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Housing proposal promises to be a new magnet for Ibrox

May 21 2020

Housing proposal promises to be a new magnet for Ibrox
Merchant Homes have launched a public consultation to guide their approach to a significant residential development at Ibrox which will deliver 160 'Glasgow Standard' flats at the junction of Edmiston Drive and Broomloan Road.
 
Located on the Albion car park the development employs a distinctive horseshoe profile in a conscious evocation of its former life as a greyhound stadium, bringing the sporting heritage of the area to life with a four-storey tenement loop.
 
Employing red brick in tribute to the Archibald Leitch designed Ibrox main stand the curvaceous design consists of twin opposing horseshoe plan blocks of uniform brick bays capped by decorative arched windows.
 
Outlining the circular thinking Graeme Nicholls Architects wrote: "Historic maps show that the site contained a greyhound track with a ‘bowl’ footprint which we think would be interesting to express in any new development.
 
"Our scheme also proposes a monochromatic colourway for the buildings with their red hues matching the iconic Ibrox Main Stand."
 
All properties will be built to the 'Glasgow Standard' of accommodation with a minimum of 10% of the homes to be wheelchair adaptable, generous storage space and a minimum net floor space of 75sq/m for a two-bed flat.
 
An online public consultation event will be held on Friday 29 May between 1300 and 1600.
A consistent palette of red brick extends the civic treatment of the Ibrox main stand
A consistent palette of red brick extends the civic treatment of the Ibrox main stand
A section of the current Albion car park will be retained
A section of the current Albion car park will be retained

An interior running track will include landscaping by ERZ
An interior running track will include landscaping by ERZ

35 Comments

Starkitect
#1 Posted by Starkitect on 21 May 2020 at 10:58 AM
Mega ooft
David
#2 Posted by David on 21 May 2020 at 11:08 AM
Love this!
StyleCouncil
#3 Posted by StyleCouncil on 21 May 2020 at 11:18 AM
Be good to know who did the renders?
V good, esp' on the close up elevation with puddle!
Like the honest architectural approach and confidence...feels very in tune with context too.
Islands of sanity
#4 Posted by Islands of sanity on 21 May 2020 at 11:26 AM
Wonderful. Lifted my spirits this morning. I had a good look at that puddle too.
James Hepburn
#5 Posted by James Hepburn on 21 May 2020 at 11:34 AM
Stunning! It really shows how with a little imagination you can create something special. It really shows just how bad other Scottish house builders are. 10/10.
UR
#6 Posted by UR on 21 May 2020 at 11:36 AM
@3 - The visualisations were produced by Forbes Massie
Bill S
#7 Posted by Bill S on 21 May 2020 at 11:44 AM
Yeah I concur with the above. this looks great and a well thought out, contextually aware, response to the brief and site. Lovely renders as well and will be keen to see how the public respond.

It reminds me of Rosemount Square in Aberdeen, albeit at a far larger scale; itself inspired by similar large courtyard housing schemes in mainland Europe.
spike
#8 Posted by spike on 21 May 2020 at 11:47 AM
Like this , good on the designers to think in a more imaginative way
Damp Proof Membrane
#9 Posted by Damp Proof Membrane on 21 May 2020 at 11:58 AM
I think this is great. Some ambition at least. Would make Vienna proud.

One thing I'd suggest that in the flat light the buildings would really benefit from further articulation on the elevations. The brick itself is pretty flat in texture / colour, combined with the very restrained elevations it's going to look pretty uninspiring most days I fear.
K
#10 Posted by K on 21 May 2020 at 12:10 PM
I don't like it, at all. We'll no actually I don't mind the windows.

But the plan of this is not what Ibrox needs - another set of flats in whatever layout is not good for the area. It does not promote community. The tenements were better than this at least with them you only shared a garden outside space with six families not god knows how many...

Overlooked at 360degress if you are in the oval, no community garden to share planting - a swing set? Kids need more than a swing set and a climbing frame. And also the bluebells. So what happens in the rest of the year? No mature trees and the parking is done up across the road but that is currently fan parking?

