the size of the superfluous overhang and lost the deforestation factor there might just be a good building here.
#8 Posted by kevin toner on 26 Feb 2012 at 17:10 PM
I find the ‘redwoods’ to be the redeeming factor provided they’re scaled as promised. Again though, this monumentality isn’t coming across well in the above and confusing CGIs.
The polarity of an overhang in this area might be very useful to help tackle the scale problem etc.
Such an overhang would appear to marry well with the recent grey monopitches of the affordable housing development, one block away, by Hypostyle Architects [refer URL], but in an inverse way. This likewise applies to the very monumental sloped slate planes present at the other end of the block. I also recommend doing a Google Street-view to see how visible and expansive these roof planes actually are.
Another advantage is that it invokes a sense of the reasonably wooded environment. A long streetscape section through the park should reveal a rather successful elevation and one worthy of something national. There’s also a healing and well-being factor to wood.
Aesthetically, I’m not averse to the sloping of the columns as a symbolic reference to nature, rather than building, albeit trees are normally plumb. I’m not certain if there’s a definite structural advantage to them sloping since they’re not supporting/bracing anything substantial [in compression] on top. Perhaps there’s nevertheless a worthwhile bracing effect in tension. Calling all engineers!
The article says that work has started, so presumably an engineer has ratified/certified the structure.
I concur with the criticism over planning.
The replacement school location at Langlands Rd/Pirie Park grounds – formerly farmland – would have made an ideal location for this centre prior to officially closing the school last year. I won’t repeat why.
A relative who attended the residents meeting in protest raised an interesting point:-
“... ludicrous to demolish an active school while leaving others abandoned in ruin”, citing the [now GBPT managed] Broomloan Rd schools.
A rebuild in all its original splendour would be valid if it were possible as it would recover 1322* pupil spaces and would correct the council’s failure to conserve...!
[*sourced from : www.theglasgowstory.com]
The polarity of an overhang in this area might be very useful to help tackle the scale problem etc.
Such an overhang would appear to marry well with the recent grey monopitches of the affordable housing development, one block away, by Hypostyle Architects [refer URL], but in an inverse way. This likewise applies to the very monumental sloped slate planes present at the other end of the block. I also recommend doing a Google Street-view to see how visible and expansive these roof planes actually are.
Another advantage is that it invokes a sense of the reasonably wooded environment. A long streetscape section through the park should reveal a rather successful elevation and one worthy of something national. There’s also a healing and well-being factor to wood.
Aesthetically, I’m not averse to the sloping of the columns as a symbolic reference to nature, rather than building, albeit trees are normally plumb. I’m not certain if there’s a definite structural advantage to them sloping since they’re not supporting/bracing anything substantial [in compression] on top. Perhaps there’s nevertheless a worthwhile bracing effect in tension. Calling all engineers!
The article says that work has started, so presumably an engineer has ratified/certified the structure.
I concur with the criticism over planning.
The replacement school location at Langlands Rd/Pirie Park grounds – formerly farmland – would have made an ideal location for this centre prior to officially closing the school last year. I won’t repeat why.
A relative who attended the residents meeting in protest raised an interesting point:-
“... ludicrous to demolish an active school while leaving others abandoned in ruin”, citing the [now GBPT managed] Broomloan Rd schools.
A rebuild in all its original splendour would be valid if it were possible as it would recover 1322* pupil spaces and would correct the council’s failure to conserve...!
[*sourced from : www.theglasgowstory.com]
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