creative
process - architectural competition
Creating Healing Spaces
One of the earliest suggestions made by the
NHS was that the Project Director should choose modular units
from catalogues that could then be combined to form the finished
hospital. Though this would have been easy to do, it would
not result in a place of healing and beauty as intended, but
nonetheless spurred on the Project Director to look for more
creative solutions.
Dr Reilly approached Paul Anderson of the Glasgow
School of Art who pointed him in the direction of the Deputy
Director Jimmy Cosgrove who in turn guided him to Mike Haynes,
Director of Planning for the City of Glasgow. Mike Haynes
not only understood our vision for the hospital, but crucially
recognised that the central role the future users of the building
would play in the design process corresponded exactly with
the aspirations of Glasgow’s European City of Architecture
Year in 1999. Thus the new GHH became one of its first projects
– and the first conceptual brick was laid.
The trail then lead to Neil Baxter Associates
who recommended that we set up a design competition to find
the right architects and steered us through this sometimes
complex process, using the Royal Institute of Architecture
of Scotland Guidelines.
The fantastic response resulted in 60 entries
that were put on public display in Princes Square and a booklet
which can be downloaded in PDF format by clicking
here. If you need the Adobe Acrobat Reader and PDF viewer
click
here.
The judging process was extremely difficult
given the very high quality of the entries and the need for
input from patients and staff, as well as judges from both
architecture and medicine. David Mackay of MBM Architects
Barcelona provided critical input on how to best balance innovation
and sensitivity against deliverability within budget and eventually
a clear winner emerged.
The winners were Glasgow-based Macmon
Architects who showed a vision for the building that excited
the entire panel and showed a masterful handling of interior
and exterior space. To find more out about the building follow
the links to the next section.
“The central role of the users
in the creation of the building corresponded exactly to Glasgow’s
aspirations for its year as ‘European City of Architecture’
in 1999.”
Mike Hayes, Director of Planning
for the City of Glasgow
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