Article by John Walls continued from West of Scotland Chapter page - to return to the Chapter page click here

They had to address many challenges including:
• the scale of the regeneration;
• the obligations of the Council – for example to 20% of the housing is to be socially rented and a front loaded requirement; and
• ‘surprises’ relating to flooding risk, site contamination and M74 completion-related issues. 

These are now compounded by the market slow down as a result of the credit crunch fall out.

Oatlands' Walk-about

This introduction was followed by a walk-about led by Ron Smith, Project Monitor from Glasgow City Council, and Alan Martin, Senior Partner, Holmes Partnership. Members were introduced to the basic urban design principles which had been used, namely:
• materials used in the Scottish tradition
• six storey gateway buildings ;
• four storey corridor building along the periphery; and
• two storey heart-land housing.

After the guided tour, Ron Smith gave an informative ‘tutorial’ on all the stages of the project from the beginning, including battles with colleagues. One tip Ron gave fellow planners for such large scale brownfield schemes is to secure a planning permission for any future planned road layout. This reduces the risk factor associated with Road Stopping Orders which are easy to object to and can entail considerable delays and extra costs.

Designing Oatlands - links to Edinburgh New Town

Alan Martin explained that, in terms of the masterplan, although the site had the River Clyde to the north it had not proven practical to make it the focus of the development: instead the layout exploited a parkland approach to give the most pleasing arrangement. 

With regard to the design of the buildings, he illustrated the ancestry of his inspiration by using slides of James Craig’s eighteenth century Edinburgh New Town. He demonstrated the simplicity of the materials, the rhythm of the fenestration and definition of development by its open spaces to achieve a quality environment. Key to the success of the time was simple details, simple materials and the basic colours of the materials. Of course, the architectural style of Oatlands Regeneration has been transformed into a modern idiom to suit the times and the resources available. 

Alan emphasised the value of an uncomplicated approach which is also commercial and produces a successful result - something which often gets overlooked in the hype. 

Members had an enjoyable evening and their gratitude is extended to Ian Baird of Gladedale, Alan Martin of Holmes Partnership, Ron Smith of Glasgow City Council and the venue provided by Hutchesontown Bowling Club. 

An edited version of John's article appeared in Scottish Planner (October 2008) - view here

For more information on the Oatlands Regeneration - view here

To return to Chapter page click here

Author:

James Henderson

Publisher:

The Royal Town Planning Institute

Date:

13-Jan-09

Categories:

 

This article has been read 2523 times.