The (Y)our City Centre project is creating ambitious plans for the core retail, business, civic and cultural heart of Scotland’s largest city. Glasgow’s city centre is a wonderful historical ensemble but it faces challenges including vacant buildings, under-utilised plots, changes in retail patterns, city centre living, public open space, safety and traffic.

A team led by MVRDV and Austin-Smith:Lord, supported by Space Syntax and a multidisciplinary team, has been commissioned by Glasgow City Council to embark on the development of District Regeneration Frameworks for four districts of Glasgow City Centre. With your help, these Regeneration Frameworks will look to create a clear urban structure that can fully realise Glasgow’s economic, cultural and social potential.

We would like your help identifying the challenges and opportunities for positive change in the next 10 years for these four districts; Broomielaw, St Enoch, Central and Blythswood. Your contributions will help shape the design of District Regeneration Frameworks for four districts of Glasgow City Centre. The Frameworks will lay out the plans and become supplementary planning guidance for Glasgow to fully realise its economic, cultural and social potential.

We want to hear the views of residents, businesses, landowners, students, visitors, those who live, work and play in the city centre. We are looking for small and big ideas and comments for the short term and long term. You can share (Y)our ideas via our online platform https://yourcitycentre.commonplace.is/

Alongside our on-street and workshop engagement we have had over 1100 contributions via the online platform, highlighting a wide range of issues and ideas. The online platform will be available until the end of August 2017, after which the comments will still be available for review. We look forward to collaborating with the Glaswegians on this exciting project, let us know (Y)our Ideas. Keep up to date with project via www.yourcitycentre.com, Facebook and Twitter.

If you have any immediate concerns about an issue in the city centre, please contact Glasgow City Council directly through the appropriate channels.

Douglas Wheeler Associates and Austin-Smith:Lord have been appointed by Midlothian Council to work with the people of Penicuik to draw up proposals for the heritage regeneration of the town.

The work, which has been made possible through a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, will include developing repair proposals to restore buildings, improve streets and potentially develop new community activities in the town centre.

The consultation will focus on creating a community-led vision for the historic core of the town centre and work will also be conducted to gather the technical information needed to submit a further funding application to the Heritage Lottery Fund to carry out the proposed plan.

If the second funding application is successful, it will mean an award of up to £1.69 million over 5 years to implement the project from April 2018.  It will also release £725,000 of funding from Historic Environment Scotland.

In coming weeks, the consultation team will be launching an online questionnaire for local people, businesses and visitors as the first step in engaging with the community.

David Millar, Director and Head of Conservation at Austin-Smith:Lord commented: It’s great to be working alongside Douglas Wheeler on this project, getting to know the community in Penicuik and also the Council team who have successfully steered the project through the first stage of the Lottery funding process. The HLF funded Townscape Heritage Initiative has the real potential to improve the quality of the building stock but to also make town centres more vibrant and active and can encourage people in the community to learn about their heritage and even develop new skills. We are looking forward to starting the work immediately.”

Austin-Smith:Lord were appointed by The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh to refurbish the four upper storeys of their category B listed property at 21 Hill Place in Edinburgh.  Prominently positioned on the corner of Nicolson Street, facing Nicolson Square, 21 Hill Place is one of the key buildings on this major thoroughfare.

Designed by Thomas P Marwick in 1897-8, the building was one of many the leading architect and past president of the RIAS worked on for the National Bank of Scotland, although the building at 21 Hill Place is one of the few surviving buildings that he was responsible for designing in its entirety.

The Bank occupied the basement and ground floor of the building while the upper floors contained the Edinburgh premises of Skerry’s College, which played a major role in the first half of the 20th Century in training people for the Civil Service, Post Office and Custom and Excise service.

The ground and basement of the building are now occupied by the Royal Bank of Scotland and the conservation accredited architects at Austin-Smith:Lord have refurbished the upper top floors for use as administration offices by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

Catherine Cosgrove, Associate in our Glasgow studio commented: “It is an interesting building for a number of reasons not least the fact that it was home to Skerry’s College.

