Upper Langlee

LOCATION: Galashiels, Scottish Borders

CLIENT: Waverley Housing

The Vision

Langlee was developed in the 1960s and early 1970s as part of a “building for the future programme” in the Borders region.

The aim was to move away from the traditional border market towns which provided limited opportunities for young people to a focus on new opportunities for trade and industry and to encourage young people to stay in the area. Langlee was part of a vision for Central Borders development, a government backed scheme to expand Borders population by a third and create a linked “city in a rural setting” encompassing employment, services and homes.

Over recent years, Waverley Housing Association had found that the social housing at Upper Langlee, Galashiels was carrying a certain stigma stemming from increasing levels of anti-social behaviour and the deteriorating condition of the existing buildings. There were increased levels of property vacancies, a decrease of interest in certain house types and locations along with a perception of a lack of larger family properties.

CSY Architects were appointed to aid in the completion of a feasibility study to consider how a new masterplan could be brought forward and implemented for Langlee.

The Solution

At the outset, we participated in a series of community consultation events,

each used as an opportunity to gauge both wider public and existing tenant reactions while developing proposals to promote and encourage a liveable, sustainable neighbourhood, and provide a diversity of housing opportunities.

An encouraging outcome of the consultation and charrette exercise was a strong desire to retain part of the existing housing stock.

These retrofit works, forming the first phase of the development and completed in 2021, exemplify a low-carbon led approach by retaining embodied carbon and providing a carefully modelled strategy of external insulation, energy efficient glazing systems, renewable technologies and, crucially, post occupancy education and assessment for tenants.

The new development will offer 109 new homes of varying typologies,

thereby replacing nearly 160 flatted and maisonette units, ultimately reducing the current density with a move towards family oriented homes with enhanced, communal amenity space.

We have endeavoured to continue the character of the existing estate - referencing the existing refurbished buildings in both form and fabric.

A language of masonry base courses with render finishes above is continued throughout the site to emulate the existing tower blocks. With this approach, a degree of diversity is achieved through simple moves – such as varying the height/extent of the masonry in conjunction with varying roof forms. The proposed locations of different house types are carefully considered to strengthen key areas within the development to work with the existing sloping topography and to create beautifully landscaped shared amenity spaces that mediate between settlement and the rural edge condition.

All housing has been designed to an exemplary standard of sustainability,

with careful detailing to the thermal envelope to achieve high levels of air tightness and the implementation of renewable technologies such as air source heat pumps, photovoltaic panels and future-proofing for electric vehicle charging.

The Conclusion

With flexibility and adaptability at the core, this masterplan aims to address the changing housing needs of an intergenerational community based in rural South Scotland and thereby fulfil much of the initial promise of the estate's original mid-century intention.

Providing future focused homes and well landscaped shared amenity spaces that meets people’s needs, will support residents living life in a place for the long term and help sustain a burgeoning community, comprised of a range of households that can enhance localism by offering people more choice to stay, travel and live locally.