June 12 2023

The unceremonious demolition of an exemplary house, launched with great fanfare in 2010 as an energy-efficient blueprint for the future, has been met with anger from architects.

Built in 2010 in Laurieston by Urban Union for Glasgow Housing Association the Glasgow House was billed as a model of 21st-century energy efficiency but has ended its life as an echo of the cycles of destruction visited upon the Gorbals.

Designed by PRP Architects the family home harnessed innovative prefabrication techniques to deliver high levels of insulation with features such as sunrooms, all of which have been torn down with no attempt to salvage or reuse materials.

In a statement Chloe van Grieken, a member of Architects Climate Action Scotland said: "Residents, myself included, have been shocked to see this wasteful demolition of The Glasgow House without any effort made to deconstruct or salvage the materials for use elsewhere. Given we are in the midst of both a housing crisis and climate crisis I find this unacceptable and out of step with Glasgow's net zero ambitions.

"Whilst this was originally built to be exemplary of sustainable development, the developer has completely missed the opportunity to also create a prototype for sustainable reuse at end of life."

A spokesperson for PRP told Urban Realm that the practice had not been working in Glasgow for over a decade and had no knowledge of the demolition. Urban Union did not respond to a request for comment. 

6 Comments

#1 Posted by Ben on 12 Jun 2023 at 11:19 AM

Where are these same architects when a Victorian building is demolished, or threatened with demolition? Of course, silent. Glad we have Paul Sweeney MSP who seems to recognise the structures worth saving.

#2 Posted by GMan on 12 Jun 2023 at 13:40 PM

The plan had been in place for ages that covered this area, what were the complainers doing through all this time?

#3 Posted by Jimbob Tanktop on 12 Jun 2023 at 14:43 PM

#1
*Waves* Hello Paul Sweeney MSP

#4 Posted by Bob ra Builder on 13 Jun 2023 at 05:09 AM

These demolition companies are out of date as this should have been dismantled - wasn't there a demolition document to explain how to reuse the materials? sad too that central have missed an opportunity - blooter on lads.

#5 Posted by Demolition Dave on 13 Jun 2023 at 11:03 AM

But when new builds are zero rated for VAT why would you waste time and money on reclaiming second hand, only for the client to complain that it wasnt new !!

#6 Posted by G Spot on 27 Jun 2023 at 21:20 PM

@GMan, complainers? Where was it mentioned that it was being demolished? Clearly not advertised proper, what happened to protecting the carbon footprint?

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