PLANS have been lodged for a Hobbit-style home in the West End which is almost completely underground.
Stuart Cameron of Cameron Webster architects, who are based in The Printworks in Otago Street, wants to build the subterranean house on a site at the junction of Wilton Street and Doune Gardens.
The unusual home will have a green roof which will be planted with wildflowers including snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils giving ,the impression of a wild meadow.
But the plan has come under fire from local residents, Sandra White MSP, Patrick Grady MP and Friends of Glasgow West. In total, 135 people have objected.
They are unhappy about the site being developed, the loss of green space and the impact on the Glasgow West Conservation Area, surrounding listed buildings and the residential amenity of exiasting residents.
However city planners have recommended it gets full planning permission when it goes before councillors on Tuesday.
The site, a long-established private garden at the end of a terrace of Victorian townhouses in Doune Gardens, was originally designed as a private pleasure garden but is not designated as greenspace.
The lower level of the new building would be 18ft below ground level and would accommodate a TV room store, shower room and a bedroom arranged around a central lightwell which will contain a birch tree.
The upper level would accommodate an entrance lobby, two bedrooms, an en-suite and bathroom, a large kitchen/living room, toilet and utility room.
A report to councillors says: “The architects acknowledge the site is sensitively sited at an important junction within the Glasgow West Conservation Area.
“The ‘stealth’ design of the building would mean only glimpses would be open to public view.
“Significant thought has clearly been given to designing the proposed building to minimise its visual impact both from pubic vantage points and from the surrounding buildings.
“While the design is contemporary and certainly unusual, it is also thoughtful, innovative and sympathetic.
“It is recognised the site contributes to the spacious and leafy character of the conservation area and forms part of the green gateway at the junction of Belmont Street and Wilton Street. It is considered the proposed development successfully protects these qualities.”
Architect Stuart Cameron said: “The design of the proposed house has taken its cue from other projects we’ve designed on restricted West End sites.
“The issues are the same - getting light into the building whilst controlling the views out and into the building is critical. Our own office is a subterranean space under a backcourt with a courtyard dropped into the space to bring in sunlight and let us see and experience the rain. “ Mr Cameron said the new building had been pushed to the rear of the site keeping maximum distance from a mature lime tree giving the house a south facing garden.
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