STUDENT AWARDS REFLECTING ON THE DOOLAN REVIEW OF

Transcription

I S S UE 15
AU T UMN 2 013
the journal of the royal incorporation of architects in scotland
WHAT I DID ON MY HOLIDAYS…
1
9 772044 185005
REVIEW OF ARCHITECTURE POLICY
15
REFLECTING ON THE DOOLAN
ISSN 2044-1851£10.00
STUDENT AWARDS
Crafting the beauty of wood since 1872
Sturrocks Joinery is recognised as one of the finest producers of crafted timber
components in Scotland. Our combination of traditional craftsmanship together
with the finest materials and cutting edge technology enables us to create stunning
timber components for our clients.
Whether your project is new build or historic restoration, modern contemporary or
timeless classic we have the breadth of experience and capability to craft timber
components that will be the feature piece of your client’s home for generations.
INSTALLATIONS THROUGHOUT SCOTLAND
We are currently running seminars for architects
- contact us for more information.
Sturrock’s Joinery, Whigstreet, Kirkbuddo, Forfar DD8 2NN
T: 01307 820209 | F: 01307 820289 | E: [email protected]
w i n d ow s | d o o rs | sta i rs | h a n dra i ls | p a n elled room s
www.sturrocksjoinery.com
R I A S Q U A R T E R LY A U T U M N 2 013
CREDITS
CONTRIBUTORS
Ian Alexander FRIAS
Marjorie Appleton FRIAS
Richard Atkins FRIAS
Bruce Ballance RIAS
Neil Baxter Hon FRIAS
Michael Beattie RIAS
Kenneth Blackburn RIAS
Ciaran Bradley RIAS
Ian Stuart Campbell Hon
FRIAS
Mark Chalmers RIAS
Iain Connelly PRIAS
Mark Cousins RIAS
Douglas Cruickshank
Colin Doig RIAS
Anja Ekelof
Andrea Faed RIAS
Soledad Garcia Ferrari
Kenny Fraser
Ian Gilzean FRIAS
Adrian Hawker
A J Hugh FRIAS
Sholto Humphries PPRIAS
Michael Jarvis FRIAS
Tahl Kaminer
Melissa Lawson
Robin Livingstone
Chris Lowry
Alex MacLaren
4
REGULARS
Prof Andy MacMillan
OBE FRIAS
Charles McGregor
Prof Fiona McLachlan
Dr Deborah Mays Hon
FRIAS
Peter McIlhenny FRIAS
Eugene Mullan FRIAS
Prof Gordon Murray
PPRIAS
David Narro
Charlene Rankin
Maryse Richardson
Anne Riches
Clare Slifer
Kevin Spence RIAS
Ian Stewart RIAS
Andy Stoane RIAS
Wil Tunnell RIAS
Ian Wall Hon FRIAS
Dr Dorian Wiszniewski
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Thanks to all the
photographers whose
images are featured.
Images are credited
throughout the
magazine. Every effort
has been made to obtain
copyright clearance on
all the images within
this publication – please
address any enquiries to
[email protected]
FRONT COVER
MuCEM Marseille,
image by AJ Hugh
FRIAS
ABOVE
Culzean Hydropath
Emmeline Quigley
(Mackintosh School of
Architecture)
EDITOR
Neil Baxter
[email protected]
ASSISTANT EDITORS
Carol-Ann Hildersley
[email protected]
Sophie Birch
[email protected]
DESIGN Jon Jardine
PRINT Warners
(Midlands) plc
ADVERTISING For
information relating
to advertising in RIAS
Quarterly please call
Veronica Low on
0131 229 7545 or email
[email protected]
PUBLISHER
The Royal Incorporation
of Architects in Scotland,
15 Rutland Square,
Edinburgh EH1 2BE
Tel: +44 (0) 131 229 7545
Fax: +44 (0) 131 228 2188
[email protected]
www.rias.org.uk
RIGHT TO REPLY
Please send any
comments you have on
the content of the RIAS
Quarterly to
[email protected].
Selected comments will
be published in the RIAS
e-bulletin.
9
FROM THE
PRESIDENT
10
FROM OUR
ARCHIVE
13
LOA+DS ON GUIDE
14
IMPRESSIONS OF
VIENNA
53
STUDENTS
68
BOOKS
A U T U M N 2 013 R I A S Q U A R T E R LY
FEATURES
TECHNICAL
CHAPTERS
CHARTERED
ARCHITECT
NEXT ISSUE
18
74
84
90
RIAS DOOLAN
AWARD
PROCURING
THE END OF
ARCHITECTS?
26
WHAT I DID ON MY
HOLIDAYS
40
ARCHITECTURE
POLICY
42
FESTIVAL OF
ARCHITECTURE
2016 UPDATE
44
PRACTICE UPDATE
79
INSURANCE
MATTERS
ABERDEEN
85
DUNDEE
86
EDINBURGH
87
GLASGOW
88
INVERNESS
89
STIRLING
PRESIDENT’S
DIARY
91
COUNCIL REPORT
Q&A – DAVID REAT
Q&A - RICHARD
CASSIDY FRIAS
92
MEMBERSHIP
REPORT
94
HONORARY
FELLOWS
95
OBITUARIES
98
RIAS STAFF
TEN YEARS OF
DOOLAN
50
AN APPRECIATION:
JOHN GIFFORD
5
Backtobasics
For workplace ergonomic solutions, visit our custom-built showroom
just 30 minutes from the heart of Glasgow. Our huge ranges of
ergonomic seating and accessories are designed to optimise
comfort and productivty. We’re here to support every step of your
project; from concept to installation.
Saxen: comprehensive commercial workspace solutions.
0845 652 0454
www.saxen.com
Where aesthetics and
fire safety meet
Brandschutz
inklusive
Every company, every building, every façade has its own unique
story. The extensive colour and design range from ROCKPANEL®
allows freedom of expression and creativity in façade cladding,
soffits and fascias. Creations that allow you to tell the story behind
the wall.
Jedes Unternehmen, jedes Gebäude, jede Fassade hat eine eigene Geschichte. Mit ROCKPANEL® Fassadentafeln verleihen
With the new ‘FS-Xtra’ grade, the ROCKPANEL range gives you
Sie Gebäuden einen unverwechselbaren Charakter. So werden
unlimited design freedom, even in the most challenging locations
einzigartige Geschichten zu einzigartigen Fassaden, zu einzigarwhere fire safety and performance requirements are particularly
tigen Gebäuden - zu Ihrem Gebäude.
demanding. Whether coloured, metallic, or in a striking wood
Mit der neuen Qualität „FS-Xtra“ bietet Ihnen das ROCKPANEL
design, ROCKPANEL ‘FS-Xtra’ façade cladding can meet European
Sortiment uneingeschränkte Gestaltungsfreiheit, mit der Sie
fire classification A2-s1, d0.
selbst erhöhten Anforderungen an den vorbeugenden Brandschutz erfüllen. Ob farbig, metallisch oder in signifikanter HolzScan the QR code or visit www.rockpanel.co.uk for more informaoptik - ROCKPANEL Fassadentafeln in allen Designserien sind
tion or to request our FS-Xtra brochure.
ab sofort auch in der Euro-Baustoffklasse A2-s1, d0 erhältlich.
Erfahren Sie mehr unter www.rockpanel.de oder fordern Sie für
mehr Informationen die „FS-Xtra“-Broschüre an.
The A2-s1, d0 Board
Tradition ~ Innovation
tel. 0131 561 7225
www.millers1893.com
MALCOLM COCHRANE
REGULARS // FROM THE PRESIDENT
AUTUMNAL REFLECTIONS
It hardly seems any time at all since the deadline for the last
Quarterly and here we are again. I hope you’ve all enjoyed what has
been the best summer, weather-wise, for years.
I was delighted to be invited to the launch of the Scottish
Government’s Creating Places – A Policy Statement for Architecture
and Place in Scotland. We’re fortunate enough to live in a country
whose government recognises the importance of such a policy and
the difference that good design can make to the people of Scotland.
In the policy the Government supports the role of the RIAS
and specifically makes mention of the Doolan Award and the
Festival of Architecture 2016. It is extremely heartening that both
Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External
Affairs and Derek Murray MSP, Minister for Local Government
and Planning, are passionate in their endorsement of the policy. I
am delighted that the government has seen fit to proclaim 2016 as
Scotland’s Year of Architecture.
In terms of the content of the policy itself I commend it to you.
It achieves a good balance. It’s easy to read and understand, it’s
well laid out and the illustrations are excellent.
Peter Zumthor states, “I’ve said goodbye to the overworked
notion that architecture has to save the world.” Whilst I agree we
can’t save it on our own, I firmly believe that good architecture can
play a huge part in helping to create a better world for us all to live
in. Architecture should not be pushed out to the fringes. Along
with music, literature and the other arts, it should be at the very
core of our society.
The policy is also very clear as to the role of A+DS. I think it’s
really important that we respect that role and work with them,
mutually supporting each other in what clearly should be shared
objectives, complementing each other as champions for good
architecture, design, placemaking and planning.
Continuing in the spirit of co-operation and collaboration I
was delighted to be asked by Tom Barclay, Chairman of the RICS in
Scotland, to be a commissioner on his Housing Commission. We
undeniably face a challenge in Scotland in terms of both a shortfall
in the numbers of new houses required and a lack of choice of
tenures, specifically for young people hoping to move into the
market for the first time.
There are also clearly issues with the design quality of our
housing, both private and social sector. There are good examples
across Scotland, however not enough and we have to do so much
better. The commission recognises that other work is being done
in this area but hopes that it can make a valuable contribution.
Most of my experiences so far as RIAS President have been very
enjoyable. The recent Fellows’ Reception was right up there with
the best. We were grateful to be granted the use of The Chapel of
Saint Albert the Great by our good friend, Father Dermot Morrin,
where we enjoyed a delightful evening, conferring fellowships and
enjoying fellowship in one of our RIAS Award winning buildings.
The Chapel is indeed a building of beguiling quality and possessing
a quiet spirituality appreciated by believer and non-believer alike.
As the sun disappeared from the late summer Edinburgh sky
I couldn’t have wished to be in a better place. Fine architecture,
good wine and good company… and all over in plenty of time for
the last train home!
IAIN CONNELLY
PRESIDENT
IMPORTANT NOTICE!
A WORD FOR OUR SPONSORS: REMEMBER OUR
ADVERTISERS ENABLE THIS MAGAZINE TO HAPPEN.
IF THEY ARE SUITABLE PLEASE PUT THEM ON YOUR
TENDER LISTS AND TRY TO USE THEIR PRODUCTS OR
SERVICES. WE NEED THEIR CONTINUING SUPPORT!
9
REGULARS // ARCHIVAL
55 YEARS AGO
PROSPECT NO.10, SUMMER 1958
FROM
OUR
ARCHIVE
IAN STUART CAMPBELL HON
FRIAS, A FORMER EDITOR OF
THE RIAS MEMBERS’ JOURNAL
CONTINUES HIS REGULAR
SERIES
Architects reviewing new television
technology in 1958 could never have
imagined Twitter, social media and the
world wide web, but they were becoming
alert to the power and pitfalls of publicity...
Training the architect to face the public,
by George Lawrence
“An architect should never speak except with
his pencil” (old Saw)
“The best public relations officer is a satisfied
client” (latter day proverb)
Architecture is such a complex subject that
those who practice it become increasingly
aware of the shortcomings of their own
training and education. The more they
know, the more there is to know. One of
the wider gaps in education is the whole
subject of ‘Speaking about Architecture’.
Delving into the recesses of memory the
two pieces of lore quoted above come to
light as the only pronouncements of the
teachers giving guidance on this aspect of
professional behaviour.
We live in a competitive world in
10
the face of which it is the duty of every
professional organisation to ensure that
its aims and the service which it offers are
presented clearly, not only for those for
whom it works, but to the public at large.
There are several forms of activity
which can be organised by local
associations involving no expenditure
of funds...Such activities fall into three
groups, lecturing, broadcasting and
writing. Lecturing might be subdivided
into talks to schools and talks to other
professionals. Broadcasting covers talks or
discussions on sound radio and television,
appearances in connection with buildings.
Writing includes articles on matters of
architectural or civic interest in the press
and, on the same subjects, letters to the
editor…
…An architect who can talk with
authority on his own subject and is
ready to bring a fresh viewpoint in his
contribution to the discussion on other
allied subjects, can find a niche as a
broadcaster. Television is a very good
medium for architectural publicity and the
“TV Architect” has yet to be discovered
who will put Scottish architecture on the
home screen.
“When conducting a correspondence
there is virtue in restraint. It is not
always desireable to say everything in
one letter...By all means write in the heat
of the moment, but scrutinise the letter
critically before posting it.”
Let us hope that just as talented
members of the profession come forward
with contributions to Prospect, so also
those with a flair for public relations will
see to it that the profession takes its
rightful - and important - place in the
social context of today!
25 YEARS AGO
PROSPECT NO. 35, AUTUMN 1988
In 1988 fundamental design and business
processes were undergoing upheaval from
unfamiliar computer technologies, so it
was encouraging when George Simpson
reminded us of some enduring values...
“CABBAGE” by G J F Simpson
Since most of my time is now spent doing
things with computers, I am beginning
to suspect that radiation from VDU’s is
affecting my brain. As in the midst of a
recent electronic crisis, I found myself
longing for the man to man crises thrown
up at site meetings by abusive contractors,
late deliveries of materials, inadequate
drawings (surely not!), inclement weather
etc. rather than the stream of recalcitrant
electrons which obstinately refuses to
understand what I really mean. At least
you can argue with a contractor!
Not that all site meetings are joyful
either. I recall one of my early site
meetings where I discovered, by chance,
that, after years of education and the
responsibility of being project architect
on a multi-million pound development, I
was the worst paid man on the site (this is
probably still the case but I don’t worry so
much about it now).
Even a liquid lunch did little to dispel
my gloom as I made my way back to the
office on the tube (this was in London).
I surfaced momentarily to discover that
I was nowhere, or definitely somewhere
else and not where I wanted to be, having
missed my stop.
I left at the next stop and emerged
from the warren into a space so unexpected
it took my breath away. I had visited St
Pancras before but had usually been in
transit and not interested in admiring the
scenery. I had dismissed it as neo-Gothic
rubbish anyway but I stood below Barlow’s
elegant arch and was lost in admiration at
the space enclosed.
As I wandered out to the end of the
platform, savouring the architecture
gazing up, trying to work out the details
thirty metres above me, I became aware of
fellow travellers raising their heads from
their Times crossword to surreptitiously
follow my line of sight and look for UFO’s...
vultures... Armageddon???
The unexpected pleasure of arriving
in that space and my amusement at the
baffled expressions of those passengers
unable to appreciate my enjoyment raised
my spirits and I was able to resume my
journey in a less embittered humour…
…I am also still working on an
Edinburgh substitute for St Pancras
station; a space to lift my soul when the
electrons, or life in general gets me down.
