I was pleased to read that South Block, the building that is home to my studio, has won the Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award.
Nord architecture, the practice that redeveloped the building were awarded the gold medal at the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 7th November by Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop. She said: "The winning scheme is a tremendous and inspiring focus for creativity and innovation and, like previous winners of the award, it is a building of which Scotland can be proud."
Wasps Chief Executive David Cook said: “South Block is now 100% occupied, a great achievement in this economic climate, and we have received fantastic feedback from the creative community. The new venue is also making a huge contribution to the regeneration of the Merchant City.”
Judges stated: "Nord has crafted and choreographed the renovation of this existing building with extraordinary rigour, With great sensitivity and the slimmest of budgets, the architects have produced a specific environment for creative industries. Normally office buildings speak of generic environments. Here, within a tailored set of spaces, interaction and the promise of collaboration is easy to imagine."
South Block was chosen from a shortlist of 12 other projects around Scotland.
The project provides an exciting mix of low-cost studio space for fine artists and craftspeople, plus offices for social enterprises. High-quality office space is also occupied by commercial businesses from Scotland’s vibrant creative industries.
This project was different for us because the money raised by renting space to commercial businesses is used by Wasps to reduce the rents for artists and arts organisation enterprises to around half the market rate. This can make all the difference to arts and crafts practitioners who would otherwise be unable to afford the spaces they need.
South Block received support from:
Creative Scotland
Social Investment Scotland
Scottish Enterprise
European Regeneration Development Fund
Glasgow City Heritage Trust
Glasgow Merchant City Townscape Heritage Initiative
Glasgow City Council
And loan finance from Triodos Bank.
www.southblock.co.uk
www.nordarchitecture.com
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BBC Scotland: South Block in Glasgow Wins Best Building Award
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