Completed in 2026, Altyre Street in Glasgow delivers forty-two affordable housing units for Tollcross Housing Association, comprising a mix of townhouses and flats to increase family housing in the area.

Page\Park has worked with Tollcross Housing Association since 2018 to develop the long-term brownfield site. Formerly inter-war tenements and before that a Victorian colliery, we supported the Housing Association’s ambition to remake the street as a high-quality, family-friendly place to live.

The development includes a range of dual-aspect house types, from one-bedroom flats to four-bedroom townhouses over three levels. All units are delivered to meet the requirements of the Glasgow Standard Design Criteria, Housing for Varying Needs, and Secure by Design.

(Re)creating a street

Prior to development, Altyre Street had been brownfield for nearly 15 years, and in decline for much longer. The objective of the project was to create a street, and the loss of its former identity presented an opportunity to establish a new and welcoming place.

The site plan reduces road widths and widens pavements to improve pedestrian space, with informal street compositions and landscaping helping to slow traffic and enhance character. Parking is kept to the rear, allowing the street frontage to be shaped by homes rather than cars.

Each house has a front garden and gate, with generous ground floor windows creating an animated frontage. The buildings step in and out along the street, recalling the rhythm of traditional Glasgow terraces while giving individual homes a clear identity and avoiding monotony.

In addition to a new children’s play area, kickabout pitch, and community garden, the development benefits from its proximity to Tollcross Park and the wider green network.

Housing mix

The brief was to address a shortage of family housing, particularly larger six and eight-person homes, while also providing smaller homes for two- and four-person households.

This resulted in a varied mix, from one-bedroom flats to four-bedroom townhouses, with different unit types combined within shared closes. While this limited the ability to rely on repetition, it enabled the development to meet a wide range of needs within a consistent overall form. The development also includes a number of wheelchair adaptable homes, with provision for future adaptation.

Together, this mix supports a broad community: families, older residents, and people moving into housing from more challenging circumstances.

Delivering quality

The elevations are carefully detailed, with large window openings and deep brickwork reveals creating a sense of weight and permanence.

A simple and robust palette of materials: concrete brick, precast cills, metal lintels and juliet balconies, and aluminium-clad windows; is used consistently across the development. These are high-quality but readily available components, allowing the project to balance durability with value.

Behind the elevations, the construction is straightforward and efficient, using a timber frame that could be a fabricated with Modern Methods of Construction and quickly assembled on-site. The simplicity of the structure allowed focus to remain on proportion, detail, and the overall character of the street. The result is a development that combines buildability and economy with a strong and coherent architectural identity.

The development has also designed to support the growing adoption of electric vehicles, with provision made for convenient home charging in line with current Scottish Technical Standards. EV charge points have been installed to all allocated parking bays, ensuring residents can benefit from lower-emission transport and reduced running costs.