Page Park’s New Gorbals Housing Association in Glasgow is materially and spatially rich

Ampetheatre

Photos
Keith Hunter

Designed by Page Park, New Gorbals Housing Association (NGHA) is a bespoke office and civic piazza that forms the centrepiece of the Crown Street redevelopment in Glasgow. The brief was for a building that could be easily adapted to provide a variety of workplace functions, accommodate future expansion, connect the association with the wider Gorbals community with improved facilities for tenants, and cultivate the social well-being and comfort of staff.

Ampetheatre

The scheme maintains a civic presence with an expressive brick skin that visually connects the association to the wider Gorbals community. Conceived as a permeable ‘walled garden’, the facade maximises views out to the surrounding city, while also focusing on an internal workspace, which conceals an intimate south-facing courtyard garden. A large illuminated sign fixed to the building proudly announces ‘Gorbals’ as a landmark within the urban context.

Site plan; ground and first-floor plans; section

The office is planned around a large timber-clad atrium, which unites work teams around a common circulation zone. The open-plan space incorporates a series of niches, which provide varying degrees of privacy, ranging from larger communal areas to private booths. Each space has multiple aspect views – through internal and external glazed partitions and windows – connecting it to the wider cityscape.

Ampetheatre

Externally, zinc-clad feature elements are interspersed with red brick walls to provide contrast along the main elevations. The ground-floor glazing is recessed within the depth of the piers to provide privacy to the internal workspace. By contrast, the first-floor glazing maximises views out by stepping forward. The north-facing aspect provides consistent and even daylight, ensuring a bright and comfortable working environment, while avoiding summer overheating and unwanted glare. The building steps in height along the east elevation to connect with the adjacent housing development. To the north, it maintains a human scale to avoid overshadowing the public piazza.

Material finishes were chosen for their robustness and are present both internally and externally to create a unified aesthetic. Red stock brick forms the main material, broken up internally by Siberian larch wall linings and Ash-veneered MDF panels. Other internal finishes were chosen to complement the warm tones of the brick, such as orange MDF panels. In contrast, dark grey MDF and grey paint- applied finishes break up the spaces, echoing the tone of the zinc cladding used externally.

The principal spaces are naturally ventilated. All external services are concealed behind the Flemish bond brick openings that are expressed on the elevations at high level. A bespoke engineered internal smoke control system allows the large open-plan spaces to function without the need for curtains or additional partitions. The strategy includes four large fans mounted within the brick piers.

Additional Images

Credits

Architect
Page\Park Architects
Structural engineer
AECOM
Services engineer
Max Fordham
Quantity surveyor
NBM
Landscape
Raeburn Farquhar Bowen
Main contractor
CCG
Client
The New Gorbals Housing Association (NGHA)