A Collective Library

The library becomes a place for families as well as individual sanctuary.

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A Shared Culinary Experience

The communal kitchen provides a social and learning environment for all ages.

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The Urban Demographic

What makes people want to stay? Currently, there is a state of impermanence in Merchant City. It is lively in at the weekend and empty during the week. It is seen as a place where time is spent passing through it rather then staying. Offering the amenities to have the choice to stay, whether you are an artist, student or young family is crucial to the design strategies.

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Street Conditions; Light and Heavy Labour

Differences in light and heavy labour, changing position depending on light; heavy structures to the north of the site facing Wilson Street, and light structures to the south facing Trongate. The painting studio on the roof is a hybrid of heavy and light structure, allowing green space to envelope the studio in a tranquil setting. It becomes a garden and play space for children.

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1:2500 Proposal in Context

The masterplan comprises a school, multi-generational housing units and an artists in residence unit. Colonnades invite you into the space, providing covered walkways and open spaces for markets and exchanges. A monument, not exceeding the heights of the surrounding context, acts as a waymarker in Merchant City.

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Ground Floor in Context

The retail and commercial spaces, such as the independent cafes and museum, maintain an activated, lively space throughout the day.

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Ground Floor Proposal

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First Floor Proposal

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Cell Iteration for a Single Occupant

This micro study of the movement within a residential unit shows the private spaces divided by a large, inhabited wall into the semi-public studio and library space. Subtle level changes delineate this hierarchy, with soft buffers such as planters also creating further sub-divisions of space. Integrated furniture allows for transformative open areas, as well as thick floor plates for storage and pop-up furniture.

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Labour and Domesticity with the Building

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Social experiences and equality remain at the core of design intentions. Bridging the fragmented gap between social divisions and the young and old within Merchant City is crucial. Spaces for education and cultural exchanges form inter-generational bonds, while strengthening the social and civic infrastructure maintains a cultural link to the existing urban context. The idea of combining education, as a form of public and private labour, with domesticity arose from a study of the urban demographic, where the lack of family-orientated activities maintains transient experiences within this district of Glasgow.

Many artists’ studios exist in the east end and south side of Glasgow, but not necessarily in the heart of the city. Proposing a building with a significant exterior, carefully balanced with an ephemeral interior best describes Merchant City as a whole. The proposed building with its brick and arched façade sits well within its context, even with a seemingly institutional appearance at first, it is intended to be a permanent structure, changing periodically internally and reclaiming the aesthetic of a building which is otherwise formal and controlled and giving it back to the people of Glasgow.