Abstract:

Decades of overspill housing emptied Glasgow's city centre of its families. Today, young people can't afford to leave the family home while older generations remain disconnected from the communities they once knew. Sited on the unrealised Homes for the Future site in Calton, The Drying Green continues that project's ambition: to ask what the city's residential future looks like now. The answer is not a one-house-fits-all approach but a framework; prefabricated timber townhouses that can be subdivided, reconfigured, and extended over time as household structures change.

The framework draws its logic from the Glasgow tenement. A communal drying green, connected to an on-site steamie, reactivates the domestic act of laundry as a catalyst for community, echoing Glasgow Green's historic role as Calton's shared washing ground. Within each townhouse, a central stair and courtyard create a miniature close, ensuring that families living separately still share everyday moments of interaction. A tatami-inspired ceiling grid allows residents to place and remove lightweight partitions, while rooftop modules, available from an on-site construction hub, enable upward expansion.

Fabric shutters reference Calton's fabric weaving heritage while controlling light and privacy. Timber above a concrete base echoes the sandstone and granite palettes of the surrounding streets. Each era builds the city it needs. These are Glasgow's homes for the future, designed for the city it's becoming.