After all I can hardly say to the partners
“I’m depressed. I’m off to St Pancras....”
Since my search is unfulfilled any
suggestions should be submitted to me
- written on a five pound note (higher
denominations will be accepted).
1 YEAR AGO
RIAS QUARTERLY NO.11, AUTUMN
2012
Extract from a report by Neil Forrester
RIAS and Rick McCluggage
The Cross Party Group on Architecture
and the Built Environment recently
made a welcome return to the Scottish
Parliament’s Festival of Politics…
Architect and Developer Andy Burrell
FRIAS concentrated on the issue of
localism versus internationalism… he
argued that a contemporary architecture
for Scotland must respond both to the
unique practicalities of local climate,
materials, social structures and finances as
well as…international contexts in order to
avoid the spread of a ‘myopic sameness’.
Edinburgh based Malcolm Fraser
RIAS, highlighted the Scottish planning
system’s regular recourse to skin-deep
vernacularism, rather than a more critical
understanding of historical context. A
series of images supported the argument
that the most distinctively Scottish
buildings throughout history have emerged
when we have been at our most radical and
modern…
Having accepted at the outset the
premise that there is in fact a ‘there’ here,
Riccardo Marini FRIAS of the City of
Edinburgh Council, chose to ask whether
we like the ‘there’ that we have. Why, if
there is a consensus that many of our
urban and suburban areas are blighted with
poor quality buildings, are we seemingly so
happy to accept more of the same? Blame
was directed at an economic framework
that prioritises short-term commercial
gain over successful peacemaking.
The final point of the morning was left
to Mike Mackenzie MSP who suggested
that the group should reconvene at next
year’s festival… for more debate and a little
less consensus!
As a date is announced for the Independence
Referendum, architects consider whether
there is, has been, or should be a distinctive
Scottish architectural identity...
11
LOA+DS ON GUIDE
ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN SCOTLAND
LEVEL 2, THE LIGHTHOUSE, MITCHELL LANE, GLASGOW, G1 3LX; MON-SAT 10.30AM-5.00PM
ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN SCOTLAND PROVIDES A GREAT RANGE OF EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS AT THE LIGHTHOUSE, 11 MITCHELL LANE, GLASGOW. CHECK
OUT OUR LATEST NEWS ON WWW.ADS.ORG.UK OR FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @ArcDesSco
A+DS EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS AT THE LIGHTHOUSE
CLACKMANNANSHIRE BRIDGE © DAVID ROBERTSON
Each of the five Scottish Schools of
Architecture promoted one project in their
curriculum for consideration, awards were
granted to each School, with Claire O’Neil
from Dundee University chosen as overall
winner.
All five winners are presented in the
exhibition. They were chosen not only for
their ecological approach but their aim to
produce an object of beauty.
CAST: INNOVATIONS IN CONCRETE
GALLERY 2, LEVEL 2
11 OCTOBER – 28 NOVEMBER 2013
Concrete has given designers the ability to
realise complex forms that were previously
impossible. This exhibition, starting
from a Scottish perspective, looks at the
versatile potential of concrete. Exploring
the history of concrete and its relationship
to culture and society, its material and
form, its contribution to sustainability
and, through a series of samples, explains
the practicalities of fabricating concrete.
CAST: Innovations in Concrete is a
partnership between and Architecture +
Design Scotland, the Concrete Society,
Scotland and Edinburgh School of
Architecture and Landscape Architecture
Edinburgh College of Art (ESALA).
The exhibition is supported by a rich
events schedule - for more information go
to www.ads.org.uk.
HAVE YOUR SAY: A+DS STRATEGY
2014 - 17 CONSULTATION
We are currently drafting a new strategy
for the next three years. We are looking for
your input and thoughts on our plans; you
can have your say on www.ads.org.uk.
Please give your feedback by October
13th or get in touch with us for further
information – [email protected].
SALTIRE SOCIETY’S HOUSING
DESIGN AWARDS EXHIBITION
LEVEL 2
4 SEPTEMBER – 16 OCTOBER 2013
The Saltire Society’s Housing Design
Awards have been rewarding and
advocating innovation and excellence in
Scottish house building and placemaking
since 1937. The Housing Awards are a
highly regarded, long-standing celebration
of the Society’s commitments, aims and
objectives. The exhibition showcases this
year’s shortlisted projects, which range
from large-scale housing developments to
individual homes.
SEDA – KRYSTYNA JOHNSON
AWARDS 2013
NOTICED BOARD, LEVEL 2
The ‘Krystyna Johnson Award’ was relaunched in 2012 to encourage second year
architectural students to bring ecological
thought to their work from the outset.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
WWW.ADS.ORG.UK | [email protected]
MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
MATERIALS LIBRARY
LEVEL 2
Visit our free to use materials library
where you can explore and analyse a wide
range of sustainable building materials.
Open daily on Level 2.
REACTIVATE! INNOVATORS OF
DUTCH ARCHITECTURE
GALLERY 2, LEVEL 2
6 DECEMBER 2013 – 5 FEBRUARY
2014
Showcasing young, Dutch architectural
firms who have pragmatically adjusted
to the political, economic and cultural
changes in society. Through their actions,
they have redefined the boundaries of
the profession. The projects shown are
examples of new forms of collaboration,
new instruments for financing structures,
product development for homebuilders,
interconnected and sustainable use of
energy and materials and vacant lots as
the sites for social renewal.
A joint project between Bureau Europa
and the A10 New European Architecture
publication.
13
IMPRESSIONS OF VIENNA
IAN STUART CAMPBELL HON FRIAS OFFERS SOME ‘SNAPS’, SKETCHES AND PERSONAL REFLECTIONS ON VIENNA
KARLSKIRCHE
Ranking cities for ‘quality of life’ always
stimulates media attention and controversy.
Authoritative surveys announce winners
annually - usually favouring spacious
Antipodean and Canadian centres. Only
one European “old world” city consistently
scores well - Austria’s capital: Vienna.
Economic, educational and environmental factors vie with less tangible
considerations such as culture, political
stability and perceived safety in garnering
life style credits. These surveys primarily
target businesses aiming to relocate or
invest, but any debate on quality of life
involving an index of ‘Gross National
Happiness’ usually appeals to designers.
Viennese art and architecture is
internationally revered. Klimt; Schiele;
Wagner; Olbrich and Loos are among many
distinguished names exhibited in the huge
cultural complex ‘MQ’- Museumsquartier.
Spacious gardens and glorious Imperial
Buildings provide inspirational galleries
complemented by the contemporary, 1990s,
Leopold Museum and MUMOK - themselves
modern architectural masterpieces.
Intimate association with Mozart,
Beethoven, Schubert and Strauss (both
junior and senior) ensures significant
musical posterity. Vienna impressed the
world by rebuilding its State Opera House
- as a priority - following devastating
bombing in 1945. Speedy revival of this
15
R I A S Q U A R T E R LY S U M M E R 2 013
SPANISH RIDING SCHOOL
famous opera company seemed symbolic
of Austrian post occupation spirit and
recovery.
While music, art and architecture
feed the soul, Vienna offers still sweeter
nourishment. The city’s sense of ‘well being’
might be attributable to its famous cafe
culture and associated confections.
Coffee arrived here from the orient
during seventeenth century Turkish
sieges. Viennese serving techniques added
whipped cream, powdered sugar and a glass
16
of water - on silver trays - popularising the
strong dark beverages and initiating rituals
and cultural traditions which endure.
Marble
topped
tables,
Thonet
bentwood chairs, newspapers and stylish
interiors epitomise traditional Viennese
cafes, along with spectacular pastries
and cakes. Catalysts that inspire creative
conversation made cafes cultural hubs for
architects, artists, writers, politicians and
philosophers.
Vienna won the United Nations Urban-
Planning Award 2010 for innovative
improvement
to
resident’s
living
conditions. Between 1984 and 2003 the city
refurbished thousands of older buildings
under ‘gentle urban renewal’, achieving
quality social housing and ‘affordable’
modern apartments, whilst also reviving
derelict districts.
Parallel targets were addressed on
three levels – individual apartments, entire
buildings and complete blocks. Upgraded
sanitation and spacial configuration for
S U M M E R 2 013 R I A S Q U A R T E R LY
each apartment, plus improved fabric
insulation, windows, roofing and lift access
per building was linked, where possible,
with open space and landscaping measures
around each block.
The City, as largest property owner,
historically shared an interest in providing
generous public funding for renewal. This
early ‘public private partnership’ with
assisted funding, offered reduced taxation
and restricted rental control for private
owners, whilst avoiding displacement
VIENNA SKYLINE
PALMERHAUS
APARTMENTS
STEPHANSDOM
of existing residents, thus minimising
undesirable ‘gentrification’ and stimulating
healthy social interaction.
Vienna is proud of its reputation for
high quality living. Consequently in future
growth planning, urban and transportation
policies now focus on social justice and aim
to provide frameworks which guarantee
wealth, safety and security for all age
groups. Several sustainable development
areas are now appearing high on the skyline.
Immense investment is transforming local
and international rail travel by introducing
through lines, integrated transport routes
and the opportunity to check-in and drop
bags for flights in the town centre, via the
new CAT airport rail link.
It is inspiring to see how carefully
Vienna slices its cake to share benefits
evenly across society. The Viennese have
long known the ingredients for baking
their coveted chocolate cake – Sachertorte.
It seems they also hold a recipe to ensure
“Gross National Happiness”.
17
THE DEMISE OF ARCHITECTURE?
ABERDEEN CITYSCAPE
PROCURING THE END OF ARCHITECTS?
PROFESSOR IAN WALL HON FRIAS’ REMARKABLE INAUGURAL LECTURE TO THE SCOTT SUTHERLAND SCHOOL AT
ROBERT GORDON UNIVERSITY, ABERDEEN ON 12TH MARCH THIS YEAR PAINTED A PESSIMISTIC PICTURE. OVER
THE DECADES, HOWEVER, PAST ISSUES OF THE QUARTERLY AND RIAS PROSPECT HAVE SIMILARLY SIGNALLED THE
DEMISE OF ARCHITECTURE AS WE KNOW IT. THE PROFESSION REMAINS RESILIENT AND FLEXIBLE – SUFFICIENTLY
SO, WE MUST HOPE, TO WEATHER PROFESSOR WALL’S PREDICTED PERFECT STORM. THE FIRST PART OF HIS
ADDRESS ADAPTED FOR THE QUARTERLY FOLLOWS, THE SECOND HALF WILL FEATURE IN THE WINTER ISSUE.
18
INTRODUCTION
There is a general consensus that the quality of our built
environment is poorer today than it has been in the past. Or
perhaps it is just that we believe that life was always better in
the past, that a warm nostalgia bathes our selective memories.
Without romanticising the past I believe the quality of our built
environment has deteriorated.
As examples consider a University building created at the
end of 19th century and one created at the beginning of the 21st
Century, or a Victorian office building and a modern one, or a
department store and a retail shed.
The great majority of new buildings are at best bearable but
normally poor, with the odd leavening of ‘Starchitect’ sculptures,
the most recent of these in Scotland being Glasgow’s Transport
Museum by Zaha Hadid, certainly the most expensive warehouse
ever built in Scotland. There is an inverse square rule in operation
here - the more the generality of the built environment deteriorates
the more outrageous the tiny number of so called iconic buildings
becomes. Consider any recent large health building in Scotland,
with, for example, Frank Gehry’s Maggie’s Centre in Dundee.
In a similar manner, whilst the general quality continues to
sink to even lower depths there is a great growth in awards for
architecture and urban design. The question is why has that come
about? Until relatively recently, the past 25 years or so, the process
of procurement was not a policy issue. Until then it was very
simple, clients relied on architects to appoint the contractors.
To understand why this has changed and what it means for
buildings and therefore architects I think it is helpful to consider
how architecture and its procurement has responded to social and
economic developments over the past 150 years or so. To tackle
this lengthy timespan I will break it into four periods. Inevitably
these are not as precise as the numbers suggest and the transitions
are not dramatic, definitive, breaks. Buildings often take many
years to bring to fruition. With urban design decades can pass
before completion. Nevertheless there is a predominant socioeconomic character to these periods, expressed in their buildings
and public spaces.
1850 – 1914
At the beginning of this period the rapid agricultural and technical
advances in Scotland from about 1750 onwards, led to the growth
and consolidation of our cities and towns. In Scotland, formal
KEITH HUNTER
MAGGIES DUNDEE
planning provided the template for vigorous growth. Aberdeen’s
population grew from 63,000 to 164,000 in this period, 2.5 times
bigger or almost 1500 extra people every year.
Although the Scottish and UK economy is already global,
importing raw materials, exporting manufactured goods, the
China of its day, many of the companies are small and limited to
a town or region. Service infrastructure is similarly distributed,
most importantly banking and transport. Even railways, with
their heavy capital needs, are only regional in scope for most of
this period.
These firms while, by modern production standards, small,
were very large in their employment of workers who were subject
to more and more division of labour and the increasing discipline
of the machine.
The early reaction to this degradation of workers was represented
in two figures, still influential today, Ruskin and Morris. Both were
attracted to medieval art and design. However Ruskin dreamed of
a return to hand manufacture and the restoration of the dignity
of the craft worker. Morris, initially heavily influenced by Ruskin,
moved to an understanding that the only solution for society was
social revolution. He dedicated the last decades of his life to this,
without losing sight of the urgent necessity for action and the
crucial importance of good architecture and conservation, starting
the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.
Materials remained predominately traditional and relatively
local. The great exception to this being iron, steel and glass,
symbolised by the Crystal Palace of 1851. Together with electricity
19
this not only allowed larger and taller buildings but contributed to
changing the labour process too. Zola’s great novel of speculative
property development in the Paris of the 1860’s, The Kill, describes
the early adoption of electricity to provide arc lights at night so
that construction never ceases.
The movement in the development of materials over the whole
period is from solid to plastic, from stone to liquid stone, from
timber to MDF, to plastics themselves and permanently flexible
materials.
Parisian speculators were pioneers. Most buildings were still
built only during daylight hours and when the weather allowed.
Many skilled trades were required to construct a building, all
subject to long apprenticeships and all their work carried out by
hand. This is the heyday of Victorian capitalism. It is over this long
period that the profession of architect slowly evolves.
New clients with capital demand new building types, railway
20
stations, hotels, hospitals, factories and department stores. These
are not only new types but very rapidly growing in number and
size on an enormous scale, compared with only a few years earlier.
At the beginning of this period there is the question of who is to
design these buildings – architects or engineers. The latter are
often far better technically qualified than architects. Or perhaps
contractors, often better qualified than both.
