Dramatic new design proposals for the area around the historic Speirs Wharf site in Glasgow have been unveiled as the latest stage in the long term regeneration of Glasgow’s Canal Corridor.
The three masterplan design options, which have been produced by the Glasgow Canal Regeneration Partnership (GCRP), follow an extensive, and ongoing, community engagement exercise which has seen local residents, businesses and school children input to the plans.
Speirs Locks is one of the highest profile and most visible locations in Glasgow and the £100M million proposals will make full use of this unique position to create a place with a distinct canalside identity where people will want to live, work and visit.
With it’s elevated position above Glasgow the site has the potential to become a ‘Balcony for the City’ with a mix of residential, commercial, leisure and canal uses combining to make this a truly inclusive location with a unique and vibrant atmosphere.
It will also be a visual delight – a combination of art, water, landscape, views and contemporary architecture, all positioned around and responding to the setting provided by the impressive listed warehouses of Speirs Wharf.
Although the three design proposals offer different masterplan approaches, they all have at their heart the creation of a unique destination for the City and all have taken account of the impressive views into and out of the site across Glasgow’s skyline.
The different options for the mixed use development include a traditional ‘courtyard’ setting based on a tenement style arrangement, and a ‘fingers’ approach which emphasises the connections between the City and Garscube Road up to the canal towpath. The third proposal sees green roofed ‘terraces’ sweep across the length of the site, positioned to maximise daylight and sunlight to private and public spaces between the buildings.
All the proposals can be viewed at www.glasgowcanal.co.uk. Following feedback from interested parties a finalised design option will be worked up over the coming weeks with a public exhibition planned for June.
Speaking on behalf of the Partnership, Gary Watt from ISIS Waterside Regeneration said: “It is important to note that each design option does not stand in isolation to the next. We would urge everyone with an interest in the regeneration of Glasgow’s canal corridor to take some time to consider all the options and then tell us the aspects that they like or don’t like in each. This will then allow us to prepare a
preferred design option over the coming months.
“This is a hugely exciting and important phase in the Partnership’s regeneration plans and we are confident that by engaging with those who live and work alongside the canal we can create a truly first class waterside environment for the people of Glasgow and for those visiting the City.”
The masterplan proposals were created for the GCRP by a team made up by Make Architects, landscape designers Rankin Fraser and artists KOAN3.
The proposals for Speirs Locks form one element of The Glasgow Canal Regeneration Partnership’s 20 year vision to revitalise 1,000 acres of the Glasgow branch of the Forth & Clyde canal from Port Dundas to Maryhill. The project was formed in 2004 and is a partnership between Glasgow City Council and UK waterside regeneration specialists ISIS, supported by British Waterways Scotland.
As part of the masterplanning exercises at Speirs Locks and Maryhill there are a host of smaller scale projects already being delivered on the canalside. A new canal basin was completed at Port Dundas in 2006 and a landscape link is now being developed from the canal to the City Centre. Lighting projects at the Whitehouse Bar in Maryhill and at Maryhill Burgh Halls are also underway while the Cowcaddens
pedestrian underpass has been transformed thanks to a unique new art installation by leading Scottish artist Ruth Barker.
