Cumbernauld - Town Centre Redevelopment

Bauhaus in Cumbernauld Not a combination one would expect to see. Following on from the recent German book Megastructures, which featured Cumbernauld town centre prominently (photographed by us) The Bauhaus School of Architecture & Design, Berlin are coming to Cumbernauld as part of an International Design Project into Modernist Architecture (se attached flyer and schedule). They will be based in the former Mackays Store on Forth Walk in the Town Centre, during the week beginning the 19th of January and they would like to meet as many people as possible who have a view on the past, present and future of Cumbernauld. Photo : Adrian Welch Other than a planned joint Design Workshop between the five Cumbernauld secondary schools and the Bauhaus students on the Tuesday morning and two guest lectures they are free to speak to anyone and everyone so please try and go along to see them. They will be operating an open house so go and visit them and if possible bring along some photos of Cumbernauld as they are looking to produce a Social History Timeline with scanning equipment to copy your photo's and add them to the timeline. I'm told they have a 4 m by 10 m plan of the town to enable people to show them where they live/work and to point out the good and bad points of the town. The Project was initiated by the Bauhaus following a previous Design Project undertaken by Strathclyde University in 2005-2007. The Bauhaus Cumbernauld Project is being facilitated by Strathclyde University, CNC Property Fund Management and NLC Leisure & Learning Service (Education/Libraries & Museums/Creative Services) and NLC Environmental Services (BH&D). Bauhaus Kolleg X – Cities of Tomorrow Excursion Cumbernauld // 19th to 24th of January 2009 Wednesday 14th of January 2009 Arrival of participants of the Bauhaus Kolleg Thursday 15th of January 2009 12-19h Individual research and preparation of shop space Friday 16th of January 2009 12-19h Individual research and preparation of shop space Saturday 17th of January 2009 12-19h Individual research and preparation of shop space Sunday 18th of January 2009 12-19h Individual research and preparation of shop space Monday 19th of January 2009 10-12h Meeting with Craig McIntyre at North Lanarkshire Council address North Lanarkshire Council, Craig McIntyre, Fleming House 2, Tryst Road, G67 1JW Cumbernauld issues introduction to planning of Cumbernauld, today’s city structure 12-14h Bus-tour by Craig McIntyre address North Lanarkshire Council, Craig McIntyre, Fleming House 2, Tryst Road, G67 1JW Cumbernauld issues introduction to planning of Cumbernauld, today’s city structure 15-17h preparation of shop space all participants 19h Meeting at University of Strathclyde not confirmed address University of Strathclyde, Architectural building, 131 Rottenrow, Glasgow G4 0NG issues casual meeting of students and stuff, food and drinks Tuesday 20th of January 2009 10-12h Meeting the students of Cumbernauld Secondary Schools address Cumbernauld Enterprise, 18-24 Fourthwalk, Cumbernauld City Centre issues presentation, workshop and discussion on Cumbernauld city development 10-18h Cumbernauld Enterprise – shop activities address Cumbernauld Enterprise, 18-24 Fourthwalk, Cumbernauld City Centre issues public workshop 18-19h Lecture by Neville Rae, Artist address Cumbernauld Enterprise, 18-24 Fourthwalk, Cumbernauld City Centre issues art projects in Cumbernauld Wednesday 21th of January 2009 10-18h Cumbernauld Enterprise – shop activities address Cumbernauld Enterprise, 18-24 Fourthwalk, Cumbernauld City Centre issues public workshop 18-19h Lecture by Brian Miller, Artist address Cumbernauld Enterprise, 18-24 Fourthwalk, Cumbernauld City Centre issues the work as artist for Cumbernauld from 1962 to 1990 Thursday 22th of January 2009 10-18h Cumbernauld Enterprise – shop activities address Cumbernauld Enterprise, 18-24 Fourthwalk, Cumbernauld City Centre issues public workshop 18-19h Cumbernauld Enterprise – closing session address Cumbernauld Enterprise, 18-24 Fourthwalk, Cumbernauld City Centre issues informal, public discussion about the outcome of the workshop Friday 23th of January 2009 12-19h Documentation and preparation of public presentation Saturday 24th of January 2009 10-13h Preparation of public presentation and panel discussion 15-17h Presentation and discussion at Lighthouse, Glasgow address Vitra Conference Suite, 3rd floor, The Lighthouse Trust, 11 Mitchell Lane, Glasgow G1 3NU introduction Regina Bittner presentation Bauhaus Kolleg research and results of the workshop in Cumbernauld panel discussion Alen Pert, Architect, Gordon Murray, Architect, Craig McIntyre, Urban Planer, Steven Griffiths, Manager, Miles Glendinning, Art historian, 1-2 Bauhaus Participants, moderation: Wilfried Hackenbroich Cumbernauld Shopping Centre Cumbernauld's £40m Antonine Shopping Centre by Keppie Design opened 7 Jun 2007 Cumbernauld - Building News 2006 Work has commenced on the £30m Antonine Shopping Centre in Cumbernauld in a bid by North Lanarkshire Council to refurbish the town centre and end the stigmatisation. The Antonine Centre is to contain 350,000 sqft and is for London & Regional Properties. Shops set to be included include TK Maxx and Woolworths. Previously Cumbernauld town centre has been awarded the Plook on the Plinth Award twice and featured in the Channel 4 TV programme 'Demolition'. Cumbernauld was featured at the Scottish Design Show in 2005. This saw the return of the controversial Carbuncle Awards which seeks to name and shame Scotland’s Most Disappointing Building and Most Dismal Town. Carbuncles - Carnyx PR 21.10.05: It gives us absolutely no pleasure to announce that four years after the last award was handed out, Cumbernauld has won the Plook on the Plinth Award for the Most Dismal Town in Scotland, again. In 2001, Cumbernauld won the award and this year the public has expressed their displeasure with the state of its town centre by giving it the nod once more. Over 6,000 individuals have accessed our voting pages for the Award. Cumbernauld received 28% of the vote with its closest rival Ardrossan in second place with 17%. The Awards are decided firstly by public nomination then whittled down by a judging panel to six. These six short-listed towns were then put to a public vote. So it isn't really our place to say why Cumbernauld won. We have included a selection of some of the nominations we received for the town on the website. As is clear from reading the list, a large number come from local inhabitants, who are particularly incensed at the state of disrepair that its town centre has fallen into. Described as "a rabbit warren on stilts" in 2001 by a judge it was described as "the Lego fantasy of an unhappy child", this year. "Reading between the lines, people in Cumbernauld and the surrounding regions are rightly annoyed. Cumbernauld is an affluent town that is failing to live up to its potential. According to the Information & Statistics Division of NHS Scotland, and Communities Scotland, in 2004 the Average Gross Household Income in Cumbernauld was higher than the national average. The number of children in workless households and the number of income support claimants was lower than the national average. And yet the average house price in Cumbernauld is £357K a full ten grand less than the mean cost of a house throughout the country," said Tim Abrahams, Deputy Editor of Prospect Magazine. End of Carbuncle / Plook on the Plinth Awards PR The Awards were organised by Prospect Magazine