Jazz Club under the M8

A proposal for the urban regeneration of the derelict Kingston Bridge area, used for parking to this day.

The project aims to create a new street, populated by colourful timber-framed pods that sit in-between each pair of columns. The new urban environment is pedestrianised (of the present traffic arteries, only the bus lane has been retained), reinforces its proximity to the river front, creates green spaces and is comprehensive of skateboard ramps, playgrounds and a basketball court.

The idea behind the ‘pods’ stems from thorough research on railway viaducts of the past, wherein each arch was used and adapted as a commercial activity in its own right. In infrastructures such as the Viaduc des Arts in Paris, and in our own Osborne Street in Glasgow, a paradigm was noticed: 1 arch = 1 commercial activity, a modularity that did not prevent the occasional diversity within the elevations (different fenestration, different colours, different doors etc).

The pods aim to incorporate and re-interpret the same modularity within the M8: here, too, there is one commercial activity within each pair of pillars, and here, too, some variation is guaranteed by different colours, different elevations, different uses etc.

The proposal combines a mixture of daytime and night-time activities, with a Jazz Club inspired by Matisse’s famous Jazz prints being the bookend of the new street.

Plan of M8, as seen from above
Plan of M8, as seen from above

Plan of M8, as seen from above

Plan of M8, ground floor level (currently)
Plan of M8, ground floor level (currently)

Plan of M8, ground floor level (currently)

A short video demonstrating the Glasgow M8 today, and how it could be. (select 1080p)
A short video demonstrating the Glasgow M8 today, and how it could be. (select 1080p)

A short video demonstrating the Glasgow M8 today, and how it could be. (select 1080p)

The M8, currently - Exploded Axonometric
The M8, currently - Exploded Axonometric

The M8, currently - Exploded Axonometric

Precedents - Viaducts
Precedents - Viaducts The idea behind the ‘pods’ stems from thorough research on railway viaducts of the past, wherein each arch was used and adapted as a commercial activity in its own right. In infrastructures such as the Viaduc des Arts in Paris, and in our own Osborne Street in Glasgow, a paradigm was noticed: 1 arch = 1 commercial activity, a modularity that did not prevent the occasional diversity within the elevations (different fenestration, different colours, different doors etc).

Precedents - Viaducts

The idea behind the ‘pods’ stems from thorough research on railway viaducts of the past, wherein each arch was used and adapted as a commercial activity in its own right. In infrastructures such as the Viaduc des Arts in Paris, and in our own Osborne Street in Glasgow, a paradigm was noticed: 1 arch = 1 commercial activity, a modularity that did not prevent the occasional diversity within the elevations (different fenestration, different colours, different doors etc).

Street Elevation - East, 1:700
Street Elevation - East, 1:700 The pods aim to incorporate and re-interpret the same modularity within the M8: here, too, there is one commercial activity within each pair of pillars, and here, too, some variation is guaranteed by different colours, different elevations, different uses etc.

Street Elevation - East, 1:700

The pods aim to incorporate and re-interpret the same modularity within the M8: here, too, there is one commercial activity within each pair of pillars, and here, too, some variation is guaranteed by different colours, different elevations, different uses etc.

Street Elevation - West, 1:700
Street Elevation - West, 1:700

Street Elevation - West, 1:700

Jazz Club - East Elevation, 1:100
Jazz Club - East Elevation, 1:100 Each Pod is clad, externally, in Viroc Panels (which vary in configuration, layout and colour)

Jazz Club - East Elevation, 1:100

Each Pod is clad, externally, in Viroc Panels (which vary in configuration, layout and colour)

Jazz Club - South Elevation, 1:100
Jazz Club - South Elevation, 1:100

Jazz Club - South Elevation, 1:100

Jazz Club - Section, 1:100
Jazz Club - Section, 1:100

Jazz Club - Section, 1:100

Exterior view, daytime
Exterior view, daytime

Exterior view, daytime

Exterior view, night time
Exterior view, night time

Exterior view, night time

Trongate Court Housing

Proposal for Housing on the Candleriggs Site in the Merchant City.

The aim was to create a “shell” with different degrees of “progressive privacy”, encouraging social interaction between residents by means of a courtyard (public), an open access balcony (semi-public), before entering the flats (private). The open access balcony is not only a means to an end (access to the flats), but also a way to encourage socialization among the residents, providing frontal interaction, not unlike the italian street.

The end user of the development is anyone working in a creative field: artists, sculptors, artisans, graphic designers, etc; the proposal provides integrated art facilities within each flat.

The reason behind the positioning of the art-studios at ground floor level is threefold: providing the users with a studio/office space accessible from their own flat (catering for a post-pandemic world); shielding the residential/private aspect of each flat from the public eye; taking advantage of the prominent location of the building.

Artisan/artist studios will simultaneously act as shop-fronts, and will be located on Trongate, mirroring the commercial nature of the street; creative office-like studios will be positioned on Candleriggs, mirroring the service-orientated nature of the street.

Ground floor plan - 1:200
Ground floor plan - 1:200

Ground floor plan - 1:200

Flat Type A - Ground Floor and First Floor, 1:100
Flat Type A - Ground Floor and First Floor, 1:100

Flat Type A - Ground Floor and First Floor, 1:100

Flat Type A+C, Exploded Axonometric
Flat Type A+C, Exploded Axonometric

Flat Type A+C, Exploded Axonometric

Flat Type B - Exploded Axonometric
Flat Type B - Exploded Axonometric

Flat Type B - Exploded Axonometric

Section - 1:200
Section - 1:200

Section - 1:200

South Elevation - 1:200
South Elevation - 1:200

South Elevation - 1:200

Art Studio/Shop Front - Flat type A
Art Studio/Shop Front - Flat type A

Art Studio/Shop Front - Flat type A

Living Room - Flat Type A
Living Room - Flat Type A

Living Room - Flat Type A

Courtyard View
Courtyard View

Courtyard View