Arch 12 is a disused railway arch that sits below the lines that used to take passengers from St Enoch Station out to Barrhead and Paisley. The lines stopped carrying passenger trains a while ago but the line is still in use as a freight train route. The legacy of the elevated line is that it creates a barrier between the communities of Laurieston and the Gorbals. The project works with New Gorbals Housing Association to create a new pedestrian walkway through this arch connecting these two communities. The arches project is the first phase of several public realm improvements planned for the area.

Brief & Architectural Concept

Our client New Gorbals set out three objectives for the walkway project;

To create a safe and welcoming route,

To create something visually striking,

But also something robust enough to stand up to the city,

The arch sits on the point where two railway lines above converge, with the alignment of the supporting arches not quite meeting up, in plan, like a zip not fastening correctly. This results in an offsetting of the structure of the arches which creates some interesting geometries but also some challenges for the creation of a safe walkway. The offsetting creates two dark corners that would be hidden from view when walking from one side to the other giving a sense of unease about what or who could be standing there. Key to creating a safe and welcoming route was limiting this and the proposals set out to create a walkway in the arch that uses geometry to smooth out these corners and create a much more inviting and welcoming route.

Fabrication

The fins have been expertly made in rusted corten steel. Each one is different, varying along the route in height and radius. They were made to tight tolerances off-site by the Glasgow fabricators Sculpture & Design in their workshop in Maryhill and then brought down and assembled in the arch. The infill mesh between the fins is a bespoke mesh of mild steel rods individually set out, bent and welded in place. A great deal of prototyping and testing was carried out on the mesh to get the right balance of robustness and transparency, whilst also getting something that would be able to cope with the twisting geometry. This included 1:1 mock-ups and scale models to get the right solution. This arrangement of vertical rods also references the ideas of perspective in Rachel’s linework. The appearance of the in-fill changes as you walk past going from solid to transparent depending on the angle it is viewed from, giving interest as you move along the route.