June 16 2023

Alternative plans to stave off the demolition of Glasgow's Wyndford estate are being aired at Archifringe during a three-day exhibition.

Fraser/Livingstone Architects are collaborating with a group of students from the Mackintosh School of Architecture, on behalf of the Wyndford Residents Union, to show how the blocks can be improved with minimal interventions, saving 600 homes in the process.

The team propose to punch a series of 'staggered openings' through the height of the towers to combine undesirable studio apartments into larger two and three-bed properties.

It is thought that alternating the position of openings from floor to floor might reduce loads on remaining concrete walls to an acceptable level, countering arguments by the Wheatley Group that a continuous opening would 'compromise structural integrity', although this would require detailed structural analysis to confirm. As things stand all four 25 storey tower blocks on the estate will be brought down by controlled explosion by April 2025 to allow 300 new homes to be built.

Calling for the viability of the alternative proposal to be investigated Malcolm Fraser of Fraser/Livingstone said “It’s not rocket science: there’s lots of nice things that could be done with the Towers and the surrounding landscape but instead of pretty pictures we are, first, questioning the fundamental 'fact' the Wheatley Group’s blizzard of reports are founded on: that you can’t adapt these buildings. You can! They are sturdy and useful, and can be standing there providing much needed homes long after whatever Wheatley want to replace them with has been sent to toxic landfill sites.”

The free exhibition takes place today in Maryhill Community Hub between 12:30 and 16:30, continuing on Saturday between 13:30 and 15:30. 

8 Comments

#1 Posted by Georwell 84 on 16 Jun 2023 at 10:06 AM

Good News!

#2 Posted by Matt McGinn on 16 Jun 2023 at 13:13 PM

'Ye canny fling pieces from a 30 story block'
The place needs family homes and as the song suggests - towers are not suitable for families. Not here anyway.

#3 Posted by Pedro on 16 Jun 2023 at 15:34 PM

Yet again architects missing the point. These towers or any towers are not suitable for social housing as people don’t want to live in them. They want housing that is equivalent to what the majority have - low rise,, suburban type housing., with gardens. They don’t want to live in some architect’s futuristic vision of housing. The only way these can be repurposed would be as mid market or even BTR type accommodation, when people can choose to live in a brutalist futurists city in the sky. But there is no way there would b demand for four blocks of this type in the Wyndford.

#4 Posted by Malcolm Fraser on 18 Jun 2023 at 13:10 PM

Pedro, I wonder if you could just pop along ang give the locals, who are leading this campaign and love living there, a good telling-off for daring to enjoy living in “some architect’s futuristic vision” and go live in the dumb “low-rise suburban” diddy-boxes that the Daily Mail - the Daily Mail! - reported only 15% would choose. If they disagree just tell them Pedro knows best.

#5 Posted by Peter on 19 Jun 2023 at 08:41 AM

@3 Make the area element-proof and people will be killing to get one of these flats. Generous location, park, botanic garden, 15 minute city at your doorstep. It actually applies to any given part of town - gentrificate the element asap and they'll come. As simple as that. Therefore leave suburbs to countryside where they belong.

#6 Posted by Shatner's Bassoon on 20 Jun 2023 at 10:06 AM

@ 4 - * some of the locals. An important clarifications

#7 Posted by Bill Cunningham on 20 Jun 2023 at 10:14 AM

#6 But more than returned the apparent residents agreement to demolish. Another important clarification

#8 Posted by James Hepburn on 10 Jul 2023 at 13:43 PM

I bet you won't find any architects or students from the Mac queuing up to move in.

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