In Glasgow in 2015, 4 hospitals were in the process of closure. Each of these complexes enjoyed spectacular if not unique topographic situations within the city. The Mackintosh School of Architecture’s Year 4 students undertook an Urban Housing project which explored issues of redundancy, reuse, conservation and the potential nature of new construction within these expansive and challenging areas of urban land, and their connections to the surrounding context.
This group project proved successful in introducing, familiarising and opening up the city for study. The scope of the project oscillated between an expansive overview in the formulation of strategic design propositions, and the selected detail of built form and landscape. The development of environmentally and socially responsible propositions was examined and the creation of new neighbourhoods were rooted in thorough research and an understanding of context and community.
The former Victoria Hospital site, on the southside of Glasgow, is currently being redeveloped with 413 flats, offices, retail and public realm work currently under construction. This paper, through comparative analysis of the alternative hypothetical outcomes developed by students and the completed output designed by Collective Architecture, analyses and reflects upon key design strategies. In addition, we investigate whether real-life constraints have significantly altered the design outcomes that were originally intended.
This paper reviews the unique position afforded to both architectural education and practice and considers the opportunity to learn how to develop more socially and environmentally responsible neighbourhoods which connect to and build on an existing rich context.