Maryhill Locks

jmarchitects

The project is the latest phase of the Maryhill Locks masterplan, the design brief for which was to create thirty-three sustainable and flexible 3 and 4 bed terraced houses targeted at young professionals and new families. The site is located close to Maryhill Road and Kelvin Walkway, providing access to local shops, public transport links and cycle routes into Glasgow’s west-end and city-centre. The site is complex due to the level changes (7m) across its overall narrow condition (17m at its narrowest point). To address the potentially diverse range of end-users, each dwelling has parking located in-curtilage to the front of the dwelling, with a back garden to the rear, and access to a secure common amenity space by way of an allotment - a ‘hidden garden’ - for all residents of the development to use. This hidden garden also contains open space for children to play as well as allotment planters to allow residents to grow their own fruits, vegetables and herbs, so promoting the sustainable and community-focussed living agenda of the brief. Due to the tight site, both parking and bins are arranged directly off the street to the front of the dwellings, however these have been dealt with in a holistic manner, with bespoke bin stores having been formed in brick and timber to conceal the recycling bins, whilst also acting to screen the cars and maintain the overall appearance and feel of the masonry development.

The massing is designed to address the existing hierarchies on the site; a higher scale to the block which is visible upon arriving at Lochgilp Street providing an anchor-point to the development, and a lower scale to the other three blocks where views are opened up to the River Kelvin by way of private roof terraces that are articulated as set-backs to the building line.

The regular terrace format re-establishes the street edge, whilst breaking the terrace into four separate buildings and stepping the building line breaks up the monolithic quality and ensures that the development is animated and interesting rather than solid. The overall appearance is intended to provide a character that is in keeping with the green corridor created by the River Kelvin. 

A simple and restrained palette of materials, predominantly brick, is intended to complement the character established by previous phases of the masterplan. Large openings, designed to maximise views to the street and the River Kelvin beyond, are accentuated through a full-brick reveals, creating relief and articulation to the facade.

To ensure flexibility for home-owners and to deal with the differing levels across the site, the dwellings are designed to be split-level, with the principle living level – the living room, kitchen and main bathroom – located at first floor to be able to break-out to the back gardens, whilst also being designed for easy adaptability into an accessible bedroom/bathroom arrangement. Two bedrooms are located on the ground floor and can be adapted to act as a study or hobby room, whilst the master bedroom is located on the second floor, alongside a generous roof terrace on the three-bed houses, or a fourth bedroom on the four-bed house. To ensure light is maintained to each elevation, the steep topography is managed by the introduction of a retaining wall offset from the back elevation of the blocks allowing for a light well to be created which is accessible as a small terrace space at ground floor.

In keeping with the sustainable brief for the development, photovoltaic panels are incorporated into the roof, in addition to an ‘envelope-first’ approach to minimising heat-loss, the dwellings achieving an airtightness value of 4m3/h with U-values to the walls achieving 0.17 W/m2K and roofs achieving 0.15 W/m2K. The dwellings are arranged on a north-south axis, to allow each dwelling to take advantage of the sun in the mornings and afternoons, whilst the decision to strike each block to a parallel geometry to the Phase 3 development allows overlooking to be minimised. 

Off-site construction methods were maximised, with the ground floor slab formed from prefabricated insulated concrete planks and the superstructure formed from pre-fabricated timberkit panels which had insulation, plasterboard, windows and doors factory-fitted prior to delivery to site for superior thermal performance, finish and speed of assembly.

The project was submitted for Planning in December 2016, with Planning Consent granted in December 2017 and construction commencing in May 2018 and completing in July 2019. The development has been well received by the Client, with all 33 dwellings sold off-plan prior to the development’s completion. 

Client

Bigg Regeneration
Limited

QS

Campbell Martin

Structural Engineer

Will Rudd Davidson

Main Contractor

CCG (Scotland) Ltd

Gross Internal Area

3,361m²

Contract Value

£4.76m

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