House of Belief

Civic buildings are very telling of a society’s mindset at particular points of time. They represent a body of individuals brought together through the building of an urban artefact that showcases them as a collective.

Throughout the course of time, the success of the collective has greatly depended on belief in four particular factors; politics, culture, knowledge and religion. In turn, typologies were developed to promote and represent these accordingly; town halls, museums, libraries and churches are just some examples. The problem is that these typologies were designed for a social consensus which is increasingly difficult to achieve in the age of information overload.

The House of Belief therefore comes to life as an amalgamation of civic programmes, providing the Barras with a civic hub that actively engages the forgotten east end of Glasgow with the wider city agenda. It provides the framework for civic activities to take place, detached from the outdated typologies they are often associated with. In turn, it also aims to demystify civic activities, allowing for chance encounters amongst individuals attending the building for very distinct purposes. It speculates on creating greater visibility of civic traditions, and the potential development of these in modern times.

The use of natural materials to dictate the primary rhythm of the project are a poetic hint towards the project's strong historical references, along with a very exposed structural system which aims to manifest the project's transparency through the building materiality.

Project created using revit, photoshop and other Adobe Illustrator software. Renders produced with Sketchup and Vray.