Maryhill Housing – Phase 4

Consisting of thirty-three 3 and 4 bed terraced houses overlooking the River Kelvin Walkway, the project is the fourth phase of the Maryhill Locks masterplan and completes the urban block of Lochgilp treet and Whitelaw Street.

Date

2019

Client

Bigg Regeneration

Value

£4.8m

The buildings are arranged in a regular terrace which re-establishes the street edge, whilst breaking the terrace into four separate buildings and orientating these to be parallel to the Phase 3 development gives the appearance of a stepped building line, breaking up the monolithic quality of the block and ensuring that the building form is animated and interesting rather than solid. The space created along the street edge by the staggering of the blocks will be used to line the street with trees.

The building massing is designed to address existing hierarchies on the site; a higher scale to the block which is visible immediately upon arriving at Lochgilp Street, providing an anchor-point to the whole development, and a lower scale to the other three blocks where views are opened up to the River Kelvin, with these three blocks provided with private terraces which are articulated as set-backs to the building line. The flat roofline of the buildings provides a counterpoint to the articulated roofline of Phase 3.

A simple and restrained palette of materials, predominantly brick, is intended to complement the character established by Phases 1 and 3 of the masterplan, whilst the subtle detailing of soldier course bands will provide layers of visual interest. Large openings into the brick envelope, designed to maximise views to the street and the River Kelvin beyond, are accentuated through a full-brick reveal, creating relief and articulation along the view down the street. The fenestration to the blocks is intended to read as a repeating composition highlighting the modularity of the housing typologies.

Project gallery

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The Challenge

To create a community of high-quality residential dwellings on a steeply-banked site to reinforce the urban block and complete the surrounding masterplan, yet maintain the character of the adjacent River Kelvin green corridor.

The Solution

The design creates 4 split-level blocks which are staggered from the street edge to break-up the monolithic block. Each house has access to the street from ground floor and to their back garden and a shared communal space from first floor, with three-bed dwellings also incorporating set-back roof terraces.

The Outcome

Through close working with the developer, contractor and planning department, a high-quality and considerate solution to this challenging site was developed. Constraints became virtues by using the stepped section of the dwellings to engage with external space at different levels and maximise this space both in private and communal formats.