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Demolition request made for listed Park Circus terrace

September 6 2010

Demolition request made for listed Park Circus terrace
Carrick McCormack McIntyre Architects, on behalf of Ashlar Estates, has applied for full planning permission to demolish 19 Lynedoch Street, part of a listed terrace within the Park Circus conservation area of Glasgow.

The applicant intends to replace the property with a new build structure to match the original, accommodating 14 one and two bed flats within the site footprint.

Ashlar states that the present condition of the sandstone facade precludes refurbishment, pointing out that if left unchecked the building could deteriorate to the point of structural collapse.

The new build will make use of matching sandstone and slate to marry with the rest of the terrace.

Park Circus is presently beset with some unsympathetic mews additions and the burnt out hulk of an earlier fire victim. Controversial plans are also in train for a new build terrace to the north of the estate, finally completing the original masterplan first drawn up by Charles Wilson in 1855.
Decay and opulence sit cheek by jowl
Decay and opulence sit cheek by jowl
Portions of the facade have eroded away, exposing the interior to the elements
Portions of the facade have eroded away, exposing the interior to the elements

9 Comments

Brian
#1 Posted by Brian on 7 Sep 2010 at 15:02 PM
So, wadda we do? It is 'part' of a listed terrace after all. Do we allow demolition? (The owners will let it fall into disrepair.) Do we insist on refurbishment? (It's too far gone.) Do we insist on restoration? (It's far too expensive.) Do we allow contemporary answers in a traditional space? Unless we insist on this building and buildings like it remaining ad infinitum, how do we propose to 'develop'? Did the Greeks protect the Parthenon?
SAndals
#2 Posted by SAndals on 7 Sep 2010 at 16:09 PM
You build as the Greeks would now, not as they did.
Give the job to Elder and Cannon and stand back and watch the awards roll in.
G Thomson
#3 Posted by G Thomson on 7 Sep 2010 at 17:14 PM
You apply sound conservation principles and pragmatism and retain the visual harmony of the terrace by replicating the building, if it really is beyond repair. Such claims often prove illusory however, when closely examined.

Demolition and rebuild is possibly more profitable than conserving the original.
Auntie Nairn
#4 Posted by Auntie Nairn on 8 Sep 2010 at 13:16 PM
Ignorant owners will always favour demolition and re-building over conservation/restoration as they (mistakenly?) believe that the restoration route requires a blank cheque whereas re-building (even a pastiche) is quantifiable. Agreed that Elder and Cannon (and many talented others) would relish the opportunity of a sensitive modern intervention here, but so many pages here demonstrate the ineptitude that prevails.
Off the Record
#5 Posted by Off the Record on 8 Sep 2010 at 13:43 PM
Just a stupid, internet comment lushes and world heritage trolls would always support conservation over rebuilding, I guess?
G Thomson
#6 Posted by G Thomson on 8 Sep 2010 at 14:23 PM
Why Auntie Nairn, I think someone has a case of mistaken identity and paranoia? Clearly Off the Record has been at the Mother's Ruin again. It does terrible things to your brain cells and standard of intelligent comment making. Is Glasgow a world heritage site anyhow?
Conservation of the building shouldn't be an open chequebook with the right architects. Did Elder & Cannon find it necessary to demolish and rebuild for Trongate 103 in Glasgow? Did Malcolm Fraser Architects demolish HBOS HQ on the Mound in Edinburgh? There are many other examples around of adaptive re-use.

The building doesn't look as though it is beyond rescue.
Auntie Nairn
#7 Posted by Auntie Nairn on 9 Sep 2010 at 13:15 PM
Agreed - with the right architects, conservation shouldn't be a blank cheque, unfortunately we all have experience of Clients who don't think that way, and as Time Team prove week after week, a Roman villa can be extrapolated from a shard of pottery, therefore nothing is beyond saving.
FRANK THE MAN WRIGHT
#8 Posted by FRANK THE MAN WRIGHT on 10 Sep 2010 at 10:10 AM
Don't be bringing Tony 'The Gimp' Baldrick in to this conversation, man.

MARTIN
#9 Posted by MARTIN on 18 Jan 2012 at 13:11 PM
I think the owners have allowed this to happen so they can slap up a block of flats, they should be prosecuted for allowing this to happen, this building should be saved at all costs,and the scum that are the owners need to be told no, and a compulsory repair order nedds to be put on them

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