THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

Visionary design and next-level craftsmanship have transformed a Govanhill flat into a work of art

- Natasha Radmehr

DETAILS

What A single-room tenement flat

Where Govanhill, Glasgow

Collaborators Duncan Blackmore, Simon Harlow and Lee Ivett

Structural Engineer Design Engineering Workshop

In an ordinary Victorian tenement on an ordinary street in Govanhill is a flat that is anything but ordinary. Walk through its bottle-green door and you’ll find yourself ensconced in 25 square metres of Mondrian-esque colour and confident form, where razor-sharp lines dissolve into curved openings and a compact floorspace is offset by soaring ceilings. There’s nowhere else like it in Glasgow – perhaps not even in Scotland – so it has a natural home here in what is arguably the city’s liveliest creative hub.

Owned by experimental urbanist Duncan Blackmore, the flat – named Ferguson after one of its previous occupants – serves as a base for him to stay, work and entertain while remaining connected to a community he regularly collaborates with. Duncan has been involved in initiating two projects in Govanhill: Kiosk, an experimental ‘spare room’ on Prince Edward Street that is available for use by anyone who has an idea to work on, whether art or activism; and the renovation of the long-vacant building that now houses 20 Albert Road, an art space jointly programmed by a collective of artists, gallerists and curators where events, exhibitions and discussions are held. “There’s so much going on here; a really interesting energy with lots of entrepreneurialism, self-expression, freedom and tension,” says Duncan. “It’s invigorating to be around.”