Affordable housing drive delivers Royston residential infill
March 29 2018
Modelled on adjacent Victorian tenement blocks the chosen solution employs monopitch roofs angled at ten degrees in order to add mass to the principle Glenbarr and Rymer Street elevations.
Detailing this approach the architects wrote: “The form along Glenbarr Street is a simple yet modern interpretation of the classic Glasgow tenement, with a central close and 8 flats arranged almost entirely symmetrically either side of this common stair.
“Blocks are stepped back to create interest, increase privacy from car parking in front & to generate planting opportunities, while blocks on the right of the close are lifted off the ground slightly to reflect the topography of the street, reduce the size & severity of retaining walls & to again afford more privacy from parking areas in front.
“A large, almost entirely unbroken, 4 & ½ storey facing brick ‘fin’ signals the transition between Rhymer Street & Glenbarr Street. The angled profile of this fin is no mere design flourish but rather reflects that the Rhymer Street properties are a half storey above the Glenbarr flats & thus the close requires this additional headroom.”
Upon completion the L-plan build will complete the urban block using a neutral white brick.
The new homes respond in scale to neighbouring tenements
White brick has been selected to impart a 'light and timeless' quality
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8 Comments
#1 Posted by Timeless Mince on 29 Mar 2018 at 15:56 PM
Modelled on adjacent Victorian tenement blocks? Really!?
#2 Posted by Posh steak on 30 Mar 2018 at 07:03 AM
#1 would you rather it modelled on the nearby 60's council flats?
#3 Posted by RevMonk on 30 Mar 2018 at 11:54 AM
Great, that statement's got my bullshit allergy flaring up again.
#4 Posted by David on 30 Mar 2018 at 16:02 PM
#2 I would prefer the existing building to be refurbished instead of demolishing nearly 100 years of history for some prefabricated rubbish that could be found in any town or city in western Europe.
#5 Posted by Billy on 31 Mar 2018 at 13:32 PM
#4. With you on that. Have we learnt nothing from the sixties. We should be preserving our heritage. What’s the local councillor’s opinion?
#6 Posted by Posh steak on 1 Apr 2018 at 11:23 AM
Delivery of acute medical services has changed so this building is now surplus. Housing and in this instance social housing is now the requirement for the area. Looked at conversion and 10 flats could have been provided - only 8 suitable so demolish and move forward. Already enough buildings that deserve to be retained.
#7 Posted by Egbert on 3 Apr 2018 at 11:43 AM
I think the forms and massing are fine but what kills it for me is the on-plot parking at the front - at risk of sounding like a stuck record what is going on in Glasgow with sticking what are essentially suburban driveways in front of everything? It makes all the claims to tenement-style urbanism look pretty disingenuous. What happened to Designing Streets?
#8 Posted by "El" on 3 Apr 2018 at 14:19 PM
Shame that the existing building will be lost. It has a great deal more character than this.
But I suppose VAT free is a massive incentive to all clients to demolish the old and build afresh.
@ Posh Steak
I would have thought, with the size of the existing building, that GM could easily accommodate at least double the amount of flats that has been noted, no?
But I suppose VAT free is a massive incentive to all clients to demolish the old and build afresh.
@ Posh Steak
I would have thought, with the size of the existing building, that GM could easily accommodate at least double the amount of flats that has been noted, no?
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