Ronald McDonald House – Glasgow

Overview:

The bespoke facility allows the charity to offer an enhanced, dedicated service to families with sick children creating a comfortable, ‘home from home’ environment and was achieved through the fundraising efforts of Ronald McDonald House Glasgow and nationwide contributions from the McDonalds fast food enterprise.

Project Type/Application:

The area of Govan, is renowned for its historical manufacturing presence Glasgow having once been a fundamental contributor to the UK shipbuilding industry, continuing to offer longstanding heritage to the city of Glasgow. CCG sought to create a building that sat within this context whilst addressing the sensitivities of the end user. The result is a series of vernacular white brick forms, interconnected by green-roofed, white concrete porticos, in turn creating an industrial silhouette.

The plan forms a series of semi-enclosed courtyards that allow residents to enjoy visual and physical amenity space without feeling the effects from the busy main road. These enclosures, in conjunction with the materiality of the brick, bring domesticity and human scale to the scheme; whilst offering an urban oasis of vibrant trees, shrubs and plants, contrasting with the otherwise institutional context of the hospital campus. Dark, projecting windows dramatically cantilever out from the contrasting white brick forms, defining internal opportunities whilst externally, shadows are accentuated to create a dynamic appearance depending on the direction of sunlight. The internal environment has been designed with the human ergonomics in mind, especially in the bedroom & kitchen areas where the window pods offer a desirable small space in which to read, relax or reflect. A library and children’s play area also offer youngsters to socialise within a comfortable, controlled environment. A mix of timber frame and steel frame was used for the construction with CCG OSM being utilised for the design, manufacture and installation of the enhanced closed panel timber system for the main structure of the building.

To compensate for the more complicated elements such as the vernacular roof design, a hybrid system of steel and timber was used. This system is a steel frame skeleton, shaping the spaces, with timber cassette panels inhabiting the frame between. Whilst this installation process was predominantly site based, the roof cassettes were also manufactured by CCG OSM and contributed to the overall off-site delivery of the project.
The panelised system brought instant benefits at site level including ease of erection (a key point when considering that the hospital was fully functioning for the duration of the build) and the level of precision given by the panel detailing which allowed for a smooth installation of features such as the windows ultimatley bringing the building to a wind and water tight status far quicker than that of a traditional build. Ultimately the use of CCG OSM’s timber system ensured that the project was delivered almost 1 month before the end of the contractual programme.

Outcome/Results/Success Factor:

The advance in the construction programme ensured that Ronald McDonald House could gear up to enter the home earlier thus, when opening the home in September 2015, it was instantly operational for families and their children.