Architects were not specialised and carried out many tasks
- land surveying, drainage design and maintenance, quantities,
building surveys and repairs. If they were awarded a commission,
what should an architect do – design the building?, price the
building?, supervise the building?, contract to build it? They did
all these things in varying degrees. Slowly however there emerged
a profession we could recognise today, with the division of
labour between the other design professionals and the architect
both advising the client and appointing and managing the many
skilled building trades. Main contractors were very uncommon
in this period. In the 1851 census, 2971 people in the UK describe
themselves as architects. By 1911 the figure had risen to 8921.
Reflecting this slow and unsteady emergence of a nascent
‘profession, itself a nineteenth century invention,’ was the
development of the RIBA. Although founded in 1834 it is not until
1894 that it establishes a Journal and 1904 before The Board of
Architectural Education is established. The RIAS is not established
until 1916. The RIBA’s membership is just 224 members in 1851,
only 8% of architects and by 1911 it is 2371, still only 27% of
architects. They had no monopoly.
During this period procurement is direct and local, carried out,
even in our biggest cities, by people ‘who kent each other’s faither’.
Where the quality of a building is both commercially important
and socially expected.
As an example from the most capital intensive and speculative
of industries of the nineteenth century - The North Eastern
Railway had promised Sunderland a station ‘worthy in every way
of the importance of the town’. But when the plans were shown
to the Town Council at a special meeting they were received very
badly. One councillor likened it to ‘a row of pitmen’s cottages with
the overman’s house in the middle’. The Council had no powers
to compel, as it has today. However the NER response was to
substantially increase the budget. The architect redesigned a much
larger, two storey range with an enormous French Gothic clock
tower, 36 metres high and garnished with tourelles.
Nor was it just commerce that called forth thoughtful
architecture. Whether through a sense of social responsibility
or perhaps in confirmation of social status or, in some cases, a
Christian fear of God’s punishment after death, many buildings
were gifted to the citizens of Scotland’s towns and cities. Carnegie’s
gifts of libraries are well known. But while Carnegie was being
feted by City Councils across Scotland - he gave £3,000 towards the
£10,000 cost of the Aberdeen one - he was employing hundreds of
Pinkerton agents to kill workers in Pittsburgh, striking against a
new contract that banned trade unions.
There are many examples of social munificence. In Edinburgh
the ‘beerocracy’ gifted not one but two enormous public halls – the
Usher and the McEwan Halls.
So by the end of this period social processes that continue to
work today are fully established. Competition leads to the division
of labour in manual, technical and professional work. Constant
WWW.SUNNYGOVAN.COM
ELDER PARK LIBRARY
capital investment increases productivity and brings about
deskilling. New materials are adopted but the transformational
power of this system has much more to bring, not least its logical
outcome of war.
THE 1920’S AND ’30’S
In the First World War the European empires fought for control of
the world, joined by the aspirant empires, Japan and the USA. The
end of this conflict was brought about by social revolution, first in
Russia, then Germany, briefly spreading to Hungary, Bavaria, Italy
and China. All were defeated by 1927.
Such social upheaval lead to a dramatic rethinking of the nature
and purpose of buildings and the role of architects in society. For
a time it appeared that Morris’s vision of social relations described
in ‘News from Nowhere’ might come about, albeit in different
forms. The social values and design objectives of this time had a
profound effect on planning and architecture which didn’t finally
fade until the 1970’s.
The period is also marked, not surprisingly, by the first entry
of women into architecture with Margaret Schutte-Lihotsky and
Benita Otte designing kitchens for the benefit of women or Eileen
Gray, of whom Corbusier was envious. Though it is only in the
1970’s that women architects become more numerous, as the post
1945 generation matures.
This is often thought of as the heroic period of architecture.
Social purpose was to the fore and architectural debate was
fired by the ideals of emancipation of men and women from
exploitation. This is expressed in social condensers such as the
Narkofim residential Building by Ginzburg or in the workers clubs
21
EDINBURGHARCHITECTURE.CO.UK
CENTRAL STATION, GLASGOW
USHER HALL, EDINBURGH
by Melnikov, but its impact was worldwide. In Germany the trade
unions developed flats for their members.
In Finland, Aalto’s work was perhaps less radical but even
arguably the greatest ego that architecture has ever seen, Frank
Lloyd Wright, was influenced, most notably at Racine where his
client, the eponymous Johnson of Johnson’s Wax wanted to create
a workplace in the spirit of the New Deal. Stylistically this has
been called Modernism. Its origins were never a style but a social
programme. The more it became a style and the less a programme
the worse it became.
All this excitement however, socially and architecturally,
hardly penetrates the construction industry which remains made
up of small, craft-based firms.
Even the house builders, the mass production part of the
construction industry and therefore at the forefront, are just
beginning to change with the emergence of regional firms,
for example, Wimpey in London or Mactaggart and Mickel in
Scotland’s central belt. Though these are harbingers of what is to
come they are also a small minority with house building in the
thirties being delivered by over 6,000 firms, the majority building
less than 25 units per year.
Nevertheless this was a boom period for house construction
with well over 250,000 units a year from the mid-thirties. This
a sorry contrast with the, supposedly much more procurement
efficient, industry of today producing, last year, less than
100,000. Even in the height of the speculative bubble in 2006, the
industry was only able to build 185,000; a classic example of the
diseconomies of scale.
In contrast to the heroic is the more mundane practice of the,
usually aspirational, gentleman architect, captured by H B Creswell
in his Honeywood saga. Published first in the Architects Journal
in the late 20’s and early 30’s, then as two books, which became
popular successes, they describe the trials and tribulations of an
independent architect in trying to design and organise the building
of a small country house. Even in the thirties it was becoming old
fashioned but it clearly struck a chord with the profession and did
not pass out of popular esteem until the 1960’s. As late as 1980 it
was republished by Rush and Tompkins, a major UK contractor,
to celebrate their golden jubilee. It was perhaps fitting that they
looked to the past to celebrate. Just ten years later they were bust.
Manufacturing firms increasingly operate nationally. Little
is, as yet, architecturally visible, except in retail where the first
national retail chains are being established with standard facades.
For example, Montague Burton, who manufactured a quarter of
all British uniforms for WWI, built upon that boost. By 1929, it
had 400 shops in the UK. Designed by in-house architects to a
standard style, Burtons was another sign of things to come - but
still using local materials.
Architects doubled in number from 4350 to 8800. More
importantly the majority are now RIBA members. Thus RIBA,
after 40 years of a nominal policy commitment to registration,
now presses hard to win its establishment and thus its monopoly.
22
But this relatively short period is no more than a brief
interregnum, beginning in hope and ending with the forces of
reaction in control and an economic system that drives Europe,
once again, to war.
In parallel wide scale planning, essential to win the war, was
continued afterwards in most fields and extended to building
development. This was located in Local Government which
established large and effective housing, architecture and planning
departments in various combinations.
JON JARDINE GRAPHIC DESIGNER
KEITHSTR. 17, 10787 BERLIN, DEUTSCHLAND
1945-76/79/89
In the period after the First World War, the Wheatley Act
[email protected] +49 0 30 21 00 58 69
A shifting terminal date, but a clear crisp start with the election in
ushered in publicly funded housing. All such developments had
the UK of a strongly social democratic Labour Government. The
been stopped
by 1930, CHECK
but the long
boom after the Second World
PLEASE
CAREFULLY
Government took coal, electricity, gas, steel, railways and docks
War meant that not only did public housing continue for much
into public ownership and controlled near everything, including
longer, it improved in quality, culminating in the Parker Morris
distribution of building materials
standards, promulgated in 1961 and fully implemented by 1969.
The Second World War, as the first had done, led to industry
But it was not entirely a story of bit by bit, better and better.
concentrating in bigger combines, through taking on massive
Council house sizes were steadily reduced throughout the 50s and
government contracts. Architecturally they were still dwelling in
60s. More visible was the rapid adoption of mass production high
the thirties, as witness by the WD & HO Wills factories, developed
rise housing. This was justified by the claim that economies of scale
in the late 1940’s in Glasgow and Newcastle – art deco and the
would deliver cheaper and therefore more, a claim repeated more
same, regardless of location.
This concentration of commercial power, public and private,
led to contractors and house builders growing in size and
delivering an all trades package; first into regional combines and
then national. Last of all were the architectural practices, partly
because private work was limited and public work was carried out
in-house but also, as firms that service capital investment, their
size, number and structure echoes and follows the concentration
of capital. Thus it is not till the next period that we see substantial
changes in private architectural practice.
The really exciting developments were in the public sector. A
mass Council housing programme began, providing spacious, well
Established in 1985 by Designer Craftsman Douglas
fitted-out accommodation in communities that had schools, health
Burrows, Apostrophe Woodcraft is a bespoke, superior
quality design, manufacturing and installation service
centres and playing fields. In the publically owned industries new
for kitchens, bedrooms and furniture, all meticulously
buildings gave practical expression to ‘the dignity of labour’ from
handcrafted by a team of artisan cabinet-makers.
pithead baths to Cruachan Hydro Power Station, opened in 1965,
Based in workshops on the banks of the river
buried in a hill but a virtual temple to the creative power of labour
‘Jedwater’ in Jedburgh, Apostrophe is situated right in
and the respect it deserves.
the heart of the Scottish Borders and it’s centralized
location is perfect for providing quality service
City architects were well known and respected; their
nationwide and beyond!
departments often pioneering. For instance CLASP system
For a first class personal service, throughout
built schools, creating and sharing knowledge and experience in
Scotland, contact Douglas on 01835 863 120 or
multi-disciplinary departments. By the end of this period 50% of
[email protected].
architects worked in the public sector. The procurement process, as
it had been for over a 100 years, was to invite a number of builders
Apostrophe Woodcraft Ltd
Unit 4 Riverside Workshops, Jedburgh TD8 6EE
to submit a contract bid, all of which were published and, usually,
Tel/Fax: 01835 863 120
the lowest chosen.
ADVERT PROOF
www.apostrophewoodcraft.co.uk
23
recently. This was not true for either the reason or the outcome.
They were built because of the lobbying of central Government
by big contractors and, in response, the granting of large
Government subsidies to local authorities who commissioned the
big contractors to build them.
Scotland had an architect who was almost a bellwether for
this period. Robert Matthew qualified before the war. On his
return from national service he was appointed Chief Architect
and Planning Officer for London County Council, establishing
what became a world famous department. He was responsible for
the design of the Royal Festival Hall at the centre of the Festival
of Britain in 1951. In the mid-fifties he returned to Edinburgh to
teach at Edinburgh University and establish the private practice,
Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall, which will reappear later.
Although heavily involved in the redevelopment of the Georgian,
George Square in Edinburgh in the sixties he became a leading
conservationist, starting the New Town Conservation Trust and,
moving into our next period, played an important role in opening
up international markets to UK architectural firms.
1979/89
1979 saw, of course, the election of a Tory Government. 1989 is
the official end of the Cold War and thus the removal of even the
empty symbol, for that is all it was, of a possible better world.
From ’79 first the Tory and then from ’97 the Labour Party, act
as unequivocal supporters of big capital. They transfer public
facilities and utilities, often at knock down prices, to big business.
Under these regimes, local government and the NHS borrowed
money at excessive rates and gave 30 year maintenance contracts
to big business to build their next generation of facilities. Such
agreements removed these endeavours from state control or even
effective oversight. In 1986 the removal of controls over the finance
and banking industry was dubbed the ‘Big Bang’. This neo-liberal
strategy rapidly resulted in the UK slump of the early nineties, the
Asian melt down of the late nineties, the dotcom bust of the early
2000’s and then the bursting of the speculative bubble of 2008. In
the process it delivered Canary Wharf. This also went bust.
One aspect of public governance that has not only been
reduced but hollowed out ideologically, is planning. By the eighties
a planning system that had been established to direct enormous
public investment for social good and to control the individual
drive for private profit in the public good, had become a vehicle for
supporting business and its developments.
24
Of course businesses continue to grow in size. A competitive
market must have winners and losers and the winners gobble up
the remains and market share, of the losers. Some brief examples
from manufacturing and services. In the world wide car industry
95% of all cars are made by 15 firms; the only way to break into this
industry is with state investment. Even then only China has been
able to do it, with KIA of South Korea and Proton of Malaysia being
very small ‘also ran’s’. Of course this concentration of capital has
results for the built environment, seen in Scotland at Linwood and
Bathgate, but most obviously and disastrously in Detroit, where
tens of thousands of acres of new public space are being created.
Closer to home in Scotland the financial sector was rapidly
restructured after the Big Bang from a solid phalanx of, often
mutually owned, companies, headquartered in Scotland, to just
three – RBS, Bank of Scotland and Standard Life. Now that the
shocking behaviour and incompetence of the first two has been
exposed, only the mid-rank Standard Life still has its HQ in
Scotland.
Not at home at all is the ‘beerocracy’. Scottish and Newcastle,
built up by combining Scottish firms such as McEwans, Ushers
and Tennents, then through takeovers, at home and abroad,
became one of the largest international firms in this field. Now,
with the exception of the boutique brewer Caledonian, which it
bought in the nineties, it first ceased all brewing in Scotland and
for that matter in Newcastle too and then sold out to two other
combines who divided it up between themselves. We can expect
no more architectural philanthropy there.
Finally in retail there has been an enormous concentration.
50% of our retail spend goes through just 20 retailers; choice has
been dramatically reduced. On the high street there is only one
Chemist, Boots, since they bought Timothy Whites, one bookshop
Waterstones, which has taken over all the other booksellers and no
furniture stores, since IKEA bought Habitat and closed it down.
To be continued…
PROFESSOR IAN WALL HON FRIAS
Manufacturers of Timber
Doors and Door Sets
BM TRADA Q-Mark Accredited
Fire Doors/Sets – Fully
Certified | ACOUSTIC Doors/
Sets
Fire Doors must be fitted by competent
certified installers. Call for information.
Non-Standard Flush Doors/
Sets
Paintgrade, Veneered or Laminated
Ecosse Doors Ltd
4 MacDowall Street
Paisley PA3 2NB
Telephone: 0141 840 2266
Fax: 0141 887 8106
www.ecossedoors.co.uk
[email protected]
Non-Standard Flush Doors/
Sets with Apertures
Finished as Above
Glazed Screens
Fire rated or Non Fire rated
Wall Panels | Skirtings |
Architraves
Glass Balustrading
Grille City Aluminium specialises in the manufacture
and installation of top quality aluminium balustrades
and extrusions, including the Juralco range
exclusively imported direct from New Zealand.
Turnbull Aluminium Ltd.
t/a Grille City Aluminium
Unit 3, Inveralmond Trade Park,
Perth PH1 3TT
Tel: 01738 639 429 Fax: 01738 621 358
[email protected] www.grillecity.com
RUE PONTUS DE LA GARDIE, ONE OF THE STEEP MEDIEVAL COBBLED
STREETS OF CAUNES-MINERVOISE, NEAR CARCASSONE (A J HUGH FRIAS)
WHAT I DID ON MY HOLIDAYS
FRANCE, MAINLAND SPAIN, MALLORCA… AND THE WEST HIGHLAND WAY – OUR MEMBERS, CAMERA OR SKETCHBOOK
IN HAND, RECORD SOME OF THE ARCHITECTURAL (AND LANDSCAPE) HIGHLIGHTS FROM THEIR SUMMER
PEREGRINATIONS. GRATEFUL THANKS TO OUR FIVE INTREPID AUTHORS FOR THE INSPIRING WORDS AND IMAGES
FOR THIS FIRST ANNUAL REVIEW.
