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Kilcreggan Design Competition
Author: Caroline Ednie
For further information visit the official competition website
A competition, to seek design ideas for the rural community of Kilcreggan, was recently held by Glasgow Institute of Architects (GIA), in association with Rosneath Peninsula West Community Development Trust.
The local community of Kilcreggan - a village in Argyll and Bute, located at the end of the Rosneath Peninsula, between the Gare Loch and Loch Long on the Firth of Clyde - has successfully undertaken a number of initiatives in the area in recent years.
Following a consultation exercise between the Community Development Trust in partnership with Community Links Scotland, an initiative was launched in 2011 to attract design ideas aiming to: ”improve the quality of life and the local environment in order to; attract tourists, retain young families and encourage employment opportunities.”
A vision statement by the local community describes Kilcreggan as: "a community enjoyed by locals and tourists alike. It is a model of a resilient community that enjoys access to its natural environment, whilst the village centre provides a unique and memorable setting for community life. Contemporary interventions, landscape and art (will) complement the Victorian legacy of the village.”
Glasgow Institute of Architects, through its Architecture People and Places (AP&P) Committee, supported the community council to deliver this design competition. The aim of the competition being the delivery of a framework for the development of Kilcreggan over a 20-year span. From this the Community Development Trust aims to identify projects or initiatives that can be implemented and phased over a period of time.
The design competition was also conceived as an opportunity to provide a template for other rural communities that face the same challenges as Kilcreggan.
Competition Result
The judging and assessment of competition entries was undertaken on an anonymous basis. Judges were asked to review all the submissions prior to attending a shortlisting meeting in Glasgow. The teams submitting shortlisted entries were asked to attend a prize giving night to provide a short presentation on their proposals. The judges deliberated on the six selected finalists and agreed on the prizes at an event held in August 2011 at Cove Burgh Hall, attended by over 100 members of the local community.
The final prize list was announced as follows:
1st Prize: Konishi Gaffney Architects
2nd Prize: Lucid Architecture
3rd Prize: Gordon Murray Architects
According to the judges: “Each of the three prize winners had proposed innovative ways of using the foreshore to provide a range of uses and improve amenity. Proposed uses were sensitive to the village context and were practical as well as innovative.”
The winning proposals by Konishi Gaffney Architects, to provide innovative and well considered events along a new foreshore promenade, was seen by the judges as an effective template that could be adopted by other rural communities to reinvigorate their communities by improving the amenity of their settlements and making them attractive as a destination for others.
All images above: Konishi Gaffney Architects. Images published by kind permission of Konishi Gaffney Architects.
History of Kilcreggan
Kilcreggan developed on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde at a time when Clyde steamers brought it within easy reach of Glasgow at about 25 miles (40 km) west of the centre of Glasgow by boat. Many Glasgow ship owners and merchants made their summer retreats or even permanent residences there, and this is reflected in some very grand houses along the shore. Not all have remained occupied, some were demolished and others have been converted into flats.
The village looks south across the Clyde towards the towns of Gourock and Greenock, and further down the firth towards the Isle of Arran. Large attractive houses continue westwards from the pier towards Baron's Point which marks the southern entrance to Loch Long, almost to the adjoining village of Cove which looks across Cove Bay towards Blairmore only about 2 miles (3 km) distant, but separated by the deep waters of Loch Long. To the east of the pier, houses at Portkil extend down to Portkil bay.
A ferry pier provides a regular service across the Gareloch to Helensburgh and across the Clyde to Gourock. Kilcreggan Pier is the last remaining original Victorian pier on the Clyde. On some days, the paddle steamer Waverley sails from Kilcreggan down the Firth of Clyde to Dunoon and the Kyles of Bute.
Kilcreggan has a rich architectural heritage of Victorian mansions and castles. Alexander "Greek" Thomson, William Leiper and John Honeyman were among many of the notable architects to build impressive homes for wealthy clients.
Image above: Lucid Architecture. Image published by kind permission of GIA.
Image above: Lucid Architecture. Image published by kind permission of GIA.
Image above: Gordon Murray Architects. Image published by kind permission of GIA.
Image above: Gordon Murray Architects. Image published by kind permission of GIA.
Main image: Konishi Gaffney Architects.
Image published by kind permission of Konishi Gaffney Architects.