Dedicated houses with driveways would work here, 3 or 4 bed or even family semis or four in a blocks with driveways and gardens.

This is beautiful architecture I'm sure and it's a lovely romantic idea but honestly I lived in the area for years and we had someone defecate in the shared stairway.
Mary Hill
#11 Posted by Mary Hill on 21 May 2020 at 12:51 PM
Love this. It's a delightful cross between Bruno Taut's Hufeisensiedlung and the pomo brick flats on St Vincent Street
David
#12 Posted by David on 21 May 2020 at 13:47 PM
#10, houses with driveways? In an inner city neighbourhood just 6km from central Glasgow? No I'd rather that sort of low density "beautiful architecture" that you refer to is reserved for peripheral areas such as Darnley and East Kilbride where no one actually has to look at it.
Matthew Benians
#13 Posted by Matthew Benians on 21 May 2020 at 15:46 PM
Brilliant. Love the reference to the sites historic use as a greyhound track. Exceptional well done GMA. I've never been compelled to post a comment. . . until now.
The Bairn
#14 Posted by The Bairn on 21 May 2020 at 17:05 PM
Looks great on first impression, although a little too close to a major footy stadium for my liking unless of course you are a season ticket holder then perfect for you!! Just lacking a few items to deter the casual ned from trespassing.
#10 reports of defecation are all too common around sporting venues with too many desperate people and too few public conveniences available.
Lovely housing scheme but wrong area I fear.
nathan wright
#15 Posted by nathan wright on 21 May 2020 at 17:08 PM
Can't believe the comments to be honest. So in 2020 it is acceptable that only 10% of the accommodation will accommodate a wheelchair user - and nobody sees fit to comment on why exclusion on this scale is permissible. Instead the minds are concentrated on puddles and bluebells !

As for the 'architecture' - utterly banal and baffling. Why base it on a greyhound stadium given that these were designed for greyhounds and not people ?
Presumably if it had been an abattoir we'd have had a landscape plan with red coloured water features to represent rivers of blood in order to satisfy the ambiguous "context" mantra.
Simple question - which of the flats would you live in and what makes it so special for you compared to the others ?
nathan wright
#16 Posted by nathan wright on 21 May 2020 at 17:37 PM
Was wondering why they didn't try and break up the facade with flats being grouped more. However I've been reliably informed that one of their neighbours objected to having nine in a row followed by a long gap........
town planner
#17 Posted by town planner on 21 May 2020 at 18:39 PM
V elegant. Well done!
E=mc2
#18 Posted by E=mc2 on 21 May 2020 at 22:51 PM
Looks like McCaigs Folly in Oban
Glasgow Bob
#19 Posted by Glasgow Bob on 22 May 2020 at 05:17 AM
#18 agreed, even more so when the local hoardes smash the windows for a bit of match day shopping..
chipfat
#20 Posted by chipfat on 22 May 2020 at 09:07 AM
A refreshing change from the housing typology that's become the norm in Glasgow...

...but at risk of being as soulless as GNA's Ashtree Road project. As it stands that back court will be a souless, overlooked space with noise bouncing along the facade. Take out the play equipment and fill the backcourt with trees and natural play, a far more stimulating environment for children.
Nairn's Bairn
#21 Posted by Nairn's Bairn on 22 May 2020 at 09:57 AM
Now #19 Glasgow Bob, that's not fair - everybody knows McCaig's Tower never had windows (the apertures were to take statues).

I like this - I like the boldness, the space per flat, the implied quality of detailing and the likely sense of community it will generate. 10% wheelchair accessible is very good too.

My one reservation might be that the central recreation area might feel slightly oppressive to use given how many flats look on to it (that 'sense of community' backfiring), but for families with young kids it's great - a modern-day return to the traditional tenement yard setup, something people have long been wistful for.

