SPRINGBURN WINTER GARDEN PAVILION

 

Sprinburn, Glasgow 

GIA Competition Entry 

2014

 

A competition to provide a small exhibition space and interpretation centre adjacent to the ruined Springburn Winter Gardens in the north of Glasgow. 

 

The elegant cast iron structure of the glasshouse embodies the exotic, the tropical environment that was once enshrined within lives on in our memory thorough this association. Equally the rich industrial heritage of this city is evoked by the gracious cast iron forms, forged by the same philanthropic construction it was erected for. The botanical delights of far-flung lands housed in home grown pavilion.

 

The proposal marries the memory of the industrial prowess with the exoticism of hot houses by creating a decidedly non-vernacular shelter of filigree timber screens made from the designs contained within the famed Saracen Foundry pattern books, resting with a scattered seeded meadow. The juxtaposition of the imagery from the historic heavy industry within a filigree timber shelter forms a gathering place in which to listen to the history of Springburn, whilst reflecting upon its present condition and contemplating its future.