Clydebank had become cut off from its greatest asset: the river. Great ships like the Queen Mary and the QE2 were built here, the work feeding the people, the railway lines feeding the work. But the shipbuilding has gone, and redundant yards and railways blocked the way. How then to reopen the river for the town, and begin the process of turning the disused, isolated strip of wasteland between the water and the tracks into a beacon for further investment and regeneration, and a location that inspires people for its present and future as well as its past?

Several issues needed resolving: the railway, a low bridge, soil contamination, flooding, protection of the natural heritage site opposite, sustainable drainage. Even invasive weeds. Winning planning permission was highly complex.

But it was done. More: there is now beautifully landscaped access to the river as a setting for prime office development. Austin-Smith:Lord has been involved since conceiving the project masterplan in 2004, right through to on-site delivery: the first of twelve prime office pavilions is currently being completed to our design. The multidisciplinary nature of the Practice has provided continuity through every phase. The project won the prestigious Roses Regeneration Award 2009.

Clydebank, just west of Glasgow along the river Clyde, has an extraordinary shipbuilding heritage. Legendary vessels like the Queen Mary and the QE2 were built here; the work was a massive source of employment, the riverfront totally given over to heavy industry. The railway lines fed the work, bringing everything required to build the ships. Now the shipbuilding has gone, and the disused yards and railways block the way to the river, effectively fencing off what should be a strip of prime land with beautiful views. In 2004 this land was derelict, abandoned, contaminated even. Clydebank was a riverside town that couldn’t get to its own riverbanks.

How then to reopen the waterfront, and begin the process of turning this disused, isolated strip of wasteland between the water and the tracks into a beacon for further investment and regeneration, and a location that inspires people for its present and future, as well as its past? This was the vision that our client, the Clydebank Re-built Urban Regeneration Company, wanted us to help realise when they commissioned us to prepare a masterplan for the site in 2004. At this stage the site was 19 hectares, and encompassed the entire Golden Jubilee National Hospital campus: the NHS were project partners with Clydebank Re-built.

The masterplan incorporated an expansion of the hospital car parking, extension of the riverside walkway, removal of redundant rail infrastructure to improve the public realm and provide a gateway to key redevelopment and business locations, and the regeneration of the waterfront to provide a mixed-use development incorporating up to 450 residential units and up to 11,000m2 Class 4 business use. Austin-Smith:Lord was then engaged by Clydebank Re-built to act as applicant’s agents for an outline planning application based on the masterplan.

This application was notable due to its complexity, and several challenges needed to be overcome in order to secure it. These included answering significant objections from Scottish National Heritage, since the opposite riverbank is the Inner Clyde Special Protection Area, a highly significant European natural heritage designation imposing restrictions due to its importance as a key roosting site. Proposals needed to be developed in line with the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency’s requirements for sustainable drainage. Flood risk management and drainage infrastructure improvements needed to be considered. Given the site’s history as a shipyard and asbestos factory, site remediation was another significant factor, as was the eradication of invasive weeds such as Japanese knotweed.

Outline planning was secured in November 2007. Knowledge of the development process and planning system were fundamental in achieving this. We were subsequently commissioned to provide landscape architecture services for the delivery phase of the initial public realm and infrastructure enabling works. This commission was led by civil and structural engineers Will Rudd Davidson, and is recently complete on-site.

The objective of the enabling works was to provide the platform for future office development, incorporating utilities and infrastructure with improved road and pedestrian access, as well as addressing the flooding issues. To improve access, a redundant rail bridge was removed following lengthy negotiations with Network Rail, with the sandstone from the existing railway bridge abutments being reused to make a feature wall, helping incorporate the history of the site into a contemporary piece of design. Cable Depot Road was realigned. A new roundabout was created to further improve ‘blue light’ access to the hospital. A landscaped pedestrian public realm area linked this roundabout and opened views to the river, finally restoring the link, employing attractive planting and feature lighting alongside footpaths up to and along a stretch of riverside walkway. A focus of the open space area is the public art, which was tendered separately and has involved collaboration with the artist to produce an inspirational piece that augments the overall design.

Following on from the enabling works, we have been appointed lead consultant and architects for the preparation of a design guide for the office pavilions which are to include a crèche and café facility. The proposed office development on the site will be the first of a number of perimeter urban blocks envisaged in the masterplan, and the first to be reached on entering Cable Depot Road off the new roundabout. It consists of 12 development plots arranged in two and three-storey pavilions to maximise the waterfront setting and the southern aspect across the Clyde, and providing up to 11,000 m2 of Class 4 Business use. These pavilions are enclosed by a perimeter wall with a central courtyard and secondary hard landscaped spaces between each pavilion. High quality design, sustainability and the appropriate choice of quality materials are vital in setting the tone for everything to come.

In 2008 Austin-Smith:Lord was commissioned to design the first 1,100 m2 pavilion on the site. The pavilion consists of a nursery at ground floor level and offices on the first and second floors. The required BREEAM rating is being achieved through the use of natural ventilation throughout the nursery and offices. The inner leaf of the external wall has been specified as a highly insulated, breathable timber infill panel, which uses treated recycled newspaper as insulation.

This form of construction offers high levels of insulation and a healthy internal environment. The majority of the external wall cladding is untreated Scottish Larch timber cladding. All sanitary fittings have been specified to reduce water consumption, and a SUDS system has been designed to control the amount of surface water entering the Clyde. The building will also have Secured By Design accreditation. The construction of the project started in July 2009 and is due for completion in early 2010.

So it is that Austin-Smith:Lord has been involved with the project since conceiving the project masterplan in 2004, right through to on-site delivery. The multidisciplinary nature of the Practice has provided continuity through every phase and has already realised enormous positive change to the defining waterside environment, recognised in winning the prestigious Roses Regeneration Award 2009.