April 2 2020

Holmes Miller Architects have unveiled the ‘missing link’ in Charles Wilson’s Park Circus urban set piece with the completion of an outer concentric ring of apartments.

Park Quadrant has been dubbed as the final piece in the jigsaw for the area and delivers 98 apartments following a ‘kit of parts’ that follow visual design rules established by its neighbour.

This saw the team juggle plot width, apartment area, plan depth, ceiling heights, orientation and aspect to arrive at an optimum arrangement of accommodation which maximise value.

In a blog post detailing their work Holmes Miller Architects wrote: “A project of this level of importance, within one of the key conservation areas within the city, brings with it a myriad of exciting challenges, along with intense scrutiny, debate, resistance and of course differences of opinion.

“The approach to the elevation treatment was to respect, but not copy the existing buildings.”

A requirement for off-street parking proved to be particularly challenging, resolved through manipulation of the hilltop topography to sink parking bays below a communal landscaped garden which runs the full length of the site.

Full completion is expected to take place later in the year.

15 Comments

#1 Posted by James Hepburn on 2 Apr 2020 at 16:05 PM

It has struck local residents that after decades of planning permission being turned down, that it was a coincidence that this blight on the landscape received permission in the dying days of Glasgow Council's outgoing Labour Administration. There never was a 'missing piece' in the development of Park Circus and its a disaster that we have lost the forested space that was torn out to make way for this carbuncle that has been thrown up. Holmes Miller's attempt is clumsy and jarring and their lack of empathy for the fine surrounding Victorian architecture shouts out from every angle.If you buy one you will simply be looked upon in the same manner nouveau riche people are.

#2 Posted by StyleCouncil on 2 Apr 2020 at 16:27 PM

The top floor eaves detail on the 'exuberant' penthouses is appalling.
600mm of wrinkly, cr4p zinc...zero finesse or skill.

#3 Posted by Substance over Style on 2 Apr 2020 at 16:31 PM

The execution of this has been dreadful.

They are only showing you small, well chosen parts of the development as the build quality has been so poor.

#4 Posted by Neil on 2 Apr 2020 at 17:20 PM

#1 Your comment is conspiratorial, hyperbolic and reeks snobbery. Old money, eh? On an urban level the missing piece makes complete sense. As for the lost ‘forest’, if only there was a park nearby that the local residents could use in its absence... jeezo.

#5 Posted by monkey9000 on 2 Apr 2020 at 17:27 PM

Snob alert! Meeemawww

#6 Posted by Charlie_ on 2 Apr 2020 at 18:17 PM

Well said, Neil.

#7 Posted by Steve Jobs on 3 Apr 2020 at 08:01 AM

#1 wow! without having seen the development my initial reaction to the UR post photos was positive...scratch head...what do I know?

#8 Posted by George on 3 Apr 2020 at 08:53 AM

#1 - Gracious, this lockdown has obviously been getting to you, go outside and get some fresh air man! Aside from the roof element I think this is a really nice build that does actually finish off the missing link. And with the huge Kelvin Park outside its front door I think that the 'disaster' you mention is slightly exaggerated. Lets also leave the politics out of this architectural discussion as you make it obvious as to your political leanings...

#9 Posted by Pablo on 3 Apr 2020 at 09:05 AM

Overpriced: Yes
Design: OK at best
Quality: errr nope

This is not a development that will stand the test of time

#10 Posted by Sven on 3 Apr 2020 at 09:14 AM

Its a modern take on the Victorian crescent and works well apart from that roof line.

#11 Posted by Chris on 3 Apr 2020 at 10:58 AM

NIMBYism aside, this isn't a great project.

#12 Posted by spike on 3 Apr 2020 at 11:55 AM

I'm glad to see this development nearing completion, it's a high quality scheme and will bring in high income households to the city centre which will add to the regeneration of the city. It may even help with the conversion of some of the neighbouring offices reverting back to their orginal residential use

#13 Posted by Tom Manley on 4 Apr 2020 at 11:22 AM

Glasgow needs more reinterpretations and contemporary and imaginative responses to its traditional built form. The roof line is perhaps the best bit of this! This looks like a step in the right direction, and hopefully will age gracefully a darn sight better than a lot of bland buff brick blocks that have no sense of proportion.

#14 Posted by B. Fuller on 8 Apr 2020 at 15:45 PM

When is a gap site not a gap site?
This so-called 'missing link' was developed as a communal pleasure garden in the late 1800s. It was purchased by GCC via CPO in 1981 and closed to the public. So let's all stop swallowing the marketing bumf that describes this as the glorious completion of an unfinished masterpiece. And the fact that there is a big park nearby doesn't negate the fact that wildlife is undergoing catastrophic decline due to, that's right, habitat loss. But hey, 100+ year old lime trees don't make the rich richer.

#15 Posted by Mr Walker on 9 Apr 2020 at 11:37 AM

Having wandered the majority of the west end during lock-down I do wonder looking at this if it fall short in 20+ years time as a lot of others have, this is a sensitive area and although they have used a nice finish (minus the 'yawn' zinc) the actual extrusion of the front facade is somewhat lacking.

Anyway, looks good just now and I am sure some rather well off people will be happy to throw money at it!

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