Lochgilphead Front Green

The Front Green is Lochgilphead’s core public space, a key part of the original composition of the eighteenth-century planned settlement, forming a green waterfront edge at the head of Loch Gilp. Argyll Street, the main spine of the planned settlement, offers a framed view south down Loch Gilp across the Front Green, with the war memorial as a visual focus. Historically the Front Green was the hub of community activity, hosting markets and civic events. However, with rising sea levels, it was subject to regular coastal flooding, and had become increasingly unusable.

Erz were appointed to lead the project by Argyll and Bute Council in late 2018. Community engagement took place through 2019 to inform the detailed brief and design. Alongside community dialogue, the technical design response to coastal flooding was explored. The level of the Front Green has been raised, informed by projections for changes to sea level and with consideration to wider flooding and drainage impacts. The raised and redesigned Front Green sits above a large storage tank to hold water in storm and flood events, which is released back to Loch Gilp when sea levels drop.

The regenerated Front Green incorporates a new play area, a large flexible grass space, a new active travel route and re-establishes the avenue of trees to the street edge. Large landmark signage announces Lochgilphead along the A83 to encourage visitors to stop.

One of the major design moves was the creation of a new public square on the axis of Argyll Street. The square creates a new setting for the war memorial and a unique civic space with a remarkable view down Loch Gilp. The square is intended to re-establish the Front Green as the focus of civic life and incorporates infrastructure to facilitate markets and events. The square is defined to one edge by a linear steel and timber screen structure, helping to generate human scale and provide local wind shelter.

The square is surfaced with locally quarried ‘Greenstone’, unique to the area and evident in local historic landmark buildings. This material combined with whin stone is used in various formats, introducing subtle variation in the ground plane.

The raised level of the Front Green generates a new constructed waterfront edge. Levels have been carefully considered, to make the edge comfortably sittable and to avoid any physical barrier, creating a simple foreground and ‘infinity’ edge to views down Loch Gilp.