Bird Boxes
Subscribe now to instantly view this image
Subscribe to the Architects’ Journal (AJ) for instant access to the AJ Buildings Library, an online database of nearly 2,000 exemplar buildings in photographs, plans, elevations and details.
Already a subscriber? Sign in
Totem close
Educational project housing local wildlife ranging from beetles to small nesting birds
This modest educational project forms part of a wider ‘Stalled Spaces’ Initiative for a little gap site within the inner city, tenemental area of Pollokshields, Glasgow.
Ongoing landscape improvements are being carried out incrementally by the local community, as and when funds become available. A tower for wildlife habitat heralds the beginning of landscape improvements by the local community.
This takes the form of a ‘totem pole’ to host slugs, snails and beetles at ground level, butterflies and spiders above, with various small nesting birds in bird boxes between 2m-4m.
The timber boxes were laser etched, then charred to provide protection and a monolithic aesthetic quality. The totem pole design was developed by Collective Architecture in association the Eco Groups at two local primary schools.
Data
- Begun: May 2013
- Completed: May 2013
- Floor area: 1m2
- Sectors: Education, Public realm
- Total cost: £2,200
- Funding: Funded by Glasgow City Council Stalled Spaces Programme, Central Scotland Green Network Community Projects Fund and Area Committee Funding.
- Tender date: Apr 2013
- Procurement: Exchange of letters and lots of goodwill
- Address: Stepping Stones Park, Leslie Street, Pollokshields, Glasgow, G41, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Collective Architecture
- Client: Leslie Street Greenspace Group
- Collaborator/Contractor: Podbox Laser
- Structural engineer: David Narro Associates