Going Green in Glasgow – SWG3

In June 2022, teams from VELUX and Altaterra took part in a community project at SWG3 in Glasgow. SWG3 is Scotland’s leading multi-disciplinary arts venue and owns a plot of derelict land in the heart of Glasgow that they wanted to transform into a community garden and space.

As an important community project, the Employee Foundation of the VKR Group made a donation to support it, and the teams spent a day helping with the transformation. It was an incredible day with approximately 50 people digging, position- ing, and planting shrubs, flowers and trees, by the end of which a great community space was starting to take shape.

As mentioned, the venue hosts a multi-disciplinary arts venue, so, when in ROME! – we were given the opportunity with guidance from some dignified street artists, to attack a wall with spray cans – surprisingly the results were amazing! – highlighting VKR as a central piece of the street art.

The purpose of the transformation, was to ensure a previously contaminated derelict piece of land in the heart of an Urban area in Glasgow, enabled the local community to not only visit and enjoy outdoor space, but also have an area of allotment space to grow, nurture and cultivate vegetables.

SWG3 is an ongoing development, and what I consider an exemplary foresight for new starts, creative thinking and a collaborative approach, enriching the community at large.

It is an area where strangers can meet and quickly become friends.

I returned a year or so later and was able and had the privilege to open the event formally. It was amazing to see first hand the transformation, as the trees had grown, the plants blossomed and the vegetables beginning to harvest. Richard Williams, Snr Architectural development manager GB/I

Project name: Culture area in Glasgow 
Country, location: United Kingdom, Glasgow
Applicant: Clydeside Initiative for Arts  
VKR Group company: VELUX GB and Altaterra 
Inauguration date: 11 June 2024