26
ALL PHOTOS BY AJ HUGH FRIAS
VACANCES FRANCAISE
THE CHÂTEAU DE CHENONCEAU TAKEN FROM CATHERINE DE’ MEDICI’S GARDEN
After Le Tunnel we drove south via Paris and the Peripherique.
The first stop was just south of Blois, at a village called Cormeray.
We had picked our three favourite Loire castles for a return visit,
the Chateaus of Chenonceau, Cheverny and Chambord. The first
is a renaissance gem inside and out, with flamboyant ornate
decoration. Francois 1 took this luxurious hunting lodge for the
crown. Henry II gave it to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers and his
wife reclaimed it after Henry’s death. Cheverney, built by Henry
IV, is unique, occupied by one family for most of its life and still a
family home. Chambord, by contrast, is a bravura demonstration
of Royal power and wealth. Its prodigious exterior makes it one of
the world’s most famous historic monuments. Its forest of towers,
bellcotes, decorated chimneys, cross shaped rooms with coffered
ceilings and its double spiral staircase were prototypes for the
French Renaissance.
Onwards to Caune Minervois, outside Carcassonne, a
traditional medieval village. The attraction was the steep, twisting,
narrow, cobbled streets, higglety-pigglety houses and the 8th
Century abbey. The fact that it marks the edge of the Pays Cathare,
where the Cathar heresy was brought to a gory end in 1255, was a
further reason to visit. Caune played its part in this struggle and
nearby Minerve had witnessed one of the most dramatic episodes
of this long and bloody conflict. Numerous Cathars took cover
there in 1210 but after a short siege capitulated. The survivors
were given an ultimatum to relinquish their faith or die. Some who
refused were martyred.
27
THE CHATEAU DE CHOMBORD, THE
GRANDIOSE CREATION OF FRANÇOIS I
A BIZARRE SIGN FOR A SMALL ART GALLERY IN
MARSEILLES
Arriving at a gracious two storey house in Marsillage, a suburb
of Carcassone, we were greeted warmly by our hostess, an urbane
Parisienne. Our plans to visit Montpellier’s College des Ecossais
were thwarted by the Tour de France. Instead we retreated into
the old town with its shady cool streets where we took a guided
tour which stretched our French. We commenced in the Place de la
Comédie, a lively meeting of the old and new towns. The walk took
in many of the most prominent 17C and 18C private mansions, or
hôtels, with their magnificent façades and remarkable staircases,
hidden from the public eye in inner courtyards. We finished by
climbing to the top of the local Arc de Triomphe.
Following the coast road towards Marseilles we encountered a
ferry crossing of the Grand Rhone at the Port St-Louis-du-Rhone,
before passing the enormous refinery and container terminal at
28
THE CHÂTEAU DE CHEVERNY BUILT BY HENRI HUREU,
GOVERNOR OF BLOIS AND COUNT OF CHEVERNY
Bassins de Fos. Finally our furthest point south hove into sight,
Marseilles, right on the Mediterranean, all blue sky and blue sea.
It was a relief to get into the air conditioned hotel, overlooking the
harbour as the temperature was over 35oC in the shade.
Le Grand Project du MuCEM, designed by Rudy Ricciotti, is
a bold marker for the city’s Year as European Capital of Culture
2013. Approaching the building from the Old Harbour, MuCEM
is surrounded on two sides by the sea. It faces a conference centre
designed by Stefano Boeri. MuCEM adjoins the renovated Fort
Saint-Jean which contains exhibitions of leisure, popular and folk
art and a garden. Both buildings and the hotel we stayed in form part
of an extensive project by the planning body EuroMéditerranée, to
create a new linear development, a business hub to revitalise the
city centre. The development includes a terminal for large ocean
LA PLACE DE LA COMÉDIE, MONTPELLIER, A BUFFER BETWEEN THE OLD
AND NEW TOWNS
A VIEW WESTWARDS OF THE CONTINUING DEVELOPMENT OF THE EUROMED
CENTRE OF MARSEILLES
THE MUSEUM OF CIVILISATIONS OF EUROPE (MUCEM) AND OF THE MEDITERRANEAN, ARCHITECT, RUDI RICCIOTTI AND THE VILLA MÉDITERRANÉE, ARCHITECT,
STEFANO BOERI
cruise liners at les quais d’Arenc. The project has hosted a gallery
of international architects, including Massimiliano Fuksas, Zaha
Hadid, Kengo Kuma and Jacques Ferrier. The Ancienne Cathédrale
de la Major is oddly juxtaposed as the backdrop to MuCEM.
We had regrets leaving this city, vowing to return very soon.
However, following our itinerary, we started the trip north with
a stop in Aix-en-Provence, a city with a long history from Celtic
times through Roman occupation, the union of Provence to
France and many religious and political disputes. Our base was
the faded 1930’s Hotel Saint Christophe. Old Aix consists of a ring
of boulevards and squares, encircling the town and marking the
line of the old ramparts. The wide avenue of the Cours Mirabeau,
with its fine shading Plane trees and the aristocratic facades of the
old hôtels with their finely-carved doorways and wrought iron
balconies, is the focus of life in Aix.
Every holiday has a serendipitous find. This time it was an
exhibition in the Musée des Tapisseries of the life of Suzanne
Lalique-Haviland. The breadth of her talents, encompassing a life
time of costume and set design for la Comédie-Française as well
as furniture, textiles and Limoges porcelain, has left a legacy for
future generations to marvel at.
The next leg of the journey north included a stop south of
Macon before reaching Calais, the Tunnel and thence back to
Scotland - to do the washing!
A J HUGH FRIAS
29
SKETCHED MEMORIES OF DEIÀ...
AN ORGANIC CLUSTER OF TERRACOTTA
ROOFS, DEIA
CHURCH, DEIA / CANAIA, DEIA
...AND WALKING THE VILLAGES OF NORTH WEST
MALLORCA IN THE FOOTHILLS OF THE TRAMUNTANA
MOUNTAINS (AND THE TALE OF THE ARTISTIC
AWAKENING OF AN ABERDEEN ADVOCATE)
I had taken an old Village House in Deià for a week in early summer
and by coincidence, an old legal friend of mine was also going to
be resident in the village - our stays conveniently overlapping to
allow for a meet-up. Firstly, however, a short insight into Deià and
its history.
Set in a valley populated since prehistoric times because of
abundant springs, caves and wild game, Deià acquired its name
ad-daia (“hamlet”) during the Islamic occupation of the 10th and
11th centuries. During that time a prosperous agriculture was
established, thanks to the terracing of the land and a sophisticated
irrigation and drainage system, still in use today.
After the Christian conquest, Deià was awarded to the Count
of Rosselló as part of Valldemossa (whose symbols persist in
the Deià shield). However, in 1583, Deià gained independence
from Valldemossa. During the Middle Ages the olive cultivation,
established by the Moslems or perhaps earlier by the Romans,
expanded enormously. The terraces extended up to almost 2000 ft
above sea-level. The village grew, dedicating itself to fishing, olive
oil, citrus fruit and sheep farming.
In the high oak forests, among the lime-kilns and charcoal
burners huts, pigs were fattened on acorns; even on the mountain
30
A CURVE, DEFLECTION, EXPECTATION –
ANOTHER FOOT FORAY IN FORNALUTZ
THE ‘ART OF THE ADVOCATE’, CHURCH
OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST, DEIA
top wheat was cultivated. As from the end of the nineteenth
century, thanks to its natural beauty and cheap and simple way
of life, Deià began to be frequented by romantics, bohemians and
artists as it still is to this day.
Thankfully the village remains completely unspoilt and is an
ideal base for exploring the ancient path network, giving access to
countless other villages and a true impression of the wild landscape
of the region. The “Path of Costello” is typical, affording extensive
views high above the rugged coastline, I would commend it.
Now back to the tale of “the Advocate” (one C.J.E. McIver,
Advocate in Aberdeen). Once it became known that our visits to
Deià would overlap, a meeting was scheduled. As we have been
lunching together every Friday for the last 40 years, I offered to
host Friday lunch in Deià at our village house, but on the condition
that after lunch we would go sketching.
I knew that my friend had never sketched in his life and
indeed, poured cold water on the very idea of sketching as a means
of recording holiday remembrances. However, during lunch (drink
was taken!) I managed to convince him that, no matter the quality
of his sketch, he would look at it in later years and instantly recall
where it was done, remember the day, the sights, sounds, even
the smells of his surroundings. This was given short shrift as “arty
farty” nonsense, but he would give it a go.
So off we weaved up the hill to the 13th century Church of
St. John the Baptist, sat on an old stone dyke and surveyed the
subject matter.
ALL PHOTOS BY MICHAEL FORBES BEATTIE
LOOKING DOWN CALLE RAMON LLULL AT
VILLA VERDE, DEIA
HEADING OUT OF DEIA ON THE ANCIENT
PATH OF CASTELLO LEADING TO SOLLER
“What do you see?” I said. “I see a Church.” “Yes, but how is it
built?” “Stone”. “Yes, but what shape is it?” “Square with a pyramid
roof.” “Well let’s draw it.” “I can’t draw that.” “You can draw a box
can’t you with a pyramid on top? Forget for the moment that it’s a
Church - just think of the geometry”.
After a simple explanation of perspective and vanishing points,
off he went. I left him to his own devices, casting an occasional
eye over his developing sketch. I could see that the barriers were
coming down and that he was actually beginning to enjoy the
experience. “Don’t forget the trees,” I said, “I can’t draw trees,” he
said. “Yes you can - think of it as a river branching out into its
various tributaries - just draw that, then add the foliage”. “Foliage?
I can’t draw foliage.” “Yes you can!” (It was an old knarled pine,
with spiky leaves). “Imagine that the clusters of leaves are like an
old fashioned toilet brush”. He thought that I was daft - but he had
an image in his head and off he went to complete his sketch.
Well, that’s how the “Art of the Advocate” came to be - he
surprised himself and me and his work is now framed and proudly
displayed in his study.
THE INVITATION IS ALWAYS THERE
– JUST TO TURN THE NEXT CORNER –
VALLDEMOSSA
LIGHT AND SHADE, FORNALUTZ
“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”
Edgar Degas
For the rest of the trip, I continued my walks, sketching here
and there. I was reminded of my earlier pleading to the Advocate
about sights, sounds and smells. Just before the sketch of “Calle de
la Amargura” I was sitting on a doorstep in Valldemosa, roughing
in the various buildings, when the door opened. A large sweeping
broom appeared, followed by a large elderly lady, dressed in black.
I made to go, trying my best to apologise. But she motioned to
the doorstep, speaking very loudly in Catalan and insisting that I
resumed my seat.
She re-appeared, proffering a glass of dark red wine. Anyway, I
drank the wine, which I have to say was rough but honest, a bit like
the sketch I had just completed, which I slipped under her door
with a “muchos gracias” note and left discreetly. She maybe binned
it with the dregs of the wine. However I can remember everything
about that day, you don’t get that through a digital camera!
MICHAEL FORBES BEATTIE RIAS
“Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his Master.”
Leonardo da Vinci
I felt inwardly quite pleased. Retired or not, it’s good to spread
the word, open people’s eyes and instill an appreciation of the built
environment.
31
MUSEO PICASSO, CALLE SAN AGUSTIN, MALAGA
32
ALHAMBRA, GRANADA
IN THE BLAZING ANDALUCIAN SUN
A two hour drive from busy Malaga, through endless olive
groves, Granada nestles under the stupendous backdrop of
the Sierra Nevada. Our house was in the Albayzin, the old Arab
Quarter, within the original Citadel which sits on a hill above
the (comparatively) modern town. It is a delightful labyrinth of
twisting streets and small squares, tumbling down the steep hill
and is full of reminders and fragments of its Moorish past. The
narrow streets and tall buildings give shaded relief from the fierce
sun and occasional chances to stop and sketch.
Below, the Plaza Nueva is the centre of Post Reconquista
grandeur and the perfect place for a tapa and a cooling drink after
an exhausting couple of hours in the heat.
Towering over all of course, like something from The Arabian
Nights, is the omnipresent Alhambra, with its breathtakingly
beautiful Generalife and Palace courtyards. Even a whole day
here could not truly do justice to this remarkable assembly of
architectural beauty.
Beyond Plaza Nueva bustling Granada spreads out in 19th and
20th century styles. Older architectural history can still be found
in the Cathedral area, with its ornate Renaissance churches and
occasional Moorish gems in the form of the Old Arabic University
and the Corral del Carbon, an Arab merchant’s inn which has
somehow survived, relatively intact, to the present day.
Beyond this the tourist bus reveals modern Granada with its
world class universities, Science Park and conference centres that
bring the city truly up to date. It is a city of beauty, of contrasts, of
old and of new and undoubtedly a city well worth the visit.
PUERTO DE LAS PESAS, PLAZA LARGA, GRANADA
ARCO DE LAS PESAS, GRANADA
SHOLTO HUMPHRIES PPRIAS
33
ALL PHOTOS BY KENNETH BLACKBURN RIAS
DAY 2 ENTE
RING BALM
AHA - VIEW
FROM CONI
OF LOCH LO
C HILL
MOND
DAY 1 MILNGAVIE - AT
THE STARTING POINT
DAY 1 DRYMEN - THE
OLDEST PUB IN SCOTLA
ND
OND
HA - VIEW OF LOCH LOM
WALK THIS WAY
My last two beach holidays in the Canaries were plagued with
uncharacteristically bad weather. So I decided to risk it and stay
locally for my Glasgow Fair holiday this year and make best use
of the exceptional weather we were experiencing (saving a few
pennies in the process).
For a long time I have yearned to walk the West Highland Way.
I was encouraged by my mother, a keen ambler and founder of the
Beith Ladies Walkers Group, who had suffered a crippling stroke in
March. This allowed her to enjoy the experience, albeit vicariously,
through regular photo messaging.
As this was my first time, hopefully not my last, I decided to
organise the trip over a leisurely seven days, staying in hotels,
hostels and even ‘hobbit houses’ (more on that later!).
34
DAY 2 LEAVING BALMA
FROM CRAIGIE FORT
My first day took me from Milngavie to Drymen where I stayed
in the Clachan Inn, famous for being the oldest licensed pub in
Scotland (1734). From there I moved on to Rowardennan, but not
before climbing Conic Hill. Some of the most stunning, yet serene,
moments of the journey were encountered on my third day, on the
way to Inverarnan, via Loch Lomond’s remote east bank.
