February 10 2022

The St Vincent Crescent Conservation Area of Finnieston is to welcome a new addition to the streetscape with the submission of plans for 15 apartments for Glasgow West Housing Association.

Coltart Earley Architecture has been appointed to lead the brownfield build which will repair a hole in the streetscape left by the demolition of a tenement at 6 Corunna Street in the 1980s, using an architectural style that is in keeping with the area.

Completing the urban block the development follows the established horizontal building line by mimicking stone string courses and entrance porticos, with timber sash windows, solid eave parapets, storm doors and cast-iron railings to burnish its timeless qualities.

The sole deviations from its immediate neighbour come from the insertion of an additional floor behind the main body of the elevation, achieved by reducing floor to ceiling heights to the modern 2.4m standard and the use of blanking panels within windows to hide floor plates behind.

A top floor 'penthouse' level is also included in anthracite grey zinc to ensure the project remains viable on a cost per flat basis, set back sufficiently to be invisible from street level.

The project is to be funded by a 30-year loan drawn against the net rent expected to be generated by the build, giving a budget of £2.1m and a maximum cost per unit of £140k. Grant funding of approx £72k is available for 'greener' social rented accommodation in urban locations.

In a statement, the architects wrote: "Coltart Earley Architecture have worked closely with Glasgow City Planning since August 2016 to deliver this high-quality scheme to complete this important Urban Wall Project.

"Overall, the proposed development has been designed to respect its historical context and to reflect, where suitable, the surrounding building details."

Services including refuse, cycle parking and storage are situated on the lower ground floor, which also provides access to rear amenity ground. 

9 Comments

#1 Posted by Everyone's a Critic on 10 Feb 2022 at 12:05 PM

Pastiche-ahoy. Thought we were passed this sort of thing?

#2 Posted by TheFakeArchitect on 10 Feb 2022 at 12:16 PM

I respect that the intention here is to mimic its neighbours and retain the form, however I cant help but think, squeezing that extra floor level in makes the first floor windows appear a little odd, which is exactly what the proposal is trying to avoid.

#3 Posted by juan de los angeles on 10 Feb 2022 at 13:32 PM

The intentions are to be applauded, i.e., designing and building a structure that intends to stitch in with its neighbours.

#4 Posted by Jimbob Tanktop on 10 Feb 2022 at 14:45 PM

That's a very decent solution for a site that's long been problematic.

#5 Posted by Easyket on 10 Feb 2022 at 14:48 PM

Lovely renders x

#6 Posted by Nairn's Bairn on 10 Feb 2022 at 17:03 PM

I like it. Appropriate, respectful and solid.

It won't win any prizes for cutting edge innovation, but to be honest who cares? Give me pastiche any day over some leaky, quickly-dating experimental ego-trip.

#7 Posted by E=mc2 on 10 Feb 2022 at 17:29 PM

I especially like the levitating cyclist. Best thing about the scheme

#8 Posted by Glasgow Bob on 10 Feb 2022 at 22:55 PM

#8 well done, but if you look closely the buildings behind. Try comment on that.
Decent responsive scheme. Well done.

#9 Posted by HMR on 11 Feb 2022 at 08:25 AM

If we need the extra floor, coudlnt they have considered a pitch with dormers or a mansard roof. the flat top box looks very odd at the top.

Render are very poor.

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