Threadbare is a print produced for the School of Design’s SHOPPING research cluster exhibition in Edward House, Sauchiehall Street, January/February 2025. The print visually represents occupancy, vacancy and active hours for units on the north side of Sauchiehall Street between Charing Cross and Buchanan Street. In doing so, it’s possible to see how the street changes from predominantly nighttime to daytime economies from west to east, as well as revealing the significant impact which vacancy and gap sites have across this section of the street.

Textiles offer many metaphors for the built environment. Buildings are said to have a fabric and some have curtains for walls. We talk of urban fabrics and these can be worn and torn.

Part of the past fabric of Sauchiehall Street was its many department stores. Places such as Daly & Sons (a part of which now forms Edward House, the site of our exhibition) were where you’d visit to buy your textiles. But today, with its many gap sites and void units, Sauchiehall Street is wearing thin.

This project weaves Sauchiehall Street into a data-rich tartan revealing its current threadbare state.