On day four, the heavens opened at Crianlarich and I fell in
a river at Tyndrum. However I was greeted at my B&B with hot
chocolate and home-made caramel shortbread, allowing me to recharge my batteries while my trainers dried on the radiator (the
trainers were relegated to the bin shortly after).
The longest day took me nineteen miles over Rannoch Moor
via Bridge of Orchy and Inveroran and to Glencoe Ski Resort
SHIRE ONE!) -
RLING
DOUNE (NOT THE STI
DAY 3 APPROACHING
ST LOCH LOMOND
EA
ON
H
AC
BE
ED
SECLUD
DAY 5 GLENCOE MOUNTAIN RESORT - HOBBIT HOUSE
DAY 6 KINLOCHLEVEN - VIEW FROM
DAY 3 PASSING ARDLEISH
- VIEW FROM DARIO
MELARAGNI MEMORIAL (FOU
NDER OF THE
WEST HIGHLAND WAY RAC
E) AT HEAD OF LOCH
LOMOND
where a ‘hobbit house’ awaited me. These curious pre-fabricated
cabins are quickly springing up all over Scotland, As I am not the
biggest Tolkein fan, the reference was rather wasted on me.
While my colleagues in Glasgow experienced heatwave
temperatures, I was clambering my way up the Devil’s Staircase
in thick fog. I dare say on a nice day you could see for miles once
you got to the top. However I could barely see my hand before
my face! The last stopover of my trip took me to Kinlochleven,
or ‘Aluminiumville’ as it was nearly known thanks to the nearby
smelter, established in the early 1900s. Famous for being the first
village in the world to have every house connected to electricity,
it now relies solely on tourism, following the closure of the plant
in 2000.
N
HEAD OF FJORDLIKE LOCH LEVE
DAY 7 LEAVING
KI
NLOCHLEVEN
- LO
CH LEVEN
As the Met Office issued a health warning in relation to the
abnormally warm weather, I began my final leg from Loch Leven
to Fort William, stopping only once, half-way, at a welcome, makeshift, refreshment stall provided by local rangers. Crossing the
new finish line on Fort William’s High Street, some 96 miles after
leaving Milngavie, I was burnt, bitten but not broken! Greeted
by friends, we ate, drank and doused our feet in the River Nevis,
soaking up the astounding Scottish scenery. Would I do it all
again? Where do I sign up?
KENNETH BLACKBURN RIAS
35
THE MAEGHT FOUNDATION
The Alexander family holidays very often chisel in a special
architectural gem or two, ‘since we are here it would be such a
shame not to just have a look!’
Before travelling to Nice this summer I had never been aware
of the existence of the Maeght Foundation. About two weeks
before we left a friend mentioned that they had been there and
it was full of great things – a modernist building with a great art
collection, set amongst the trees in the hills of Provence.
A quick on-line search revealed that the foundation had been
set up by two sisters near the town of St Paul de Vence and that the
building had been designed by Josep Luis Sert. Sert also designed
a studio for Joan Miro next to his house Sa Boter, near Palma in
Mallorca. Later he would go on to design the Miro foundation in
Barcelona. Of these buildings the Maeght Foundation displays a
lightness of touch that has more of an affinity with the work in
Mallorca than Barcelona. This is a blessing in design terms as the
whole ensemble has the feeling of something private that we are
36
invited in to have a wee look around. A bit like a private house on
‘Doors Open Day’.
The context for the foundation is the heavily wooded hillsides
above Nice and Cagnes, a place of retreat for Matisse, Renoir and
Picasso. Near the foundation sits the town of St Paul de Vence
which, despite being beautiful, has succumbed to the selling of
some seriously dodgy art and really does burst the bubble. Back
on the main road a discrete track leads to the gateway of the
Foundation. A perimeter wall made of random local stone contains
a small ticket office, taking the act of queuing and ticket sales away
from the main building – a sensitive gesture that retains the spirit
of the gallery spaces.
Past the ticket office a landscaped lawn displays a ‘few
sculptural pieces’ – Chillida, Caro, Calder… To the right sits the
small family chapel with its quarter circular roof lights; the cool,
simple interior counterpointed with a few medieval pieces.
ALL PHOTOS BY IAN ALEXANDER FRIAS
37
38
The buildings of the foundation cover several acres but the
galleries, terraces, ponds and sculpture courts are distributed in a
way so as to diminish their overall mass. The overall composition is
assisted by the terracing of the buildings on the hillside.
The entrance to the galleries is reached over a reflective pond.
The glazing on either side of the bridge is protected from the sun
by stacked clay tiles in a triangular format. The combination of
filtered and reflected light in this location summarises the use of
natural light elsewhere in the building. Small details, such as the
burnished brass door handle, heighten the senses.
The building is organised in two halves. On the upper slope sits
a great hall or gallery which can be used to host large installations.
On the upper levels sit an archive and print room and on the roof
under a Corbusian ‘horned’ concrete canopy is a viewing terrace
with views towards the sea. The staircase linking the levels is of
open treads and cantilevers from the wall with a subtle feeling of
deflection as you ascend.
In contrast to the smooth concrete of the steps the galleried
and circulation spaces are floored with an interlocking clay tile of
an unusual shape, bringing a crafted feel to the interiors. The lower
half of the building is a series of connected spaces, counterpointed
by sculpture courts and reflective ponds, designed by Braque. Tall
slot windows in the corner of the rooms, allow glimpses to these
courtyards and encourage linear shafts of light to occupy the space.
To the rear of this complex is a library building that overlooks a
series of terraced gardens and water features designed by Miro.
The shadows of the trees, the sparkle of the reflected light from
the ponds and the mix of traditional clay, stone and concrete make
a special if unexpected place to view and contemplate art in the
countryside of Provence.
So that’s one of the things we did on our holidays… if only
there was time to describe Matisse’s chapel in Vence!
IAN ALEXANDER FRIAS
39
ARCHITECTURE POLICY
8
6
7
9
ThE STATuS oF ThiS
PoliCy STATEMEnT
21
PArT onE
THE VALUE OF
ARCHITECTURE
AND PLACE
logos and images) free of charge in any
pen Government Licence. To view this licence,
oc/open-government-licence/
Good buildings and places can
value to us as a society. They a
talent and investment and are t
infrastructure which sustains bu
Good places can be the critical
determining whether we choose
or drive, whether our lifestyles a
and healthy, and the size of our
carbon footprint.
However, the planning system alone cannot
deliver good places. This document highlights the
significant relationship between architecture and
place to a range of policy areas which contribute
to our National Outcomes. It is recognised that
the public sector has a key role in delivering
good places. We will therefore look to work with
a range of public sector bodies to help embed
the principles of this document into all relevant
policy areas and decision making processes.
value to us as a country. They a
essential component in deliverin
environmental ambitions and pu
Scotland at the forefront of the
effort to tackle climate change.
unique architecture and places
our distinctive identity all over th
attracting visitors and investmen
whAT iS ‘gooD DESign’?
Good design is not merely how a building looks, it
is an innovative and creative process that delivers
value. Design provides value by delivering good
buildings and places that enhance the quality of
our lives. This can be:
opyright information you will need to
rs concerned.
e at www.scotland.gov.uk.
ThE vAluE oF go
builDingS AnD P
personal value to us as individu
give us a sense of belonging, a
identity, a sense of community,
us the amenities to meet our da
This policy statement sets out the Scottish
Government’s position on architecture and place.
Architecture and place has an established, strong
relationship with planning. Therefore, the policies
contained in this document are material
considerations in determining planning
applications and appeals.
A policy statement on architecture
and place for Scotland
12
• physical value – enhances a setting;
• functional value – meets and adapts to the
long-term needs of all users;
• viability – provides good value for money;
• social value – develops a positive sense of
identity and community; and
PS Group Scotland
• environmental value - efficient and
responsible use of our resources.
2013
l
a
n
d
.
g
o
v
.
u
k
JAN GEHL
20
26
36
37
PArT Two
27
hEAlTh
Physical and social environments are critical elements in people’s
lives and can impact on their health and wellbeing. Neighbourhoods
which can increase human connectedness through their design and
where there is access to good quality greenspace, safe streets and
places for children to play outdoors can positively benefit health.
40
The
Scottish Crime Campus
‘Children who have better access to safe, green and
open places are more likely to be physically active
and less likely to be overweight than those living in
neighbourhoods with reduced access to such facilities.
Access to green space is also associated with greater
life expectancy in older people.’
A complex brief resolved through
a design-led approach, being
delivered on cost and programme,
while meeting highly detailed
end user technical requirements.
There is now greater awareness of the value of a
place in Scotland and ever more discussion arou
This debate, in itself, is important. Government su
programmes on architecture aim to further encou
the role of arhcitecture in national and local life,
and benefits of good architecture and to improve
of building design. These programmes will contin
delivered by Architecture and Design Scotland, w
used as a base of much of this activity.
Equally well report of The Scottish Government Ministerial Task Force on Health Inequalities
CONSOLIDATION
AND AMBITION
Each of us should aim to participate in
an appropriate level of physical activity for
our age. Increasing physical activity levels
across the Scottish population can increase
life expectancy and decrease health
inequalities. This can provide substantial
health benefits for individuals and
significantly reduce the risk of diseases
such as cancer, diabetes and dementia
Creating places which are attractive and
well-connected encourages people to walk
and cycle and children to play.
We must take advantage of the health
benefits related to physical activity and so
it is vital that we create attractive, accessible
places that put pedestrians first and make it
safe and attractive for younger and older
people to go outdoors.
30
AMbiTion
Whereas the physical environment can have
a positive impact on health and wellbeing,
poor quality surroundings can have the
opposite effect. People who feel that they
have no control over their environment, or
do not experience it as a meaningful place,
are more likely to experience chronic stress.
Chronic stress puts people at increased risk
of mental and physical ill health and is linked
to early mortality.
The challenge is to translate this awareness
into improved built outcomes. The ambition
of this policy is to effectively embed design
and place in a variety of policy areas and
working practices. Although this is not
something that can be achieved instantly,
there is a clear need for it to happen swiftly.
It is important that we see place as an
asset which, if properly designed and
managed, can create the conditions for
health to flourish.
Successful implementation of this policy
statement will help to put a flourishing
design and development sector at the heart
of a low carbon economy; provide greater
international recognition for the Scottish
design industry; and encourage greater
involvement of young people in the built
environment and creative design sector.
‘There is a proven link between how we perceive our
world and surroundings and the various biological
responses that go on inside the body. How people feel
about their physical surroundings, can impact on not just
mental health and wellbeing, but also physical disease.’
Sir Harry Burns, Chief Medical Officer, The Scottish Government
36
38
AN ARCHITECTURE POLICY... A STRATEGY FOR
RENEWAL?
Climate and history – our understanding of architecture and
by extension, our built environment; as well as our designed
responses, can be measured in those two absolutes. In its widest
sense how climate has formed the topography and the landscape
and how it has shaped our history.
Our current attitude to culture is similarly formed in our past.
Evolving over history, its nature, how we perceive it and how we
respond is itself our history. This goes beyond context, we all
carry baggage. There is no element of architecture, place-making
or our historic environment which is not explained or assessed
by those measures. This is where their fundamental appraisal,
understanding and development should be located.
In attempting to answer those initial questions that appeared
a year or so ago, posed as a means of shaping the Policy document,
“How can the Architecture Policy promote higher quality design
in order to contribute to Scotland’s economic growth?” or “How
could the Policy help encourage better public interest in the future
of our historic environments?” we must also ask the question, how
do we ensure everyone values architecture and design and can
embrace it and differentiate its qualities, whilst equally ensuring its
procurement achieves these objectives? I would suggest there are
three necessary strategies – Aspiration, Legislation and Education.
The first strategy would be to provide guidance, illustrating
best practice or places and built environments we might aspire
to be a part of. This the new Policy document achieves admirably
but addressing those already familiar with the process. The second
must be to ensure joined up thinking in our legislation and to
40
ramp up quality levels across culture, construction and planning
to enshrine forward thinking in building standards, planning
standards and zero carbon objectives. The new planning legislation
currently going through parliament, focusing on sustainable
economic growth, is a part of that. Not an easy task for anyone,
even in an architecture policy, yet for it to be truly a policy it has
to be a mechanism to effect change. The third is to embed a critical
understanding and engagement with the built environment in
our education system at all levels. Curriculum for Excellence can
provide such an opportunity.
We can engender a greater degree of thought by association
with broader cultural values, both artistic and scientific, whilst
recognising the contribution of the artisan as well as the artist.
The Policy itself is not, indeed cannot be, a panacea for these
issues. But in the same way that the built environment can be an
armature for a constructive curriculum of positive engagement in
education so it could be in government policymaking.
Here joined up cross disciplinary thinking is also essential education, health, culture, construction should all be working to
a similar elementary agenda. This could embed built environment
matters in legislation in a useful, holistic way. A real architecture
Policy. The SBF has recorded that 2012 was a lean year for Scottish
construction. Yet the Scottish construction industry is still worth
a useful £10bn to our economy. Useful and important, 8% of our
GDP.
That provides immense leverage potential in promoting and
embedding design quality in architecture and place-making.
Understanding the nature of design and integrating it into our
society is, in my view, fundamental to our future success as a
A design and arch
thriving and well-e
processes will help
environmental and
the regeneration o
energy use and a
improved safety a
individual activity w
benefits to public h
This policy stateme
creation of walkab
people and childre
cars and where th
environment make
to the quality of ou
14
have
uals. They
a sense of
and offer
aily needs.
provide
attract
the essential
usiness.
factor in
e to walk
are active
r
provide
are an
ng our
utting
global
Scotland’s
s promote
he world,
nt.
15
PEoPlE AnD CoMMuniTiES
ooD
PlACES
Quality places are often central to community life. A successful place is
accessible to all and encourages people to connect with one another.
The relationships which are fostered help to create communities where
there is a high level of positive activity and interaction. These are
communities which are safe, socially stable and resilient.
Where, what and how we build is central to
the economic success of Scotland. That is
why, in recent years, we have modernised
our planning system, in order to maximise
our economic opportunities, and enhance
Scotland’s competitive edge.
Some of the principal benefits of good
architecture and places are discussed in
more detail following, under the themes:
24
‘Our town centres are important in economic,
cultural and low-carbon terms. We are social animals,
and town centres offer us a sense of community,
giving us the opportunity to walk streets that are
flourishing with activity and to interact with others as
part of our everyday life. Town centres offer a vision
of the future that is at once familiar, enlivening and
radically different from what’s on offer out-of-town.’
Malcolm Fraser, Chair,
The Scottish Government Town Centre Review
• People and communities
• Sustainable development
• Design - Economic advantages
• Health outcomes
Whether in urban or rural situations,
communities have unique and valuable
knowledge about the neighbourhoods and
places in which they live. Successful places
are made by involving people at the earliest
stage and by continuously harnessing this
wealth of skills and knowledge. Meaningful
participation enables places to endure, and
meet the needs and future aspirations of the
people who live and work in them.
