Location: Glasgow Green, Scotland
Homes for the Future was masterplanned by Page & Park Architects and coincided with Glasgow's 1999 Year of Architecture.
Future Homes
Buildings by RMJM, Ian Ritchie, Elder & Cannon, Mckeown Alexander, Ushida Findlay, Wren Rutherford ASL, Rick Mather
Homes for the Future was conceived by Glasgow 1999. Phase One of the project was a major element of the 1999 programme, Glasgow’s ‘UK City of Architecture and Design’ festival. The director was Deyan Sudjic who certainly caused a stir in the city.
image from Glasgow Green by Adrian Welch
Future Homes - Glasgow
A competition was held for Homes for the Future Phase Two and controversy surrounded the selection with Zaha Hadid again coming close to winning a UK project. RMJM won the Future Homes Competition and is working with other architects for Glasgow City Council.
Homes for the Future involves the development of a site on the eastern edge of the burgeoning Merchant City and faces onto Glasgow Green. A masterplan was created by Page & Park Architects with Arup Associates. Glasgow 1999 launched a design competition encouraging developers to submit plans that reflected future living and future techonology.
Homes for the Future Phase 2
elder & cannon architects
Elder & Cannon
Homes for the Future: Housing: The Green, by Elder & Cannon Architects won
a Saltire Award in 2000 (see also St Aloysius Glasgow)
Rick Mather Architects
mckeown alexander architects
McKeown Alexander
Homes for the Future: Terraced Housing & North Building, Lanark Street,
Glasgow by McKeown Alexander Architects (now part of jm architects) won a Saltire Commendation in 2001
ian ritchie architects
Ian Ritchie Architects
rmjm architects
RMJM Glasgow
Homes for the Future: Villa by RMJM Scotland Ltd Architects won a Saltire
Award in 2000 with Riverbrae Construction.
ushida findlay architects
Ushida Findlay Architects
wren rutherford asl architects
austin smith lord architects
Homes for the Future, Housing: 14-16 Lanark Street, Glasgow by
Rutherford/Austin Smith Lord, Architects won a Saltire Commendation in 2000
Homes for the Future was sponsored by Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Development Agency, Glasgow 1999 and Scottish Homes and managed by Rock DCM
Historic Glasgow: best glasgow buildings of the past
Architecture Books
Glasgow News : back to index
Future Homes - Extract from Scottish architecture page:
No.6
Homes for the Future, Glasgow Green, Glasgow
masterplan: Page & Park Architects with Arup Associates
architects: Elder & Cannon, RMJM Glasgow, Ian Ritchie Architects, Ushida Findlay Partnership, McKeown Alexander, Wren + Rutherford, Rick Mather Architects
Are these homes for the future, homes for now, homes for anyone? Known
as Fairy Glen by many Glaswegians due to the large gay population this
urban experiment is truly invigorating. The few modern houses that we
have in Scotland often sit alone and aloof but here we have a veritable
pot-pourri of great contemporary architects. Like Stuttgart's Weissenhofsiedlung
back in the 30's you have to ask yourself 'is this a model for the future
or a zoo for preening architects'? It has been described as an outdoor
Ideal Homes show but the grouping has a strong sense of urban grain.
The houses and flats lie East of the city centre, hovering on the edge
of the Merchant City. They mostly face out over Glasgow Green to the south
or inwards to the green court. The latter is basically triangular and
thus not at all a traditional tenement back court. The southern blocks
respect the building line onto the Green and even pay homage to deck access
that is reviled just a stone's throw away. All the buildings (except Ritchie's
copper block) seem to be rooted via white render, and there's a lot of
fashionable cedar boarding. Private developers collaborated with public
sector housing authorities: the scheme, planned in three phases will create
250 homes in what was once a thriving community.
Three teams were invited to compete to produce the masterplan, including
Dutch and Irish planners. The winning partnership, Glasgow architects,
Page and Park, backed by Arup Associates, produced guidelines indicating
a mix of accommodations of various tenures, sizes and budgets. It specified
the need to address the scale of the site, with an appropriately urban
character, rather than a suburban one. It also specified that individual
houses should address the issues of barrier free access, energy, living
and working combinations. A large-scale block looks out directly over
Glasgow Green, itself the subject of a multi-million refurbishment by
Glasgow City Council with Heritage Lottery money, while an internal landscaped
area behind forms the focus for the more intimately-scaled rear of the
development.
Each block tries something different: from west to east, anti-clockwise
- a floating corner box, a rippling wall nestling convex balconies in
the hollows, a cascading tower draped with wire trellis, a copper box,
celebrated timber garages and a series of bridge-access flats. There are
a lot of playful strokes here, some whimsical, some bold. The glazed cascades
of the Ushida Findlay block are captivating but bizarrely face north,
protecting the cliffline to the Green. The McKeown Alexander building
(above left) really knits the north corner together and its detailing
around the entry is a delight. 
The inability of the project to deal with cars gracefully is a drawback,
especially the paved parking to the south. Little attempt at communality
in the garden may be a safe option but hardly creates a benchmark. However
the architecture is significantly innovative and a marker for what can
be done with a little organisation. It revitalises a city centre community.
It is one of the most important projects to emerge from Glasgow's year
as UK City of Architecture and Design.Scottish Architecture
Most of Homes for the Future Phase One sold out prior to completion
Homes for the Future + City of Architecture 1999 + Lighthouse Glasgow featured in AJ 7 Jan 99