“Founded by George Edward Skerry in 1878, Skerry’s College was established to help candidates for the Civil Service, Post Office or Custom and Excise prepare for the entrance exam and was the first of its type in the country.

“Overall, 21 Hill Place was in good condition, with many original features such as ornate fireplace surrounds and panelled doors surviving internally. We retained these features within the room reconfigurations and carefully routed new services into the building to provide modern office interior finishes fit for its new purpose. The external red sandstone masonry was carefully inspected and selective indenting undertaken together with decorative finials refixed using stainless steel dowels and lime mortar bedding”.

Our conservation architects carefully considered the integration of services within the existing fabric of the building, selecting routes carefully to minimise the levels of interventions to avoid any major loss of historic fabric. A new lift was also incorporated into the design set out and positioned to slot between existing steel beams within the floors identified on archive drawings by the team. The overall effect has been very well received by the RCSEd staff who are now using their modern working environment skilfully set within the listed building.

Prof. Winy Maas, a founding Director of MVRDV, Rotterdam based architects and urbanists, gave a public lecture in Glasgow on Tuesday 7th February 2016.

Over 400 people attended the event in the St. Vincent Street Church; a masterpiece designed by Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson.

MVRDV and Austin-Smith:Lord, supported by a multidisciplinary team, have recently been commissioned by Glasgow City Council to develop with stakeholders and local communities, Regeneration Frameworks for four districts within the City Centre. Entitled (Y)our City Centre this project is progressing throughout 2017.

In this lecture, organised and introduced by Graham Ross and David Millar of Austin-Smith:Lord, Winy Maas outlines MVRDV’s design philosophy. He outlines how to create an intimate city, how to build a boutique made of glass bricks, how to stack Dutch landscapes and how to advance research in nano-technology that might one day replace concrete as a construction material. In conclusion parallels are drawn with Glasgow and the (Y)our City Centre project.

 

Click here to view video

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Thanks to:

Glasgow City Council (https://www.glasgowcitycentrestrategy.com/)

Glasgow City Free Church (https://www.glasgowcityfreechurch.org/)

MVRDV & Winy Maas (https://www.mvrdv.nl/)

(Y)our City Centre consultant team (www.yourcitycentre.com)

Austin-Smith:Lord colleagues (https://www.austinsmithlord.com/)

 

Filming & Edit

Michael Rea (https://www.michaelrea.co.uk/)

A public exhibition, featuring the initial design concepts for the transformation of Perth City Hall, is now on display. The exhibition features the designs created by Austin-Smith:Lord and MVRDV, one of the five teams shortlisted to revitalise the City Hall.

The concepts can be viewed in the Civic Hall within the Council buildings at 2 High Street, Perth from 12 noon on 12 June. The exhibition will then be open 10am-7pm on weekdays and 10am – 4pm at weekends until 24 June. Images from the exhibition will also be displayed at the back of City Hall opposite St John’s Kirk, and can be viewed online. Members of the public will have the opportunity to comment on the designs.

Following the successful architect being confirmed, the development of the detailed plans and applications for planning consent and listed building consent will take place, with construction works due to begin in 2019.

The project forms part of Perth’s bid to become UK City of Culture 2021. Perth and Kinross Council are looking to bring the building back into public use and create an international cultural destination for permanent and temporary exhibits. The revitalised building will deliver accessible community and creative learning spaces for locals, and serve as a new cultural destination for visitors to the city.