• Culture and identity
• Landscape and the natural environment
Scotland’s town centres are important hubs
of activity for communities and many can
have an enhanced role to play in supporting
and promoting local economic growth.
Town centres can provide employment
and accessible services for local people, be
a focus for entrepreneurial and civic activity,
and provide people with a valuable sense
of community and belonging.
Not every town is the same or indeed
needs to serve every purpose and the
role for the individual town centre needs
to be considered in light of this. The Scottish
Government’s Town Centre review was
launched in September 2012. An independent
External Advisory Group was assembled to
consider the issues around the future of our
town centres. This group will publish a series of
actions to assist town centres in realising their
potential as viable, attractive places to work,
visit and live.
Our Regeneration Strategy, Achieving
a Sustainable Future, puts community-led
regeneration at the heart of its approach.
The changes required to make all communities
vibrant and sustainable will only be achieved
when communities themselves play a part in
delivering change.
“We will support the RIAS Festival
of Architecture in 2016 and we will
work closely with Historic Scotland,
Visit Scotland and the Royal Incorporation
of Architects in Scotland to
capitalise on this.”
Item 5.1 of the Architecture Policy
23
41
54
64
55
RESOURCES,
COMMUNICATIONS
AND MONITORING
Responding appropriately to climate change requires a
change in practices. Moving to a low carbon economy is
an economic and environmental imperative – it is Scotland’s
biggest opportunity this century.
ent aims to support the
ble neighbourhoods where
en are considered before
he quality of the built
es a radical improvement
ur lives.
4.1
We will investigate methods which
effectively incentivise the use of existing
buildings and brownfield land.
4.2
We will continue to lobby the UK
Government on the reduction of VAT
to works on existing buildings.
4.3
We will continue to work to ensure
that the appropriate skills and materials
are available to conserve, repair and
maintain our existing buildings, so that
they continue to contribute to the
low carbon economy.
Landscape
4.4
Landscape is at the heart of Scotland’s
identity. We will work with landscape
bodies to help promote landscape
as a resource which requires careful
management and conservation.
4.5
POLICY
low carbon design and planning should be a priority. Project clients, commissioners, designers
and approvers should encourage design innovation and take advantage of locally-sourced
materials to facilitate sustainable development. A ‘re-use not replace’ approach should be
considered first when dealing with our existing built environment.
The Existing Built Environment
hitecture sector that is
embedded in public sector
p to address economic,
d social aims such as:
of high streets; reduced
reduction in fuel poverty;
and security; and increased
with consequential
health.
65
PArT Four
4. DESign For A low CArbon EConoMy
architecture and
und their merits.
upported cultural
urage debate on
to promote the value
e understanding
nue to be principally
with The Lighthouse
We will promote the creation
of landscape frameworks and
masterplans and the inclusion of
landscape at the earliest stages of
planning and development feasibility.
Meeting future targets
4.6
We will promote the ability of
design to deliver compact,
well-connected places, in order to
reduce carbon-related emissions.
4.7
We will advocate the delivery of
places that prioritise pedestrians
and encourage activity and
healthy lifestyles.
4.8
To build on the sustainability labelling
system for new homes, we will introduce
fully developed ‘Bronze’, ‘Silver’
and ‘Gold’ levels for new schools.
49
45
country both economically and culturally. Too many see it as a
burden, an inhibitor to sustainable growth, when in fact it is an
imperative. Design thinking has a specific structure, a form of
synthesising thought and new information, a structure of enquiry
that is both unique and essential to innovative thinking. How
refreshing if such innovation could be applied to developing a
sustainable model for affordable housing, as a start.
We can look at the new Architecture Policy document, Creating
Places “First Life, then Spaces, then Buildings” as something of an
atlas, useful in heading towards those stated objectives. Or, as
in Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, a thousand fables on one place.
Yet it cannot be the vehicle for making the journey. That has to be
a series of mechanisms constructed to enable us to create these
places. Ultimately that has to be about how they are procured and
the rules of that engagement. If even £2.0bn, 20% of the industry,
embraced the value of design quality enshrined in the policy
statement or were enabled to do so, we would be well on the road
to change.
PROFESSOR GORDON MURRAY PPRIAS
SUCH STUFF AS DREAMS ARE MADE ON
Many Governments, including that of the UK, have only just
started thinking about what an architecture policy might look like.
Meanwhile Scotland has just produced its third. Creating Places:
A Policy Statement on Architecture and Place for Scotland, recently
launched by Culture Secretary, Fiona Hyslop MSP, is a deal more
succinct than its predecessors.
To many in the worlds of architecture and planning, the
propositions Creating Places expounds: developing potential,
designing for a low carbon economy, enriching culture,
educational engagement, community empowerment, investment
decisions informed by place and a requirement for quality as a
determinant for planning decisions, might all seem like so much
‘motherhood and apple pie’. Yet nobody would refute that a better
built environment improves quality of life. Quality architecture is
a crucial preliminary, ‘the point of the arrow’, of a construction
industry regularly quoted as contributing anything from 10 to
20% of GDP. The process of making and sustaining our urban
environments has hitherto required a huge proportion (some
estimate 40%) of energy supply. In short, getting it right is crucial.
Performance across Scotland’s local authorities remains
patchy. Taking new schools as an example, some authorities, Fife,
Glasgow and South Ayrshire, have, rightly, won awards, mainly
for traditionally procured projects. Other authorities still consider
that Design and Build sheddery will do. Eradicating lowest cost
thinking in favour of highest outcome thinking is at the core of
this new policy statement.
It is profoundly to be hoped that the words of Creating Places,
the outcome of much consultation and civil service expertise,
will translate into deeds. In reviewing and updating its policy
statement on architecture and making it a material consideration
for planning, the Scottish Government sets a challenge for every
commissioning authority in Scotland – public and private. Is this
new policy worthwhile? – you better believe it!
NEIL BAXTER HON FRIAS, SECRETARY AND TREASURER
41
2016 UPDATE
2016 Update:
The Festival of
Architecture
Workshops
Six colourfully different workshops held across Scotland have
provided strong affirmation of the aims of the 2016 Festival of
Architecture and unleashed an impressive wealth of energy and
enthusiasm. The sessions were intended to gauge the level of
interest in the Festival, to prioritise objectives, gather ideas and to
promote awareness.
Supported by Government funding, the discussions proved
fertile ground for future partnerships, identifying areas of
specialist expertise and unearthing healthy regional diversity and
common interest.
Each session began with a scene-setting presentation before
our planner facilitator, Nick Wright, encouraged the dialogue.
Post-its ensured that no passing thought was lost and adamant
views were recorded. The events were followed by a Survey
Monkey questionnaire to capture views on reflection and learn
lessons from delegates’ experience. Many have signed up too for
eBulletins to be kept abreast of developments as the Festival takes
shape.
42
The one hundred or so who attended represented many
different walks of life. They ranged from artists, through
designers, academics, solicitors, business advisers, gallery curators,
archaeologists, historians, Government representatives, members
of amenity societies, directors of preservation trusts, surveyors,
technical assistants and architects, planners and local authority
officers.
Nick’s summary report has distilled the emerging themes,
types of activities suggested, who should participate and what the
risks of holding such a festival might be. Creative minds turned
to alternative names for the event, offering a host of catchy,
authoritative, descriptive and even intentionally provocative
titles, among which were: ‘ScotArch’, ‘The National Festival’,
‘Architecture Jamboree’, ‘Building the Future’, ‘Building Scotland’,
‘Space and Place’, ‘ Living for the Future’ and ‘Past, Present and
Prologue’.
Key themes, shared across the sessions, included celebration
and recognition of Scotland’s architecture and its built
environment, historical and current and the need to demystify
architecture to improve understanding of its contribution to
well-designed communities and encourage involvement. Many
attending looked for emphasis on future-proofing buildings and
guidance on green design, others for outreach beyond Scottish
shores, promoting Scotland and learning from examples worldwide. All agreed that children and Scotland’s younger citizens
should be centre stage, as participants and advisers. While
celebration is important for the Festival it should also bring
transformation and make a difference long-term.
Risks for the Festival were wisely considered. The most
common warnings coming from the regional groups were that the
event’s focus should avoid central belt dominance or concern itself
only with high level national issues and that filling a year would be
challenging. Opinions differed on the benefits of a broad approach
and suggestions this could become unfocussed.
Identifying activities to deliver the aims of the Festival was
the most popular topic. The facilitators noted down furiously the
stream of imaginative, proven and un-proven, exciting, innovative
and practical ideas, one sparking another and all relayed with
enthusiasm and vision. Open studios, model- making workshops,
local competitions, children ambassadors, harnessing art to
animate underused spaces, walking tours – guided and printed,
entertaining and educational exhibitions, popular performers
performing in great buildings. Making use of the many excellent
and pioneering initiatives to improve our relationship with
architecture and extending their success was welcomed, for
example, the hands-on, eye-opening achievements of the Tog
Studio and Creative Spaces programmes. Everyone called for the
development of Doors Open Days, enduringly successful in the
interest they cultivate from curiosity.
The RIAS would like to thank all those who attended the
workshops or who have joined the body of enthusiasts in
connection with them. Your contributions will help us develop
with our partners an informed and engaging strategy for the
Festival. We’ll be sure to keep you all posted.
DR DEBORAH MAYS HON FRIAS
43
TEN
YEARS
OF THE
ANDREW
DOOLAN
AWARD
DANCE BASE, EDINBURGH
MALCOLM FRASER ARCHITECTS
AN TURAS, TIREE
SUTHERLAND HUSSEY ARCHITECTS
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE, GLASGOW
ELDER AND CANNON ARCHITECTS
PHOTO: KEITH HUNTER
PHOTO: DONALD URQUHART
PHOTO: KEITH HUNTER
2002
2003
2004
REFLECTIONS OVER THE FIRST TEN YEARS
My first encounter with Andy Doolan was as his external examiner
for his Finals at the Leeds School of Architecture. I was considered
as appropriate; Andy being described as a feisty student from
Glasgow. His project, a Visitor Centre for Machu Picchu in Peru,
was conceptually clever but light and under developed. I told him
he was a lazy b****r who should be failed and the only reason I
didn’t fail him was I didn’t want to waste my time in writing back.
I actually had faith he was competent and passed him. His mother
later told me, “he came back white-faced, saying he’d had a terrible
ordeal.”
Nevertheless, as we all know Andy sturdily survived and
went on, not only to become an architect of some stature, but as
a developer/architect, a patron of good young practices of some
note.
We met in Glasgow from time to time, always cordially.
Nevertheless I was surprised when, out of the blue, he phoned me
to say he wanted to set up a new major prize for architecture. He
was fed up with the, London controlled, Stirling Prize, which never
seemed to get beyond the metropolitan clique.
He would set a £25,000 prize (£5,000 more than the Stirling)
to ensure its stature and it would be awarded for the best building
in Scotland in each year, be it by a practice from Scotland or
elsewhere. He suggested he and I would be on the jury; myself as
Chair and joined by, perhaps, the RIAS President and a judge from
another country. No fees, but an opportunity to tour the country
and have a rerr terr, seeing good architecture.
44
So it began and over the last ten years acquired its present,
eminent stature, whereby to be on the shortlist itself is an accolade.
The size and range of the excellent winners over the years
and the quality of the shortlist reveals the outstanding quality of
projects in Scotland, be they large or small. Particularly satisfying
is the prevalence of socially oriented buildings, complementing
and improving their environment, conscious of place and their
role in society, rather than attention-seeking ‘iconic’ objects. It
showcases the official Policy for Architecture and concern with
quality and care.
Judging is challenging, sometimes argumentative, occasionally
instant and always pleasurable.
Sadly Andy suddenly died in 2004, his loss deeply felt. The
Doolan family continued to support the award, his mother
becoming a patron. The RIAS and the Scottish Government have
also continued their support. The profession undoubtedly owes a
huge debt of gratitude to both Andy’s family and the Government
for keeping faith with his vision. Yet Andy’s direct manner and
sure judgments are much missed.
The winners have ranged from the large to the small, the
Scottish Parliament building, the revamp of the National Museum
of Scotland, through schools and offices to the small Maggie’s
Centre in Gartnavel, or the tiny, but poetic An Turas on Tiree.
That we cover all six RIAS Chapters and regularly travel
from the Shetlands to the Borders, not just the metropolitan
centres, is important. That excellence is found in remote areas as
THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT
RMJM / EMBT
MAGGIE’S HIGHLAND CANCER CARE CENTRE PIER ARTS CENTRE, STROMNESS
PAGE\PARK ARCHITECTS
REIACH AND HALL ARCHITECTS
CASTLEMILK STABLES, GLASGOW
ELDER AND CANNON
PHOTO: KEITH HUNTER
PHOTO: KEITH HUNTER
PHOTO: KEITH HUNTER
2005
PHOTO: IOANA MARINESCU
2006
2007
2008
POTTEROW, EDINBURGH
BENNETTS ASSOCIATES ARCHITECTS
PHOTO: KEITH HUNTER
well as in towns and in cities is particularly gratifying, as is the
unexpectedness of what we experience ‘in the flesh’ as it were.
The announcing of the winner each year by the Cabinet
Secretary in the Scottish Parliament is another source of
gratification, manifesting as it does the genuine belief by
Government in its stated Policy for Architecture.
Thanks to Andy Doolan’s inspiration, his eponymous
prize reaches out to the country beyond the Schools and the
Incorporation, encouraging builders and clients to aim for quality.
It reminds us of our essential role in the provision of a fine human
environment, perhaps even ‘Architecture as Art’, inspirational,
well beyond adequacy!
PROFESSOR ANDY MACMILLAN OBE FRIAS
CHAIR RIAS ANDREW DOOLAN BEST BUILDING IN
SCOTLAND AWARD
FROM STRENGTH TO
STRENGTH
It is testimony to the vision of Andrew Doolan, that, since its
inception in 2002, the RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in
Scotland Award has become such a key date in the architectural
calendar. A key factor in the success of the Doolan Award is its
simple, clear and unambiguous premise – that it should go to the
best building in Scotland in any given year.
This means that over the past eleven years the Doolan Award has,
through the award winning schemes and the associated shortlists
(totalling around 90 projects) charted and celebrated outstanding
achievement in Scottish architecture. What is just as important
is that these achievements have been brought to a wider public
audience, demonstrating how great architecture has the power to
deliver an enormous range of cultural, social and environmental
benefits to individuals and communities across Scotland.
The Award helps to generate a debate around architectural
quality and also to identify trends in thinking, linked to changing
technologies, challenges and priorities.
Perhaps, the most high profile recipient of the Doolan Award
and so far the only to also claim the Stirling Prize, is, of course, the
Scottish Parliament in 2005 by EMBT/RMJM.
