Common Ground Rising: A Climate Action Assembly for Glasgow
Rooting Tomorrow in Yesterday’s Foundations
Maryam Khan is a recent Sheffield Hallam University graduate with a 2:1 in BSc Architecture. Alongside academic work, she has been active as a Hallam Rugby team member and was named Hallam Charity Fundraiser of 2023/24. Her final-year project — a bold reimagining of civic infrastructure in Glasgow — proposes a new kind of public assembly rooted in history, community, and climate responsibility.
Reworking Ruins: Adaptive Reuse as Urban Memory
Set against Glasgow’s industrial past, the project confronts the city’s layered identity head-on. Rather than viewing historic structures as relics or constraints, the proposal champions adaptive reuse, weaving the memory of industrial sites into new civic purposes. Familiar brickwork and metal trusses become scaffolds for a new kind of public assembly — a living link between yesterday’s labour and tomorrow’s collaboration.
The building wears its history proudly. Fragments of machinery are repurposed as public art; old walls are punctuated, not demolished, yielding to new forms while holding the stories they contain.
Porosity, Participation, and Public Life
At the heart of the proposal is the idea of the building as a permeable, living artefact. Abandoning the fortress-like town hall archetype, the design uses porous spatial thresholds that filter rather than bar access. Layered courtyards, semi-open atria, and transparent facades blur the boundaries between city and institution, encouraging passers-by to become participants rather than spectators.
Spaces for education, protest, gardening, and governance do not exist in silos but overlap fluidly, producing the friction and synergy needed for genuine participation. Citizens shape the agenda, and the architecture in turn shapes a new type of citizenship — anchored in trust, proximity, and dialogue.
Radical Sustainability: Nature as Stakeholder
Environmental design is integrated at every scale. Rain gardens and green roofs temper the site’s microclimate, and open water channels recall Glasgow’s canal heritage while improving stormwater management and biodiversity. Communal food-growing beds sit alongside spaces for activism and debate — civic engagement extended to environmental stewardship. Material selection is low-carbon and locally sourced where possible, signalling a commitment to circular economy principles.
Civic Assembly as Living Artefact
The civic building is conceived as an evolving artefact. The scheme deliberately builds in ambiguity — spatially and programmatically — so the architecture can shift in response to collective use and changing societal needs. Walls are movable, zones can be reconfigured, and indoor–outdoor thresholds remain negotiable. The architecture institutionalises the idea of assembly itself, not as a static event but as a perpetual process.
Glazed “governance galleries” make public observation of council proceedings effortless, while landscaped ramps invite all comers to take part, whatever their background or physical ability.
Empowering the Next Generation of Civic Leaders
The work stands out for its maturity and pragmatism. Determination, resilience, and a commitment to development come through in both the academic achievements and the extracurricular record. By foregrounding participation, embedded memory, and radical sustainability, the thesis delivers a vision of civic architecture that invites collective authorship and continuous evolution.
Connect with Maryam Khan
As Maryam seeks a Part 1 Architectural Assistant role, she brings a strong portfolio of ideas, leadership experience, and a passion for transforming communities through design.
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/maryam-k-770b3b147
- Email: k1maryamk@gmail.com
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