Very Glasgow, Very Gallus!

Very Glasgow, Very Gallus
by Lynsay Keough, photos Stuart Maxwell

John Wallace of RSAMD, Steve Dunlop of British Waterways, Stewart Stevenson MSP and Councillor John Flanagan.

‘Very Glasgow, Very Gallus,’  said Scottish Government Minister Stewart Stevenson, when he saw the plans, a year ago, for the “Phoenix Flowers”.  The Cowcaddens art project was formally opened by him on Monday 28 June 2010 and the fifty, giant, pink, orange and yellow flowers were finally in bloom.

‘The Phoenix Flowers Project creates a vibrant gateway between the Glasgow city centre, the North of the city and the Forth and Clyde Canal and I’m delighted to have been able to open it today,’ he said. ‘This project represents a key milestone in the overall regeneration of the North of the city, and credit must go to the businesses, community groups, residents and schools who have all played an important part in this work.’

The towering aluminium flowers, which range in height from five to eight metres and which have two metre wide petals, are part of the award winning transformation of a run down underpass near Cowcaddens underground on the site of the former Phoenix Park.

They form part of an important and colourful gateway between the city centre and the  developing creative and cultural neighbourhood on the banks of the Forth and Clyde Canal at Speirs Wharf. This is just one element of the Glasgow Canal Regeneration Partnership’s  plans to revitalise key hubs on the Glasgow stretch of the waterway which also includes Maryhill.

The £1.5 million project won a Scottish Design Award in the ‘Future Buildings and Spaces’ category. It was commissioned by the Glasgow Canal Regeneration Partnership and was designed by 7N Architects and rankinfraser landscape architecture.

The idea of developing Speirs Wharf into an important cultural centre is already becoming a reality.  Scottish Opera purpose-built their production studios in the area in 1997. And the Royal Scottish Academy for Music and Drama, the National Theatre of Scotland, Glasgow Academy Musical Theatre Arts (GAMTA), and the Tollhouse Studio now all have premises on the banks of the canal.

Steve Dunlop, Director in Scotland for British Waterways said:  ‘The Phoenix Flowers project has already become a major talking point with Glaswegians and creates new interest in an area that has been neglected for many years.  We hope, in time, they will continue along the canalside.’

Be Sociable, Share!

•