Graham Ross, Partner and Glasgow Studio Principal at Austin-Smith:Lord said “Perth City Hall should become Perth’s Living Room. A place for culture and community to congregate; where Perth extends a welcome to all and showcases itself to the world, and visa versa. We keep the best of the original building and redefine it as a dynamic Art Mixer. And we create a panoramic civic roof garden to give the city an incredible public space like no other”

Winy Maas, Founding Partner and Director at MVRDV said “We love the historic old building of Perth City Hall and our design proposal, together with Austin-Smith:Lord, will create a hall of mirrors that reflects the panoramic routes around the Art Mixer within the main hall. We will also add a public roof garden with panoramic views of the city. The building becomes a welcoming, new central hub for Perth. Perth City Hall is brought back to life!”

Click here to view public exhibition boards

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The Austin-Smith:Lord and MVRDV team also includes:

Fergus Purdie Architects (Local Adviser)

dpa lighting consultants

New Acoustics

Blue Peter has launched an exciting design competition inviting viewers to design a dragon for the Great Pagoda at Kew, one of the most important conservation projects within the UK, if not Europe.

Conservation architects at Austin-Smith:Lord have been working with Historic Royal Palaces on the fascinating two year project to restore the famous Great Pagoda in the Royal Botanic Gardens to its 18^th century splendour.

A major element of the project is the reintroduction of the eighty decorative dragons missing from the 50 metre high structure for over two hundred years.

Designed at the height of the eighteenth century craze for Chinoiserie, the eye-catching dragons festooning each of the ten storeys of the Pagoda were the talk of the town for twenty years before disappearing, some say in payment for the Prince Regent’s gambling debts.

All of the new dragons will be based on a similar design with one very special exception: one dragon will be designed by a lucky Blue Peter viewer.

Viewers aged between 6 and 15 years have between now and Thursday 25 May to enter the competition by creating a brand new dragon design for the Great Pagoda.

Entrants will have to think creatively to design a dragon, give it a name and a super power.

The winning design will then be fabricated into a full scale dragon which will be on show on the Great Pagoda for all to see for a full year after the iconic attraction reopens in Spring 2018.

John Barnes, Conservation and Learning Director, Historic Royal Palaces says: “We’re hoping that lots of budding designers will get involved with the restoration of the Great Pagoda because of this exciting competition. As the people who look after some of the most important buildings in Britain we hope that it will inspire the next generation, who will be the ones caring for the Palaces in the future.”

David Millar, Director and Head of Conservation at Austin-Smith:Lord, adds: “This is a wonderful, once in a lifetime opportunity for young people aspiring to become an architect or pursue a career in design. The Great Pagoda is an exceptionally important building, which is today recognised as a masterpiece of 18^th century English architecture and one of the jewels in the crown of Georgian London. It also promises to be a lot of fun and we’re looking forward to seeing some amazing mythical creatures as the young people fire their imagination!”

Cressida Cowell, judge and author “How To Train Your Dragon” says: “I’m delighted to be a judge for this competition. When I was nine I won a national writing competition and it made me realise for the first time that I could be a writer. It was incredibly inspiring! I can’t wait to see the dragon designs with the aim of inspiring a new generation into the design and creative industries.”

Ewan Vinnicombe, Editor of Blue Peter concludes: “Blue Peter is excited to be part of this landmark restoration giving viewers the once in a lifetime opportunity to design a feature on an historic royal building. I know the viewers will be very creative as always.”

Application to the Blue Peter competition, which closes on Thursday 25^th May at 12noon, can be made online at https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/joinin/blue-peter-design-a-dragon-competition where full terms and conditions are also available.

 

 

The (Y)our City Centre project team has launched the (Y)our Ideas map. This allows anyone with an interest in Glasgow to help map the challenges and opportunities for positive change in the next 10 years for the Broomielaw, St Enoch, Central and Blythswood districts of Glasgow. We ask you to visit
https://yourcitycentre.commonplace.is/ and have your say on what needs to be done and why.

This mapping forms part of the ongoing (Y)our City Centre project. A team led by MVRDV and Austin-Smith:Lord, supported by Space Syntax and a multidisciplinary team, has been commissioned by Glasgow City Council to embark on the development of District Regeneration Frameworks for the four districts of Glasgow City Centre. With your help, these Regeneration Frameworks will look to create a clear urban structure that can fully realise Glasgow’s economic, cultural and social potential.

