PAPER PARLOUR

What we're planning...

Paper Parlour would involve carpeting the parlour room at Holmwood House with paper, stood on it's end.

The Crowdfund Campaign...

On the 19th March 2018 the Glasgow Institute of Architects will launch an all-or-nothing crowdfund campaign on Crowdfunder to raise £30,000 to deliver the Paper Parlour project. We will have five weeks until the 22nd April 2018 to reach are target. 

With your support we will open the Paper Parlour on the 24th June 2018 to an audience of our highest donors, with the project being open to the public for three months.

The idea comes from…

The idea for the paper floor comes from both the original client for the house, James Couper (a paper merchant) and the architect, Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson.

Thomson's work combines a clever use of scale and proportion with beautiful patterns in a range of materials and surfaces.

This paper floor references both the proportion and scale of the room (subverting standard paper sizes into a classical order) and the pattern and colour of the house (by using different coloured paper in different thicknesses to create a vibrant pattern only possible in paper).  

It all started when…

The Alexander 'Greek' Thomson Scholarship was won by Dress for the Weather in 2012 for their Paper Parlour concept.

Alexander Thomson

Alexander 'Greek' Thomson was a founding member of the Glasgow Institute of Architects. He is known for his neo-classical style, with particular emphasis on Greek ornament. This project takes this idea of ornamental architecture and the classical order but applies this through the use of standard paper modules within a 'corniced' floor.

Holmwood House

The house combines an incredibly intricate pattern and texture with a clever composition of spaces required by the client. The architecture combines a number of architectural forms to compliment the function of the house while also creating an external appearance that is both complex and interesting.

The Paper Parlour project is an exciting opportunity to explore a temporary, site-specific artwork within a conservation and heritage environment.

Project Partners

The project is being run by the GIA in collaboration with the National Trust for Scotland.

Holmwood House 

Holmwood House was completed in 1858 and is seen as Alexander Thomson's finest piece of residential architecture. It is located in Cathcart, Glasgow. The National Trust for Scotland currently own and operate the house after an extensive project to restore the house back to the architects original designs. Interior restoration work to the wallpaper and internal finishes is on-going.