Falkirk Gateway: Living and Learning on the High Street
The High Street Revitalised: Perspective View
Falkirk Gateway aims to revitalise Falkirk’s ailing high street through enhanced residential, community and education opportunities in a large masterplan on the site of an existing shopping centre.
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The proposals replace the oversized, underused structure with a range of large family homes, smaller apartments and dedicated accommodation for older residents, alongside retail, a new health centre, a school for young people with autism and a new community education hub.
A new ‘city block’ of high-density development, with narrow closes and intimate public spaces drawing on the surrounding urban grain, layers a diverse range of functions to intensify connections across the community. Optimising its location at the western end of the high street, the project rises to nine storeys to create an ambitious gateway to a thriving, diverse, modern high street.
To support the development of a strong, inter-generational community, a range of house types share spaces with commercial and civic functions. Informed by the current demographic of the town centre, which is dominated by individuals living alone, a terrace of large co-houses, which provide space for six individuals or couples to share large kitchens and living spaces with others, aim to tackle loneliness and isolation, and free up underutilised family homes in the town centre. Deep floor plans maximise density, whilst every home benefits from a south-facing living room and most have access to a private outdoor terrace. Outdoor spaces aim to encourage visual connections between neighbours, enhancing passive security and facilitating the cohesion of the community.
Collaborators: Hannah Davis, Imogen Phillips