You can also take part and attend a number of  events which provide a platform for you to discuss, debate and help set the priorities for each District. You can book to attend these events here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/glasgow-city-centre-districts-regeneration-frameworks-consultants-10960498156

 

We are delighted to be named as one of five teams shortlisted for the redesign of Perth City Hall.

Austin-Smith:Lord and MVRDV are collaborating together with Perth-based Fergus Purdie Architects to create initial design concepts to breathe new life into this historic B-Listed building.

Perth and Kinross Council are looking to bring the building back into public use and create an international cultural destination for permanent and temporary exhibits. The revitalised building will deliver accessible community and creative learning spaces for locals, and serve as a new cultural destination for visitors to the city.

The project forms part of Perth’s bid to become UK City of Culture 2021.

Graham Ross, Partner and Glasgow studio principal at Austin-Smith:Lord said “our team are thrilled to be shortlisted for this exciting project. Extending our longstanding collaboration with internationally renowned architects MVRDV of Rotterdam, with whom we are preparing the (Y)our City Centre masterplans for Glasgow City Council, will bring an added dimension to the project. Redefining Perth City Hall as an innovative and contemporary cultural space presents a significant opportunity for the City to create a world-renowned destination that will benefit the local community and raise Perth’s international profile.

“Drawing upon our vast experience of delivering high quality contemporary arts and culture projects within sensitive historic environments we are anticipating an exciting challenge to fuse Perth’s past, understand its present and outline what is possible for City Hall in the future. If selected we would combine our in-house expertise in architecture, conservation, streetscape design and urban planning to work collaboratively with people in Perth to create a distinctive vision for their City Hall.”

To view Austin-Smith:Lord’s Arts and Culture projects click here.

 

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Austin-Smith:Lord LLP is a leading multi-disciplinary design practice that provides architecture, urban design, masterplanning, conservation architecture, landscape architecture, planning advice and sustainability design services to a wide client base throughout the UK. Our Practice has been active in the Arts and Culture sector for decades, with successful projects including Bluecoats Arts Centre (for Liverpool European City of Culture), Helensburgh Outdoor Museum, Liverpool Central

Library, Airdrie Town Hall, Paisley Town Hall, Ayr Gaiety Theatre auditorium conservation and re-fit, Bedwellty House, International Slavery Museum Liverpool, Merthyr Tydfil Arts Centre, Llanelly House, People’s History Museum Manchester, Shrewsbury Museum, FACT, Museum of Science and Industry Manchester, and Leeds City Museum.

Many of these project are multi award-winning, and most involve refurbishment and/or extension to important and cherished historic buildings in our society. Our accredited conservation architects are currently working on innovative repair solutions for the 18th century Chinese Pagoda at Kew Gardens in London, having recently completed a conservation project at the Tower of London. Meanwhile, our Culture team have recently been commissioned to undertake our second major project for Birmingham Royal Ballet, and have also been appointed as architects for Shakespeare North in Prescot working in partnership with Nick Helm Architects. Further details of Austin-Smith:Lord’s extensive Arts + Culture experience is available here (LINK)

Austin-Smith:Lord have recently been commissioned by Glasgow City Council working in collaboration with MVRDV on the rethinking and planning the regeneration of four key districts in Glasgow City centre.

MVRDV are internationally renowned architects and urbanists who have received widespread acclaim for their unique approach to design solutions. These have resulted in a range of buildings types and sizes, to urban plans and visions, numerous publications, installations and exhibitions. Built projects include the Netherlands Pavilion for the World EXPO 2000 in Hannover; the Market Hall, a combination of housing and retail in Rotterdam; the Pushed Slab, a sustainable office building in Paris’ first eco-district; Flight Forum, an innovative business park in Eindhoven; the Silodam Housing complex in Amsterdam; the Matsudai Cultural Centre in Japan; an international bank headquarters in Oslo, Norway; and the iconic Mirador and Celosia housing in Madrid.

