Annu Antony (She/Her)
I am an Interior designer with a keen interest in spaces that are as functional as they are aesthetically pleasing/intriguing. For this final year project I decided to take the concept of this being a personal project to the extreme and focus on a concept that is truly personal to me. With this in mind I have decided that this is the perfect opportunity for to create something special for which the key concept and inspiration is my mother, Rose Xavier. My mother died in 2018 and this event was one of the main reasons for which I switched from my previous course to my current one. Ever since first year I have wanted to do a project in remembrance of her that reflects her ideals and values in life which revolves around the concepts of helping and caring for others.
In her lifetime she studied and qualified for the two professions of teaching and nursing and with this in mind I want to create a space with the key concepts of education and medical care as its reasons for being. I want this space to be a place where both the public and the professionals can go to learn about different types of medical care.
People
This is an institution that collects and distributes medical knowledge such as cutting edge medical technology, current medical practices, herbal remedies and techniques such as acupuncture from around the world. The staff here consists of various professionals from different medical fields that work together to curate and collate various streams of knowledge belonging to different countries to create a comprehensive collection of medical knowledge.
This institution serves to nurture the last flame of Hope for those struggling with illnesses or long lasting discomfort due to other health conditions. The centre provides information on relevant medical care that they normally do not have access to and links the patient with the facilities that specialises in that cure.
Staff working at the centre have the opportunity to deepen their medical knowledge through research while curating the information collected by the centre for the perusal of the public that may wish to access it.
The Lion Chambers
The Lion Chambers is situated at 172 Hope Street, City Centre in Glasgow, Scotland. This building in the heart of Glasgow began construction in 1904 and was completed in 1907. It is an 8-storey commercial building in Glasgow style Art Nouveau. It is an early example of reinforced concrete construction and the building was commissioned by William G. Black, lawyer and member of the Glasgow Arts Club, with the lower floors intended as lawyers’ offices and the upper floor as artists’ studios. The building is the second reinforced concrete structure in Glasgow and amongst the first few in Britain. It was designated as a Category A listed building in 1966.
As early as 1995, the co-owners discussed options for demolition due to structural decay. Repairs were estimated at £1-1.5 million at the time. The main challenges to the restoration that have been identified are spalling to the brickwork and water ingress.
As a city, Glasgow has an important choice to make in relation to its architectural heritage.
Protected buildings left to fade away are tombstones to lost opportunity.
This Elevation shows a brief overarching view of what function each floor has within Last Hope.
Every floor from the basement to the seventh is accessible to both staff and the public and the only inaccessible space is the rooftop which can only be accessed by maintenance workers. Although every floor is accessible to the public there are staff rooms only accessible to staff on each of the floors in exception to the basement and the ground floor as well.
Every floor has toilets including disabled access toilets.
The numbered floors consist of a reading space with the relevant topics for that floor, seating and study desks with public access computers that can be used to access the internal network which stores more data that are not in the bookshelves.
These floors also contain a small exhibition area as well as a consultation room and staff room.
The children’s zone floor consists of a reception, play space, dining space, TV room, reading space and a nap room.
Ground Floor
Main entrance to building is situated on this floor, to the left of the plan facing Hope Street.
The ground floor consists of the main reception, lounge area, disabled access toilet and a general exhibition space on current medical topics that have been specially curated by the in-house professionals.
Basement
The basement can be accessed from the ground floor via the stairs or by using the lift from any floor.
This floor consists of an auditorium complete with a large screen and a lecturn.
On the opposite side of the floor is a small exhibition space that can be used to display samples and text that may further reference the topics that may be brought up in the presentations held.
Two disabled access toilets can also be found on this floor.
First Floor
This floor mainly focuses on Conventional Medicine. All the information that can be found on this floor including books, samples, exhibition items and knowledge belonging to the experts working on this floor is about Conventional medicine.
This floor consists of reading spaces, seating spaces and an exhibition space in an open plan design than facilitates free movement through these spaces.
The more private, enclosed spaces on this floor consists of a consultation room, staff room and a disabled access bathroom.
Second Floor
This floor mainly focuses on Alternative Medicine. All the information that can be found on this floor including books, samples, exhibition items and knowledge belonging to the experts working on this floor is about Alternative medicine.
This floor consists of reading spaces, seating spaces and an exhibition space in an open plan design than facilitates free movement through these spaces.
The more private, enclosed spaces on this floor consists of a consultation room, staff room and a disabled access bathroom.
Third Floor
This floor mainly focuses on Complementary Medicine. All the information that can be found on this floor including books, samples, exhibition items and knowledge belonging to the experts working on this floor is about Complementary medicine.
This floor consists of reading spaces, seating spaces and an exhibition space in an open plan design than facilitates free movement through these spaces.
The more private, enclosed spaces on this floor consists of a consultation room, staff room and a disabled access bathroom.
Fourth Floor
This floor mainly focuses on Integrative Medicine. All the information that can be found on this floor including books, samples, exhibition items and knowledge belonging to the experts working on this floor is about Integrative medicine.
This floor consists of reading spaces, seating spaces and an exhibition space in an open plan design than facilitates free movement through these spaces.
The more private, enclosed spaces on this floor consists of a consultation room, staff room and a disabled access bathroom.
Fifth Floor
This floor mainly focuses on Functional Medicine. All the information that can be found on this floor including books, samples, exhibition items and knowledge belonging to the experts working on this floor is about Functional medicine.
This floor consists of reading spaces, seating spaces and an exhibition space in an open plan design than facilitates free movement through these spaces.
The more private, enclosed spaces on this floor consists of a consultation room, staff room and a disabled access bathroom.
Sixth Floor
People who use this site, whether its the staff working here or the visitors that come here searching for new options for their ailments may have to bring their children with them. For some it be because they don’t have anywhere to send their children while they’re here. For others it may be because this is only one of their stops on their day out and they need to bring the kids to the next stop. The function of this floor to keep children entertained and occupied. The staff on this floor will make sure that the children remain safe and happy so that parents can rest assured while they are busy.
This floor consists of a reception that parents can check in and pick up their kids from, a play space, dining space, TV room, reading space with seating, nap room and bathroom with child size toilets and baby changing facilities and a disabled access toilet.
Seventh Floor
This floor is the highest floor of the building and therefore has the best views in the building. Due to this I opted to make this a space that is separate from the rest of floors in its function. The users of this site can come to this floor to relax and take a break from all the complicated knowledge that they may have learned.
This floor consists of a restaurant and bar with dine in seating that offers great views of Glasgow. There is also a staff room and toilets on this floor as well.