The first project to receive ‘the Doolan’, Malcolm Fraser
Architects’ Dance Base (shortlisted for the Stirling Prize) in 2002
was one of a range of cultural projects supported with National
Lottery funding from the mid-1990s onwards. It ably demonstrates
Scottish architects’ skill in working within the fabric of existing
buildings to create exceptional new architectural spaces.
Castlemilk Stables (2008) by Elder and Cannon (the only
shared winner of the award with the Potterrow Development by
Bennetts Associates), Shettleston Housing Association Offices
(2010) also by Elder and Cannon and most recently the reworking
45
SMALL ANIMAL HOSPITAL, GLASGOW
ARCHIAL
SHETTLESTON HOUSING ASSOCIATION
ELDER AND CANNON ARCHITECTS
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND
GARETH HOSKINS ARCHITECTS
MAGGIES GARTNAVEL
OMA
PHOTO: ANDREW LEE
PHOTO: ANDREW LEE
PHOTO: ANDREW LEE
PHOTO: CHARLIE KOOLHAAS, COURTESY OF OMA
2009
2010
of the National Museum of Scotland (2011) by Gareth Hoskins,
are also projects that show how our existing heritage can be
transformed into something unique.
The success of the National Museum in terms of attracting new
visitors is staggering, with numbers rising from around 700,000
in 2007 to almost 1.9 million in 2012. The recently announced
Scottish Government Focus Year on Innovation, Architecture
and Design which will link to the 2016 Festival of Architecture,
provides a great opportunity to show how contemporary design
and historic architecture can draw in visitors to Scotland.
The Pier Arts Centre in Stromness (2007) on Orkney by
Reiach and Hall reflects a renaissance in rural design. This was
first signalled by An Turas (2003), by Sutherland Hussey, working
with artists Jake Harvey, Glen Onwin and Sandra Kennedy on the
design and construction of the Tiree Ferry Shelter. This structure
evokes a remarkable sense of place with its distinctive combination
of art, architecture and landscape.
The defining built feature within the rural landscape is
housing. Whilst no housing project has yet won the Doolan
Award – last year’s shortlist featured strong contenders from
Rural Design, Dualchas, Gokay Deveci and Cameron Webster
Architects – highlighting a very positive trend in rural housing
that has emerged over the past ten years. The sense of confidence
and conviction in contemporary rural design is again exemplified
in StudioKAP and Rural Design’s shortlisting for the 2013 Award.
A unique building type, the Maggie’s Centre has featured
46
2011
2012
prominently in the Doolan Award over the past 11 years. The
Highland Cancer Care Centre in Inverness by Page\Park received
the award in 2006 and the Maggie’s Centres by Zaha Hadid
(Kirkcaldy) and Frank Gehry (Dundee) have both made the
shortlist.
I was privileged to be on the judging panel for the 2012 Award
which went to Maggie’s Centre at Gartnavel by OMA. The judge’s
citation perhaps sums up what the Doolan Award has been able to
consistently do over the past eleven years - show that “exceptional
architecture and innovative spaces make people feel better”. The
2013 shortlist for the Doolan Award again illustrates the breadth
of high quality work being delivered by architects across Scotland.
I look forward to discovering which project receives this year’s
accolade when the Cabinet Secretary opens the golden envelope
in November.
IAN GILZEAN FRIAS
CHIEF ARCHITECT
SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT
THIS YEAR’S RIAS ANDREW DOOLAN BEST BUILDING
IN SCOTLAND AWARD WILL BE PRESENTED IN THE
SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT ON 7TH NOVEMBER.
15323.13 SAS GROUP RIAS ADVERT JUNE 2013_2_Layout 1 06/06/2013 10:16 Page 1
NEW FOR 2013
CPD SEMINAR
DESIGNING
SUSTAINABLE
FENESTRATION
SYSTEMS
Focus on Scottish architecture
Senior Architectural is a major supplier of fenestration solutions to
the Scottish market, specialising in providing a proven family of
systems in aluminium, timber/aluminium composite, glass and
fibreglass, all to the highest standards of manufacture and finish.
With more than two decades’ experience, Senior’s reputation is that of an
innovative driver of the market, offering technical excellence, performance,
value, and creativity to the many fabricators, architects and contractors
with whom we are proud to be associated.
Tel: 01506 407 640 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.seniorarchitectural.co.uk
Unit 4 Dunlop Court, Deans Industrial Estate SW, Livingston, West Lothian EH54 8SL. Strategic service centres located nationwide.
TERRA FIRMA
Garden Design and Construction
0141 429 6267
Fully insured · All work guaranteed
www.terrafirmagardens.com
Susan Gallagher BA (Hons) Landscape Architecture
Why choose
Val-U-Therm®?
Scotframe’s unique family
of advanced, closed panel,
factory insulated, high
thermal performance wall,
roof and floor systems.
Val-U-Therm® will
significantly reduce your
space heating energy costs.
Inverurie
Dundee
01467 624440
[email protected]
01382 561772
[email protected]
Cumbernauld
Inverness
01236 861200
[email protected]
01463 717328
[email protected]
www.scotframetimberengineering.co.uk
As the building was being designed,
one question kept coming to mind...
...WHAT ABOUT
THE FIRE SAFETY
STANDARDS?
For a FREE consultation to find out what fire engineering
can do for you please contact Sandy Killbourn on
T: 01786 449944 • E: [email protected]
www.gartcarronfireengineering.co.uk
FE
GARTCARRON FIRE ENGINEERING Ltd.
Designing buildings to save life
Eight times winner of the Johnstone’s Painter of the Year Award
Johnstone’s Supreme Decorator of the Year Award 2010
WorldSkills Double Gold Medal Winner
NEVIN
of EDINBURGH
‘The Royal Palace of Stirling Castle’
DECORATORS OF DISTINCTION
Specialists in Microscopy
paint anaylsis, conservation
and restoration
Nevin of Edinburgh has been providing the highest
standards of skill, customer service and excellence
since 1977. We are a multi-award winning company
and the decorator of choice for organisations such as
The National Galleries of Scotland, Historic Scotland
and The National Trust for Scotland. We can help you
decorate, renovate and transform the interior and
exterior of your property no matter what the size or
difficulty. We pride ourselves on fine attention to
detail and ensuring of your 100% satisfaction.
‘Edinburgh City Chambers’
8 Swanfield, Leith,
Edinburgh EH6 5RX
www.nevinofedinburgh.co.uk
[email protected]
tel: 01315541711
fax: 01738623228
REMEMBRANCE:
JOHN VERNON GIFFORD 1946-2013
Born in London to Scottish parents, John spent childhood
holidays either on his mother’s family estate in Angus or his
paternal grandfather’s East Lothian farm. He read modern history
at New College, Oxford they undertook research into Victorian
restorations of English Cathedrals. The scale of this project proved
too vast even for a mind as keen as John’s and he relinquished it
to become the principal researcher for The Buildings of Scotland
series.
Nicklaus Pevsner had initiated the extension of his Buildings of
England architectural guides to Scotland by the mid 60’s. The late
Colin McWilliam became Scottish editor and published Lothian
in 1978. John took over the research for the volumes from Kitty
Michaelson who had been Pevsner’s researcher on the London
volumes. He was rigorous and meticulous. His painstaking notes
from the 19th and 20th Century architectural press, as well as
national and local newspapers of the 18th to the 20th Century,
feature in all his copious volumes of notes in advance of fieldwork
for individual volumes and set a standard never achieved
elsewhere. John’s supervision of other researchers ensured that
all material was carefully referenced and systematically recorded,
parish by parish. In particular, records of the many changes that
have occurred to Scottish parish churches will remain a valuable
mine of information.
John spent a four-year interlude as an Inspector of Historic
Buildings in the Scottish Office. Here his deep knowledge made
him an excellent and respected caseworker, able to grasp the
significance of individual buildings and ensure that changes had
regard to those important aspects. Perhaps his most important
work was in shaping policies for the major resurvey of listed
buildings. His own resurvey of the Burgh of Inverness became
a benchmark with more emphasis on referenced descriptions,
building on work pioneered by David Walker.
In a masterly way John disentangled the complications of
church history and the numerous schisms, unions and the great
Disruption, all of which spawned church buildings. He distilled this
into an invaluable ‘family tree’, helping the Inspectors understand
the complex history of ecclesiastical buildings in their areas. As a
colleague he was always stimulating and his strongly held views
provoked invaluable debate.
By 1980 it was clear that the Buildings of Scotland series would
not progress speedily while the two principal authors, Colin
McWilliam and David Walker were in full-time employment. John
resigned from the Scottish Office to devote himself, full-time,
to the series. By this time he was already making a substantial
input to Edinburgh, begun by Colin and David and published in
1984. Next he took on Fife (1988), followed by Highland and Islands
(1992), Dumfries and Galloway (1996), Stirling and Central Scotland
(2002) with Frank Arneil Walker and others, Perth and Kinross
50
(2007), Dundee and Angus (2012) and was working on Lanarkshire
when ill-health overtook him. It is a prodigious achievement and
one that required super-human determination and concentration.
In these volumes his scholarship shines through and the users
of the Scottish National Monuments Record will know that he
was frequently to be found trawling the records or to be seen in
the National Archives or the National Library. John’s achievement
is staggering. His approach remained fresh and his introductory
chapters present a profound knowledge of Scottish architectural
history, region by region.
The regional aspect of the work has provided a wealth of new
information on local architects, surveyors, engineers, sculptors
and decorators. John’s identification of architects in particular has
augmented David Walker’s invaluable on-line Dictionary of Scottish
Architects.
How useful it would be to be able to search these volumes
digitally. It is not just the scholarly input which make John’s
volumes so important, it is his skilful use of language, bringing
buildings to life. At Dounreay he records “the fast reactor housed
in a giant eau-de-nil golf ball”; at Melsetter he describes Lethaby’s
reconstruction as a “gently inventive fiction of organic growth
unified by harl” or at Lincluden Collegiate Church - “substantial
remains of a flashy French-influenced late medieval church”,
or again Dudhope Castle described as “a long-limbed L, its
appearance an unresolved mixture of mansion house, mill and
barracks”, or a monument of 1616 in Weem Parish Church with a
“Latin inscription explaining that it was erected by (Sir) Alexander
Menzies of Weem or that Ilk,… It is an unabashed celebration
of illustrious lineage, although not obviously of human mortality
and the Christian promise of redemption”. There are innumerably
more, wonderfully evocative, descriptions brightening the pages.
If his contribution to the Buildings of Scotland is his greatest
legacy his biography of William Adam, a Life and Times of Scotland’s
Universal Architect (1989) shows him equally at home with
narrative as with Pevsnerian staccato and illustrates his wideranging interests and deep knowledge.
He served on the Edinburgh Diocesan Synod and the General
Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church. There his greatest
achievement was drafting the present Canon 35, governing
alterations to church buildings. He was also a committee member
of the Scottish Georgian Society (now Architectural Heritage
Society of Scotland) and a member of the buildings committee of
the National Trust for Scotland.
His contribution to Scotland’s architectural heritage was
recognised when he was appointed M.B.E. in 2005 and with his
election as an Honorary Fellow of the RIAS in 2012.
ANNE RICHES
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
John Gifford was a gifted historian who made an outstanding
contribution to the study of Scottish architecture. Particularly through
his monumental work for the Buildings of Scotland series he brought
an understanding of Scotland’s built heritage to a wide audience. His
work will remain an important source for historians.
51
R E S I D E N T I A L
C O M M E R C I A L
H O T E L
Established in 1999, Scope is one of Scotland’s leading bathroom
companies in both the Retail and Contract sectors. Scope is proud
to have provided many of the UK’s finest hotels and best known
housebuilders with quality bathroom specifications.
6000sq.ft Showroom. Please call Derek Miller to discuss any project.
Scope Bathrooms, 40 Colquhoun Avenue, Hillington Estate, Glasgow G52 4BN
in partnership with
Telephone: 0141 882 8282 www.scope-bathrooms.co.uk
THE ARCTIC COUNCIL – MELISSA LAWSON, ESALA
OUR STUDENT AWARDS, IN TANDEM WITH A+DS, ARE
AN ANNUAL HIGHLIGHT – MARKING THE VIGOUR OF
SCOTLAND’S ARCHITECTURE SCHOOLS AND THE
TREMENDOUS TALENT OF OUR STUDENT MEMBERS.
THE FUTURE OF ARCHITECTURE IS IN THEIR HANDS –
AND CERTAIN TO BE BOTH CAREFUL AND INVIGORATING.
ESALA’S GRADUATES HAVE ADDRESSED A BREADTH OF
CHALLENGING THEMES THIS YEAR – AS THE SECOND
FEATURE IN THIS SECTION TESTIFIES. FINALLY WE ARE
ALWAYS GRATEFUL TO THE MABEL HARPER TRUST FOR
THE JAMES MILLER AWARDS WHICH CONTINUE TO HELP
HARD UP STUDENTS ACHIEVE THEIR FULL POTENTIAL.
53
RIAS & A+DS SCOTTISH STUDENT AWARDS FOR ARCHITECTURE 2013
ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN SCOTLAND AWARD FOR BEST 3RD YEAR STUDENT
WINNER EMMELINE QUIGLEY MACKINTOSH SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
“This scheme communicates engagement with place and restraint in its architectural approach. While the urban proposal is diagrammatic,
it describes carefully considered and appropriate ‘big moves’ and an understanding of the need to reconnect the community to its seafront.”
HIGHLY COMMENDED BRUCE DORAN MACKINTOSH
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
“Sensitivity to context underpins this approach. The drawings give
a strong impression of the tactile quality of the proposed materials,
the play of light upon them and the effect of human occupancy.”
54
COMMENDED STEPHEN DALLY UNIVERSITY OF
STRATHCLYDE
“Plans and sections are carefully wrought. Elegant drawings
communicate a well-considered response to the brief, though the
uncluttered spaces verge on the spartan.”
RUAIRIDH MOIR
ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN SCOTLAND URBAN DESIGN AWARD
WINNERS (EQUAL) RYAN J HODGE AND DOUGLAS J WRIGHT ESALA
“Sound economic reasoning combines with well-researched and explained, while undoubtedly ambitious, solutions. Economic, social and
morphological links are well explored and though some aspects of the rationalisation are overly abstruse, the proposals are beautifully expressed.”
WINNERS (EQUAL) LOUISE GYDELL, MARI NYSVEEN HULLUM, ANGELA MCINTYRE, NICOLA MCLACHLAN,
SUCY MURNIAYI, LIAM POTTS AND MARTIN SUNJIC BERTONI MACKINTOSH SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
“Street frontages, relationships of structures within the block and the depths of the plan are all carefully considered in this judicious
revisiting of the Merchant City’s morphology. The design exemplifies the crucial importance of putting the emphasis on people.”