 

Current projects include the proposed 15,000m2 Art Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen – a new collection building for the city of Rotterdam set to store more than 145,000 art and design objects and the soon-to-be-completed Skygarden a floating (green) overpass transformation in central Seoul with 254 species of trees, shrubs and flowers.

We’re delighted to have been appointed to design a new facility in Swansea for autistic children and their families.

Orbis Group, which is one of the UK’s leading providers of services for people living with autism, has recently purchased Dan-y-Coed House in West Cross from Swansea Council and intends to transform it into a state-of-the-art facility providing education and care for up to 30 children and young people in a school and residential home.

The building was previously run by Swansea Council as an educational, conference and activity facility.

The purchase of Dan-y-Coed House marks Orbis Group’s most ambitious project to date, with the property set to bring in an estimated 100 new jobs to the area.

Work has begun on the refurbishment and the service will open in 2018.

Victoria Slater of Austin-Smith:Lord says: “There are many considerations in designing for children with Autistic Spectrum Condition to provide a sensory environment which does not overload and distress children with ASC. We are working with the team at Orbis to develop a set of design guidelines and we are also researching current best practice standards based on recent research.

“The aim of this project is to deliver a high quality building and landscape that will allow both pupils and residents to thrive without impeding or disrupting their education and everyday life.”

Mike Currier, CEO of Orbis Group adds: “At Orbis Group we work diligently to ensure that every child under our care has access to a socially valued and fulfilling life, irrespective of the complexity of their condition, and we are proud to be able to provide our service users with truly outstanding facilities that meet their needs.

“In order for our expert staff to provide the highest level of specialist education, care, and clinical support, it’s crucial to create an environment that caters to the complex requirements associated with autism. We are confident that the team at Austin-Smith:Lord will support us in transforming Dan-y-Coed House into a top-quality school and residential service for children and young people with autism.”

Murtaza Rizvi, Architect at Austin-Smith:Lord’s Bristol studio, and Camellia Kelly from O’Leary Goss Architects have recently accepted the joint role of Chair of the South West branch of the RIBA for the next year.

As part of the new role, Murtaza will play a strategic part in advancing membership experience for the region and helping to achieve set objectives for RIBA in the South West, supporting Jon Watkins who is the RIBA Regional Director of the branch.

RIBA’s South West branch hosts a calendar of events and initiatives throughout the year for its membership as well as acting as a critical voice on behalf of the profession on key agenda’s such as Bristol’s recent plans to update their supplementary planning guidance on tall buildings and building at higher densities. Alongside other commitments as a result of becoming joint Chair, Murtaza will join the RIBA Local Members Forum in Hull this June with other regional Chairs to share insights and ideas to drive forward local objectives.

Murtaza commented on his new position:

“I am delighted to be elected Co-chair for RIBA Bristol & Bath Branch for the coming year and excited to be part of such a passionate architectural community.

 Bristol is an exciting place to be with a strong cultural identity. I am looking forward to working together to increase the visibility of the RIBA, engage with key strategies and objectives and undertake initiatives though the Bristol and Bath Branch that support and represent the local community.

 Together we have the opportunity to shape our city and work with developers and institutions within the public and private sector to continue to make Bristol a wonderful place to live, work and enjoy.”

Jon Watkins, RIBA South West Regional Director commented:

“On behalf of the regional RIBA, I am delighted that Murtaza and Camellia have taken on the exciting role of chairing the RIBA Bristol & Bath branch – the largest in the South West. At such an exciting time for Bristol as the Sunday Times Best Place to live in the UK, and for the wider region through the West of England devolution deal, there is much for the RIBA to get involved with and support over the coming year.”

Congratulations, Murtaza and Camellia from the whole team at Austin-Smith:Lord.