Main Street, Mossend, Lanarkshire

Main Street, Mossend is a regeneration project that incorporates mixed use functions in an environmentally and socially responsive manner.

The primary objective is to provide affordable mainstream and wheelchair accessible housing and to assist in the regeneration of local businesses by providing new retail units to replace the existing shopping centre. The client, Lanarkshire Housing Association, identified a site on the busy Main Street thoroughfare, formerly a thriving shopping street in Mossend. By returning the shops to this area, the intention is to re-strengthen the streetscape and create a new gateway to the Mossend community.

The building form is three storeys and orientated with the public façade to the North. The rear Southern façade provides the main edge to a new private courtyard area with large fenestrations to maximise solar gain. A new public square is formed to the West, providing a good frontage for the retail units at Hope Street.

An important aspect of the brief is the use of sustainable energy systems to provide both ecological benefits and a means to alleviate fuel poverty. A CHP engine is installed as a centralised heat source supplying each property. Electricity is generated as a by-product of the heat production and is used to power the communal lighting systems. Photovoltaic arrays are installed on top of the closes to convert solar energy into electricity for use in the communal systems.

The Artist, Steve Hollingsworth has developed a Public realm installation for the new public square at Hope St. It combines abstract LED Lighting with Microphones and sensors to create an installation, which is responsive to its environment and unique to its development.