Bandstand winning design chosen

We went along to a presentation of the results of the Queen's Park Arena Design Competition last night. The designers of the five shortlisted entries were all there to give a five minute presentation explaining their bandstand designs and give a bit more depth to the entries and it really helped to give a better understanding of the five projects. We were pleased to see that two local residents were in the final three.

The final results were:

Winner - No 44 ZM Architecture
Second Place - No 19 Manifest Architecture
Third Place - No 24 Nicolas Ecob

There was also a special honorable mention prize for No 73 Superfusionlab who's entry was the most popular with the public following the public vote at the Glasshouse exhibition.

The winners ZM Architecture are a well known practice in Glasgow having worked on numerous projects including the Tramway and sculptures in Bellahousten Park. Their design is to act as a sculptural wall during the times when not in practical use. When performances etc are taking place then different sections of the wall fold open and change how the object looks. Its an unusual and ambitious idea, a modern reinterpretation of a bandstand and therefore I can imagine a few people being unsure about it. If its well detailed however with good quality materials and if it proves it can actually does the job its meant for then I think it will be a really interesting draw to get more people into and using the park. I'm looking forward to see how it evolves as the project is developed.

What do people make of the choices?

For previous comment on the project and the initial thoughts of locals visit all previous posts here.

Queen's Park Arena Entries

The entries to the Queen's Park Arena Design competition (see earlier posts here) have now been uploaded to the Competition website and are generally of a really high standard. I think that the right design with the correct backing/ management and with a varied and interesting performance schedule could have a hugely positive impact on this area of the City and on the park. Have a read through the submitted entries and let us know what you think.

A shortlist of entries, selected by the competition judges, will be exhibited in the Glasshouses during the Festival, at Art in the Park and will give the public the opportunity to respond to the judges choices.

Why not pop up on Sun 23 May to the Glasshouses and have your say.

Queens Park Arena Competition Launch Day

The Queen's Park Arena Competition organised by the GIA and QPPP launched last Saturday and there are now photos of the day uploaded to the competition site. Its great to see how many people attended and how many designers (60+) have signed up to be part of it. This is fantastic not just because it means there will be some really interesting designs produced but also because I suggested the idea of the design competition and the involvement of the GIA and was a bit worried it wouldn't work but I'm just glad its been so successful for them.

We missed the event unfortunetly as we were down in London for the judging session of the Electoral Reform competition that I'd organised, but from the looks of things lots of you went along and checked it out. Let us know what you thought of the day and what you'd like to see in the final design.

Queens Park Performance Project

[Queens Park Bandstand 1920]

Last week we were invited to a presentation by the Queen's Park Performance Project which is a community group, set up by a pilot Government Funding scheme, to explore regenerating the old queens park bandstand space.

The talk by Evelyn Silber and Bob Marshall was very interesting and they discussed the origin of the pilot funding scheme and the works which have been undertaken so far. The project has only been going for about 5 or 6 months but they have already made good head way getting the area surveyed, carrying out a questionnaire with locals and drawing up some rough proposals for basic costing purposes.

[Queens Park Bandstand 1995 by Monkeyiron]

Its been 13 years since the last band stand burned down and I think if done right, this project could be a huge benefit to the park and the local area.

The steering group have identified their aims as

• 
  
  creating a modified seating area for around 950 people.
• 
  
  a flat performance space suitable for use with or without staging, canopy projection
• 
  
  providing an electrical supply for sound and light systems
• 
  
  performer wc/ changing facilities
• 
  
  flexible space able to host drama, music, film, children's events and exercise classes
• 
  
  the capacity to host free and charged events
• 
  
  possibly a unique space capable of attracting city, national and international performances

All sounds good to me. With the Tramway, the Ballet and the Citizens also all in the Southside now we are building up quite the cultural flare.

In terms of visitors to the park I think it would be a great boost and in turn could result in the park being able to attract for funding for its maintenance and upkeep. Designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, Queens Park is one of the nicest parks in the city and with the Glasshouses, the reptile room and the free sports in the summer it already has a few fun things to get involved with but with a carefully designed and detailed bandstand it could become a real strong tourist attraction. I love wandering through Queens Park but I always feel it could do with something extra- possibly some modern sculptures or art works to give it another layer of interest.

[Queens Park Bandstand 2009 by Monkeyiron]

I guess ultimately the project will succeed or fail on the quality of the design and on the commitment and maintenance of both the finished construction and the programme of events that it stages.

So far only very basic designs have been drawn up by the Council's in house team - examples from the presentation are below. Don't judge them too harshly, I know they are not particularly very inspiring images but they are meant to get you thinking and to assist with costing purposes.

At the presentation someone raised the idea of a design competition and details have been passed on to the Steering group relating to the Glasgow Institute of Architects work with local projects and the RIAS matched funding schemes for getting advice and ideas worked up. I'm sure that this kind of project would be of great interest to local artists and architects etc but it's such an attractive project I could see it attracting interest at a national level.

The Scottish Government Funding £15k runs from April 2009 to March 2010 and will enable preliminary consultation, planning and costing to take place. The next steps will include discussions with potential users and the application for various grant funding based on fully researched and prepared costings - including the various community area committees and to external bodies such as the Lottery. The aim would be to have the work beginning on site in 2011.

There is a fair amount of information on the QPPP website but I understand there might be a public meeting further along the process to present the work and ideas to the wider area so we will let you all know when that is when it is announced.

In the mean time to be kept up to date with whats going on or if you have any questions or just wish to send the group messages of support then you can email chair@qppp.org.uk.