The Barras Art and Design project

Students plan a new lease of life for a city gap site at the Barras, Glasgow

Strathclyde students are working on live build designs for the 'Barras Art and Design 2' project under the 'FABLAB' at the Glasgow Project Office (GPO). The GPO office is based at the Barras Art and Design (BAaD) centre, located in the east of the city centre. As part of an intense internship at Rock DCM Ltd., BAaD prominent students Eoin Kavanagh, Kurt Cleary and Spyros Pagkalis will see their work built in the city later this year.

What will the BAaD 2 project provide for the area?

The GPO is a Department of Architecture collaborative initiative which has proven effective in linking communities, being socially engaged and encouraging youth creativity. When the Barras Art and Design 2 project (BAaD2) is built it will provide a rugged 'envelope' for a diverse range of tenants, bringing enhanced entrepreneurial and educational aspects to a deserving area.

The building will 'heal' an existing gap site in the heart of the Barras market area on Moncur Street, contributing towards the re-densification of the area. The materiality of the building (built from recycled shipping containers) will give further life to the area, just as the weekend Barras Market does.

The metal frontage will relate to existing metal buildings such as the nearby market sheds, while creating a typology of building that can be easily delivered as a quick, cost effective intervention. Cantilevered containers provide shelter to the streetscape and the addition of new public artworks will lend a creative spark to this area.

Working under close academic and professional supervision the students have gained valuable hands on experience in this project. Their work spanned the feasibility study, the initial design proposals and planning submissions through the production of sketches and design drawings. The skills that have been built up during this intensive period will prove invaluable as the students' graduate and move into the professional realm.

The project is moving on rapidly, and ground was due to be broken on the intended building in the early summer of 2015. This will mark a whole new and exciting phase in the learning process as ideas begin to be translated from paper into actual work on the ground. This will provide a different range of experiences which can often be absent from academic training.

Cristian Suau
GPO Director & Supervisor