If the developers are not careful this could end up TOO good, and those further down the pecking order will get priced out by middle class singletons, second home owners or Airbnb investors (if that will still be a thing post-lockdown). I hope not, as this looks like it will be a quality environment.
David Britten
#22 Posted by David Britten on 22 May 2020 at 11:49 AM
These look like the same design ideas they tried in the projects in the US. They are a terrible design and led to a rise in crime and drug dealing in the US. Why are we trying to repeat those mistakes.
nathan wright
#23 Posted by nathan wright on 22 May 2020 at 12:07 PM
Don't they teach urban design at universities anymore ?

Redolent of 1960s Swedish housing design which wasn't exactly a rip-roaring success despite having an amazing environment to build within.
David
#24 Posted by David on 22 May 2020 at 13:59 PM
Reminds me of Ricardo Boffils Paris disaster schemes...
Maximus Decimus Meridius
#25 Posted by Maximus Decimus Meridius on 22 May 2020 at 19:18 PM
Ach, I'm no buying it.
Why is a symmetrical Hippodrome morphology proposed for a site with intrinsically different architectural site conditions?
Accordingly, will there be an acknowledgement of orientation in the typological layout of the flats?
Not too sure about the 'rationalist' ethos behind the aesthetics. More suggestive of a corrective facility or a state asylum than a celebration of domesticity and all that entails.
And then there is the question of 'genius loci' and 'deus ex machina' to say the least.
Please note: Ibrox, glasgow is not somewhere in northern Italy in the late eighties.
But hey ho, what the hell, it 'looks' good?
Glasgow Bob
#26 Posted by Glasgow Bob on 22 May 2020 at 20:01 PM
#21 '....sense of community...' I thought you'd be against these gated communities? To maintain any semblance of decorum you'll need 9ft high fences with razor barbed wire at openings to deter none communitarians....
Zoltan
#27 Posted by Zoltan on 23 May 2020 at 10:45 AM
No commentary on proposed housing mix, type? Surely of interest to the local community - probably more so than the architecture. Can the proposed form and expression accommodate flexibility of say GF family units with private outdoor space as well as the no doubt ubiquitous 2 beds
Albert Speer
#28 Posted by Albert Speer on 23 May 2020 at 17:56 PM
I quite like it.
Mussolinni
#29 Posted by Mussolinni on 23 May 2020 at 19:01 PM
Greata developmenta buta the neighboursa are a scuma
Nairn's Bairn
#30 Posted by Nairn's Bairn on 25 May 2020 at 11:41 AM
@#21 Glasgow Bob: Will it need to be gated? As with any urban flatted/courtyard development there is a risk of vandalism I suppose, but a suitably-positioned CCTV installation should help ward off the neds.

(Do neds still exist? Or have they all grown beards and turned into LP-carrying hipsters these days?)
Jane Jacobs
#31 Posted by Jane Jacobs on 25 May 2020 at 14:32 PM
What about creating people-friendly streets, green / blue infrastructure etc. The massive car park between the building and the public realm is fairly lowest common denominator stuff.
Glasgow Bob
#32 Posted by Glasgow Bob on 25 May 2020 at 14:41 PM
#30 CCTV does not stop neds.....but if you want to watch neds urinate in the back spaces so be it (whatever floats your boat..), but gates would prevent their entry in the first instance.
The Bairn
#33 Posted by The Bairn on 26 May 2020 at 13:20 PM
'If you build it, they will come'....hopefully future students for the interesting new architecture not the neds attracted to a old school sporting giant.
Liubov
#34 Posted by Liubov on 27 May 2020 at 22:19 PM
Just wonder whether any pedestrian crossings have been considered and discussed with transport engineers over the Broomloan Rd, as far as I remember there is just one wich is quite far away from the site closer to the junction with Paisley Rd W.
The site is locked between the busy roads, highway and railway. Would be interesting to see how the architects addressed this.
rm kartoffell
#35 Posted by rm kartoffell on 13 Jun 2020 at 02:29 AM
Looks great - one of the best designs ive seen proposed in Glasgow.

To the naysayers saying 10% wheelchair accesible is a bad thing - what percentage of the population do you think need wheelchairs? its less than 10% for sure.

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