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Phoenix Flowers

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New pedestrian routeThe red carpet replaces the previously hostile M8 underpass, creating an attractive new pedestrian route up to Speirs Locks

Metal petals at nightThe new route illuminated by 50 colourful aluminium flowers

Cycling the underpassBrightening up a hard concrete environment on a dull day

Widened, landscaped routeThe widened, landscaped route brings light and interest to the previously damp and dark underpass

Skateboarding the underpassThe flowing red resin surface attracts cyclists and skateboarders alike

Commuting to the city centre via the Phoenix FlowersProviding a safe route for commuters to nearby Cowcaddens station

Seeds of changeThe ‘Phoenix Flowers’ – sowing seeds of change and marking the blossoming of new activity at Speirs Locks

Planted terracesCorten and gabion planted terraces create a durable yet softened edge to the route

Garscube Link planGarscube Link: Long elevation

Concept planGarscube Link: Concept plan showing new route running under the M8 and leading up to the canalside

50 coloured aluminium "flowers", fluttering through the spaceThe red carpet replaces the previously hostile M8 underpass, creating an attractive new pedestrian route up to Speirs Locks

Call it the Garscube Link, the Phoenix Flowers or the Metal Petals; the improvements to this route are attracting many names!

Funding from the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council and Scottish Enterprise enabled this £3.5M project aimed at improving links between the canal and the City Centre. The metal petals were inspired by the former Phoenix Park that was lost to the area when the M8 was built.

This important new public realm development is about re-connecting North Glasgow back to the city centre for pedestrians and cyclists.

 

Categories: Completed Project, Make A Difference

It is the first phase of the regeneration of the Speirs Locks area in Glasgow and was designed by 7N Architects and RankinFraser Landscape Architecture for the Glasgow Canal Regeneration Partnership (GCRP), a partnership between Glasgow City Council and ISIS Waterside Regeneration, supported by British Waterways Scotland.

The project has involved the radical revitalisation of this crucial link to the City Centre which was severed by the construction of the M8 motorway in the 1960s. The existing route was a hostile environment: dark, dirty, noisy, and intimidating. The new public realm is significantly wider that the previous underpass, held together by a single, flowing, red resin surface that doesn't constrain those using it to a single, confrontational, route.

The project recently won the 'Best Future Building' category at the 2010 Scottish Design Awards.

The route is illuminated by a ribbon of 50 coloured aluminium "flowers", fluttering through the space 8m up in the air, that draw the visitor through the route in deliberate contrast to the solidity of the concrete. The Garscube Link has been christened The Phoenix Flowers, a reference to the former Phoenix Park which once occupied the site before the construction of the motorway.