{"id":529,"date":"2023-07-25T13:07:01","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T12:07:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/?page_id=529"},"modified":"2023-07-25T13:07:01","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T12:07:01","slug":"press-release-for-collective-architecture","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/writing\/press-release-for-collective-architecture\/","title":{"rendered":"Press release for Collective Architecture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Civic House is a fantastic co-working and events space in north Glasgow. I wrote this press release about the ambitious retrofit project for Collective Architecture and their client Agile City. The press release was intended for architectural publications, and the building was featured in the July 2023 issue of<\/em> The Architects\u2019 Journal<em>. The story was also covered by<\/em> The Herald<em> newspaper as well as several online publications.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/buildings\/post-industrial-renaissance-civic-house-by-collective-architecture\">Post-industrial renaissance: Civic House by Collective\nArchitecture (architectsjournal.co.uk)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.heraldscotland.com\/business_hq\/company_news\/23669146.retrofit-transforms-former-printworks-small-scale-power-plant\/\">Retrofit transforms former printworks into &#8216;small-scale\npower plant&#8217; | HeraldScotland<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Scotland\u2019s first passive warehouse is a\nmicro power station for energy, ideas and enterprise<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The\nretrofit of Civic House, a former printworks, has created a hub of cultural and\nsocial enterprise that brings new life to a neglected corner of Glasgow. The\nrepurposed building is also a small-scale power plant \u2012 generating three times as much electricity\nas it consumes over the course of a year. The project is an exemplar for the creative reuse of\npost-industrial cities\u2019 former factories and warehouses, which are often left\nto fall derelict despite their architectural value and cultural heritage. These\nbuildings that once supported industrial growth \u2013 and an explosion in carbon\nemissions \u2013 can now support new green industries and a low-carbon future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Built\nin the 1920s, Civic House is located just north of Glasgow city centre in a\nquarter now known as Speirs Locks. This was once part of a thriving industrial\ndistrict that grew up around the Port Dundas terminus of the Forth and Clyde\ncanal. But following the building of the M8 motorway in the 1960s, the already\ndeclining area became a post-industrial island \u2013 cut off from its inner-city\ncontext by the canal to the east, the M8 to the south and a busy road to the\nwest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 2006 masterplan for the wholesale\ncommercial redevelopment of Speirs Locks was unrealised after the 2008\nfinancial crash. Since then, the district has had a partial renaissance as a\ncultural quarter, but Speirs Locks still feels disconnected from the city\ncentre. Many of its former industrial buildings are neglected and dilapidated, despite\ntheir versatile human scale and easily walkable location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The\nCivic House retrofit is part of a wider project by community interest company\nAgile City to bring new life to the area by creating spaces for cultural,\nsocial and green enterprises and events. After acquiring the 840m2 building in\n2017 with money from the Scottish Government\u2019s Regeneration Capital Grant fund,\nAgile City took time to get to know the space and to observe how\npeople used it during events such as Architecture Fringe and the\nGlasgow Short Film Festival. This allowed them to identify an achievable\nsequence of works and sources of funding for a low-carbon retrofit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In\n2018, Agile City initiated the refurbishment of the interior while\ncommissioning Collective Architecture to conduct a feasibility study for an\nenergy-efficient external retrofit. The feasibility study energy modelling \u2013\nusing the Passive House Planning Package \u2013 indicated that the building\u2019s\nheating demand could be reduced by 86% (from 450kWh\/m2\/a to 60kWh\/m2\/a) while\nmaintaining a temperature of 20<sup>o<\/sup>C throughout the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Collective\nArchitecture developed an incremental plan for the retrofit, ensuring it could\nbe carried out in phases in line with available funding. Taking a fabric-first\napproach and designed to target EnerPHit standards, the works would reduce\nenergy demand while improving the appearance of the building and making it more\ncomfortable for users. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rather\nthan attempting to recreate the 1920s\u2019 design, the retrofit offers a\ncontemporary interpretation of the original elevations, emphasising key\narchitectural characteristics \u2012 massing, rhythm and repetition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Emily\nOng of Collective Architecture says: \u201cWe designed the retrofit to take\nadvantage of Civic House\u2019s form, east-west orientation and existing glazing\npatterns. We wanted to ensure that its unique features were not only preserved\nbut also enhanced in a way that delivered a comfortable indoor environment for\noccupants \u2012 whether the building was being used as a co-working space or by up\nto 200 people as an events venue.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The\nfirst phase of the external works was carried out during 2019\u201220, funded by \u00a3101,047\nfrom the Climate Challenge Fund. This involved replacing the dilapidated slate\nroof with thermally efficient composite metal roof panels on top of an airtight\nmembrane laid on the existing roofing boards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The\nsecond phase followed in 2020\u201221, funded by \u00a3319,550 from the Scottish Power\nEnergy Network\u2019s Green Economy Fund. This saw the installation of a 270m2 50kW\nPV roof array, an external insulation cladding system for the walls, new\ntriple-glazed airtight windows and a mechanical ventilation and heat recovery\nsystem, along with an air source heat pump. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With\nthe phase two works now complete, Civic House is home to a thriving community\nof social and creative enterprises. As an events space, it hosts talks, film\nscreenings, performances and exhibitions. And Parveen\u2019s \u2012 a Pakistani-inspired\ncanteen, open four days a week \u2013 provides a social hub for the wider Speirs\nLock creative community. Other visitors come from all over Glasgow and further\nafield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Agile\nCity director Rob Morrison says: \u201cBefore we started work at Civic House, we\ntook inspiration from other cultural spaces with progressive agendas. Now\ncommunity groups from various post-industrial cities are coming to visit us. Civic\nHouse demonstrates that not-for-profit local organisations have the power not\nonly to save much-loved buildings and bring new life to post-industrial\ndistricts but also to become small-scale sustainable energy generators.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The building is already fulfilling its\npurpose as a micro power station. During the 12 months from January 2022, it\nused just 1684kWh of gas and 9706kWh of electricity, while generating 30,780kWh\nof electricity \u2013 equating to a net energy gain of 19,390 kWh. As the co-working\nspace and canteen were not in use during the first part of 2022, the energy\nusage for 2023 is likely to be a little higher, but Agile City is confident\nthat the building will continue to be a significant net energy generator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Agile\nCity continues to observe and learn from Civic House and its users. The next\nphase of the project will reactivate the public space around the building \u2012\nattracting more local people to the neighbourhood through music and gardening\nprojects. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Civic House is a fantastic co-working and events space in north Glasgow. I wrote this press release about the ambitious retrofit project for Collective Architecture and their client Agile City. The press release was intended for architectural publications, and the building was featured in the July 2023 issue of The Architects\u2019 Journal. The story was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":376,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/full-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-529","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":531,"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/529\/revisions\/531"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}