Hutchesontown, Glasgow, for Scottish Homes

The 1100-dwelling Hutchesontown Estate, built for Scottish Special Housing Association in the 1960s, was beginning to decline and have problems in the 1980s. ARCADE were invited to prepare a master plan to improve the physical conditions in the estate to help halt the social decline. Among issues identified in partnership with tenants were clear definition of public and private space within the estate, control of security and access to houses, increased privacy for ground floor houses and provision of pleasant usable outdoor space for residents.

Following on from their master plan, ARCADE implemented Phase 1 of the project which focussed on a four storey courtyard block of maisonettes and involved close liaison with tenants throughout.

The courtyard was sealed off and landscaped as a private outdoor space for the exclusive use of residents of the block. To achieve this, the ground floor houses on two sides of the courtyard had to be altered so as to enter directly off the street. Glazed porches were added to form the new entrances at ground floor level, and upper floor balconies were glazed in to form verandahs.

The existing continuous balcony access to maisonettes at second floor level was divided and sealed off, so that each close now gave access to a smaller number of houses and was secured by a door with a controlled entry system. Gardens were provided to the front and rear of ground floor houses whilst upper floor houses shared larger gardens in the centre of the courtyard, reached from each close.