The designs were all drawn up by Glasgow-based professionals and were displayed at a PechaKucha-style presentation event on Tuesday 26 May, organised by a group of city planning students from the University of Glasgow, at the university’s Boyd Orr Building.
The event sought ideas to reimagine the site, which remains cordoned off following the fire in March. The fire started in a vape shop and caused the partial collapse of the 175-year-old B-listed structure at Union Corner.
The original building was designed by James Brown of Brown and Carrick in 1851 for Francis Orr & Sons.
The Union Corner building on fire in March, credit Vyromedia
Participants presented designs inspired by the site location as an icon of the city centre, Glasgow’s ‘temperate rainforest climate’, and the hosepipes used in March to fight the fire with water from the Clyde.
Becca Thomas, director at New Practice, envisioned three different options ranging in scale, with the smallest prioritising security using display boards to protect the site, and the largest proposing public use of the site as a gathering and events space as well as housing greenery and planting pots.
Finni Porter Chambers, a spatial designer and researcher, similarly imagined a space for public use, including green planting inspired by the hosepipes used to tackle the fire, to create a rest and play area with water features and outdoor seating.
Pete Smith, an architect at Collective Architecture, submitted a vision for a community building open to all age groups to serve as a local landmark; while Duncan McLean, director of landscape architecture at LUC, sought to improve access to Glasgow Central Station with a new civic space providing space for shops, cafés, play areas and the free movement of pedestrians.
Jenny Le Masurier, graduate interior designer at MLA, presented a ‘living threshold’ concept, where the site would act as a point of relief for travellers, incorporating greenery as well as cafés and seating; and Felicity Steers, director at erz landscape architecture, blended ‘the green and the grey’ in a design inspired by buildings that are covered in, or entwined with, plant life.
Union Corner proposal by Pete Smith, architect, Collective Architecture
Source: Pete Smith
The event was organised by former Construction News journalist Charlotte Banks of the university’s Urbanism Society. She said: ‘After yet another devastating fire in Glasgow’s city centre, the city’s design talent has responded with a characteristic enthusiasm and creativity.
‘The range and originality of ideas shared for the site is a real testament to the city’s creative spirit. We are grateful for the time and energy participants contributed and hope the evening sparked a wider conversation about how we celebrate and take care of Glasgow’s historic city centre.’
The head of city centre regeneration in Glasgow City Council, Paola Pasino, addressed the event attendees after the presentations.
The council recently said, in comments made to The Glasgow Bell last week, that reconstruction work on the Union Corner site might not begin for five or six years, with a planning and consultation process likely to run until around 2030.
Earlier this month, council leader Susan Aitken expressed support for several redevelopment concepts, including a ‘grand hotel’ and options for new homes.