SCALA Civic Building of the Year Competition, 2006

Small Project category: Winner

Dundee City Council
Baxter Park Ranger Centre

The Park Centre forms the focus of the regeneration of the Grade A listed park designed in 1860 by Sir Joseph Paxton.

The client, Merrill Smith, realised from the outset that a successful and sustainable future for the park required community support and commissioned a pavilion which would actively encourage participation, facilitated by dedicated park rangers using the centre as a base for park interaction.

A fully glazed approach was adopted to encourage dialogue between those using the centre and the wider park community.

Initial proposals included the use of sustainable locally quarried Caithness slab stone and indigenous oak, however, budget constraints obliged the use of an aluminium roof and indigenous ‘green’ Douglas fir. The glazed wall is formed in Pilkington Glass inaugural use of their high performance triple glazed low ‘E’ ‘Planar’ Glass as a demonstration project.

A contemporary classical architectural language was selected to echo Paxton’s adjacent original sandstone pavilion and create a gazebo in the bucolic atmosphere of the surrounding parkland.

The park regeneration has raised the profile and self esteem of the surrounding community and this is reflected in rising property prices and significantly reduced graffiti and vandalism. The park centre and work of the park rangers has been a major contributor to this process.­

Architect:

Dundee City Council

Quantity Surveyor:

Dundee City Council

Mechanical and  Electrical Engineer:

Cadogan Consultants

Structural Engineer:

Dundee City Council

Landscape Architect:

Dundee City Council

Main Contractor:

Muirfield Contracts Ltd