55
A+DS SUST. AWARD FOR SUSTAINABLE DESIGN
WINNER PETER HARFORD-CROSS UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE
“This is design beyond the building. Small interventions are proposed to deliver substantial change. The proposal addresses issues of
social disconnection, generating a more walkable city, enhancing the mobility of residents. This approach is about many strands of the
sustainability agenda from the socioeconomic down to energy use and the details of the built environment, all brought together with
consummate care.”
56
RUAIRIDH MOIR
THE RIAS DRAWING AWARD
WINNER BRUCE DORAN MACKINTOSH SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
“There is a seductive, other worldly, quality to this powerfully communicative set of drawings. The combination of terse but sufficient
narration and simple diagrams sets the scene for a crescendo of visual impressions, like something out of a James Cameron movie superbly persuasive!”
57
addagrip
TM
Terrabound resin bound surfacing at Abbotsford House, installed by The Fraser Bruce Group www.fraser-bruce.com
Resin bound porous surfacing
•
•
•
•
•
Permeable (SUDS)
Hard wearing
UV stable
Seamless
Low maintenance
Suitable for driveways, car parks, access roads,
paths, courtyards. swimming pool surrounds,
playgrounds, parks and commercial projects
Available in a range of natural and recycled
aggregates
Ask us about our full range of resin bound and
resin bonded surfacing systems:
Contact :
Tel:
Manufacturers of quality resin based surfacing systems
www.addagrip.co.uk
[email protected]
01825 761333
addagrip
A member of the
TM
Group
RUAIRIDH MOIR
RIAS ROWAND ANDERSON SILVER MEDAL FOR BEST SCOTTISH STUDENT
WINNER MELISSA LAWSON ESALA
“An elemental approach to a landscape of harsh geology, this scheme considers geopolitical sustainability and proposes a response in a
beautifully drawn proposal which is abrupt, angular, cold, hard and thoroughly appropriate.”
HIGHLY COMMENDED PETER HARFORD-CROSS UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE
“Cool and seductive drawings communicate a perceptive and quietly subversive approach to re-making lost elements within the city. The
approach is clever, strategic, grounded and ultimately achievable. The drawings are alluring, evocative and persuasive.”
59
STUDENTS
LIAM SPENCER, GOMORRAH
THIS COLLECTION OF ‘MEDIUM’ REPRESENTS THE
GRADUATING STUDENTS OF THE ESALA DEGREE SHOW
2013. GATHERED FROM THE THREE ESALA GRADUATING
PROGRAMMES – M.ARCH, MA AND LANDSCAPE
60
iam Spencer | Gomorrah
- IS A COMMON NARRATIVE OF ARCHITECTURAL
EXPLORATION.
MELISSA LAWSON
ESALA
MArch_Reykjavik
64 °North
Andrea Faed
MArch_Sardinia
Architecture, Landscape & The Ecosophic Object: The [Loving]
Metropolitan Landscape
Dr. Dorian Wiszniewski
This studio looks into relations between Architecture, Landscape
and Ecology. The metropolitan landscape is explored under specific
themes at local, city, regional, state, national and international
scales.
The principle theoretical impetus comes from a [paradoxical]
search for the “ecosophic object”, approaching ecology from a
poetic and philosophical understanding of the interrelation
between the environment, social practices and human subjectivity.
SEONAID MOONEY
MELISSA LAWSON
An investigation into making and placing architecture at the edge
of the northern temperate zone along latitude 64°N. 64°N, cutting
through Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Alaska, Canada,
Greenland and Iceland.
Vast horizons, dramatic landscapes and seasonal change
are the backdrop to this architectural journey. These are remote
areas where civilization continues to encroach. The world is
fundamentally interested in the Arctic due to our ever increasing
awareness of Global Warming. The Northern countries are being
affected first. The final architectural proposal from all students was
to design an Arctic Council – a building that seeks to unite the 8
countries across latitude 64.
BARBARA SWIERC
Barbara Swierc | Sardinia
Seonaid Mooney | Reykjavik
XIAORUI GE
Melissa Lawson | Reykjavik
61
STUDENTS
MArch_Japan
MArch_Cordoba
Japan: New Spatial Practices in Architecture
Douglas W. Cruickshank
A City on a Bend in a River
Adrian Hawker
Departing from the exhibition / symposium New Spatial Practices
in Architecture (and Art) Japan 6 June 12, urban and environmental
scenarios transform through spatial experiments acting on the
relationships between people, nature and technology, ultimately
exploring the limits of the nature/artifice dichotomy.
Architectural temporality may have once carried associations
of temporary housing, simple shelters, even event pavilions, but
today the temporal elements of architecture act as event-scapes in
changing societies and environments.
The aim is to open up the boundary between architecture and
art to explore the cusp between the two and find processes and
alternative uses for systems and technologies.
JOE PRICE
BARNS GHAUI
Lynda Zein | Japan
Joe Price | Cordoba
AUM UANGUDOM
DALE TAYLOR
Lewis Armstrong | A Beacon in the Dark
Aum Uangudom | Japan
LYNDA ZEIN
62
A City on a Bend in a River explores the Spanish city of Córdoba in
relation to the Rio Guadalquivir; the watercourse that bounds the
Barns Ghaui | Cordoba
historical centre of Córdoba. Through the exploration of the urban
fabric of the city, the studio seeks to understand the architectural
qualities present within Córdoba.
Between the 10th and 11th centuries, Cordoba was one of the
most populated cities of Europe and, as the capital of the Islamic
Caliphate, one of its intellectual and cultural centres. It was during
this period that the key treasure of the city, the Great Mosque was
established.
A series of rich individual architectures have been keyed into
the landscape of Córdoba and are entwined by a mutual factor; the
presence of water.
Dale Taylor | Cordoba
MA Unit 1_Gomorrah
Urban-Scale Architecture
Tahl Kaminer & Andy Stoane
MARIA ESTEBAN CASAÑAS AND CATHY YARWOOD
María Esteban Casañas and Cathy Yarwood | Gomorrah
WILLIAM SMYTH-OSBOURNE
William Smyth-Osbourne | Gomorrah
SAMYA KAKO
LEONIE NEUWEGER
Unit 1, ‘Urban-Scale Architecture’, returns to the questions left
unaddressed since the dissipation of the postwar avant-garde and
primarily to the premise that architecture can affect the social and
political.
As the current political and economic conditions reduce
architecture to providing a cultural edifice to a pre-determined
content, typically pre-determined by the desire for profits and the
conditions of speculative investments, imagining an architecture
that can affect society requires also envisioning alternative political
and economic conditions.
In order to provide such conditions within the studio
Leonie Neuweger | Gomorrah
environment, a scenario has been outlined which posits a Scottish
vote for independence in 2014 and the current politics of Edinburgh
Council are shaken. The new city council and government outline
a flagship project to demonstrate their commitment to change:
developing 100 housing units for city council workers.
Samya Kako | Gomorrah
63
Lisa Jeffrey | Landscape
STUDENTS
MA Unit 2_Civic Fabrication
MA Unit 3_Atmospheres
Civic Fabrication: Making [Sense] of Place
Alex MacLaren, Fiona McLachlan
Soledad Garcia Ferrari and Robin Livingstone
This unit investigates the ‘civic’ as an architectural challenge.
We propose that a sense of place is key to a successful urban
environment.
Our site is Dalmarnock in the east end of Glasgow. This rundown, post-industrial, district on the north banks of the river
Clyde, is immediately adjacent to the 2014 Athletes’ Village. The
population has declined by 95% since 1950. This depressed context
is void of any coherent identity.
Students’ building propositions are designed for post-2014;
as part of a civic/social centre providing for the huge influx of
new residents to the 700+ homes suddenly available after the
Commonwealth Games. The programme of the building is a
Healthy Living Centre.
PATRYCJA STAL
ZENA MOORE
64
The Atmospheres unit is drawn to a more modest approach to
architecture, in ideas of a cultural continuity and seeing history
Patrycja Stal | Atmospheres
as a frame of reference. We looked at the notion of normality, as
opposed to the extraordinary in an architectural sense. We very
much operated in the contemporary realm, but were seeking an
architecture which seems like it has always been there.
Within the wider theme of tectonics, the aim was to investigate
and challenge the design development process, focusing on the
relationship between form and material. We sought to reinforce
the importance of looking at and observing architecture, thinking
about texture and surface and engagement in the craftsmanship of
design to learn how buildings are assembled.
The selected site is on the edge of Glasgow city centre, along
the north bank of the River Clyde.
MA Unit 4_A Beacon in the Dark
Chris Lowry and Clare Slifer
SOPHIE CROCKER
ANTHONY AWANSIS
Sophie Crocker | A Beacon in the Dark
Dale Taylor | Cordoba
Markus Treppo | Landscape
FERGUS DAVIS
Unit four addressed the ‘tectonic question’ through the design of
a Foyer in Edinburgh.
The title Foyer is derived form ‘Foyer de Jeunes Travailleurs’
which originated in France just after the Second World War when
the various providers of hostel accommodation for young workers
came together in a voluntary consortium. Primarily driven in
response to the large-scale post war rural to urban migration they
Fergus Davis | A Beacon in the Dark
María Esteban Casañas and Cathy Yarwood | Gomorrah
provided basic sleeping accommodation, canteen and recreational
Anthony Awanis| A Beacon in the Dark
OLLE BLOMQUIST
facilities to young people impoverished of local assistance and
support.
Closer to home, the title ‘Foyer’ was adopted in 1992 with the
establishment of the UK Foyer Federation. Employing ‘Foyer’ as
our vehicle Unit Four was able to address youth homelessness in
Scotland, where some twelve thousand reported cases of young
people running away from home were recorded in 2012.
Olle Blomquist | A Beacon in the Dark
65
STUDENTS
MSc and MLA Landscape Architecture
Tegel and Gatow - Design Strategy and Intervention, Berlin, Germany
Kenny Fraser
Design, Strategy and Intervention is a directed course which
considers the flexible transformation of large and complex sites,
typically in an urban or peri-urban context. This year the Tegel and
Gatow airfield sites in Berlin were offered. The brief asked students
to plan for the future transformation of these sites from monofunctional entities to a mix of functions and uses. A range of
scales were explored, from strategic city integration to site specific
intervention.
YUECHEN HU
XI WU
LISA JEFFREY
Yuechen Hu | Landscape
66
JAMES MILLER
STUDENT AWARD
James Miller (1860-1947) was a prolific architect, working mainly
in Glasgow and the west of Scotland whose career spanned almost
60 years, from the late 19th Century, through the inter-war years
of the 20th Century until his death in 1947.
Miller won competitions for two prestige projects, the
Industrial Hall for the Glasgow International Exhibition of 1901
and the new Glasgow Royal Infirmary, opened in 1914. In his later
years, his work on buildings such as the headquarters for the Union
Bank in St Vincent Street, Glasgow and the Commercial Bank in
Bothwell Street and West George Street showed a strong American
influence. He was highly successful, with projects ranging from
gigantic hotels (Turnberry, Peebles, Gleneagles and Central
Station) railway infrastructure work, including many stations,
churches (Greenock’s West Kirk and Stirling’s Holy Rude Kirk)
hospitals (Glasgow, Canniesburn, Larbet, Greenock, Stirling and
Perth) great country mansions including Mount Stuart, country
villages (Forteviot) and suburban houses.
In 1993 a short book was published by the RIAS in the Scottish
Architects series, written by Audrey Sloan and Gordon Murray,
which included a foreward by James Miller’s daughter, Mabel
Harper, as a tribute to her father.
After Mabel died her estate was converted into a Charitable
Trust to benefit individuals and charitable institutions. The
Trustees made a proposal to the RIAS for the establishment of
a student hardship award to commemorate the work of James
Miller. This proposal was accepted and became the James Miller
Student Award.
The award exists to support British architecture students from
the Scottish Schools of Architecture who are studying in full or
part time education on an approved course. It is designed to assist
students who are facing hardship issues which affect their ability
to complete all, or part, of their course.
Students are able to use the money to purchase any support
necessary, such as books, equipment or to assist with field
trips. The Trustees also consider applications from students for
assistance in the period following their year-out. This may include
contributions to course fees.
The James Miller Student Award has now been operating since
2007 with the Trust generously donating to applicants meriting
their help. It has enabled 18 architecture students to complete
their course who otherwise might never have had the opportunity
to follow their chosen profession.
JAMES MILLER (THE EXHIBITION ILLUSTRATED NO 1 - MAY 4TH 1901)
The RIAS is enormously grateful to the ongoing commitment of
the Trust to encourage and support needy students of architecture.
The letters of appreciation which they have had from recipients of
the awards are testimony to the difference the work of the Trust is
having, particularly in the current difficult economic climate.
MARJORIE APPLETON FRIAS
THE JAMES MILLER STUDENT AWARD IS OPEN TO
ALL BRITISH ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS AT THE FIVE
SCOTTISH SCHOOLS WHO ARE ALSO RIAS STUDENT
MEMBERS. SHOULD YOU WISH TO APPLY PLEASE
SUBMIT A COMPLETED FORM, ACCOMPANIED
BY A LETTER OF SUPPORT FROM THE HEAD OF
ARCHITECTURE OR A SENIOR TUTOR AT YOUR
UNIVERSITY AND A COMPLETED RIAS STUDENT
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM (IF REQUIRED)
BEFORE FRIDAY 15TH NOVEMBER.
www.rias.org.uk/education/student-support/
67
JONATHAN MILLER
IMAGE FROM ‘WHAT COLOUR IS YOUR BUILDING?’
68
improvements, the methods by which
buildings are procured and, crucially, how
they are commissioned, optimised and
explained to their users, Clark highlights
how fluctuating energy costs and shifting
government policies make the mass
adoption of building scale renewables
risky. Clark goes on to dissect both the
case for Eco-bling and the shortcomings
of the methodologies which lie behind
assessment tools and ratings. Like many
before, he finds them wanting.
This is not to say this a depressing,
pessimistic and doom laden book. Far
from it. It not only contrasts the sensible
with the daft but makes the business case
for the former. Armed with this book the
practitioner is able to highlight the issues
with clients, provided with some of the
questions to ask their fellow professionals
in other disciplines and hopefully
encouraged to explore more holistic and
efficient solutions to building design.
KRISTEN MCCLUSKIE
RICHARD ATKINS FRIAS
WHAT COLOUR IS YOUR BUILDING?:
MEASURING AND REDUCING THE
ENERGY AND CARBON FOOTPRINT
OF BUILDINGS
DAVID H. CLARK
RIBA PUBLISHING
£29.99
PALATINE CENTRE
MARK WAUGH
This thoughtful, well written and
informative book is a worthy addition to
any architect’s bookshelf. Written with
the wry humour that can only come from
a deep understanding of the subject,
David Clark throws a spotlight on many
of the misapprehensions that make up the
perceived view of what is sustainable by
those less well informed.
This book takes as its focus strategies
to reduce resource use in new build urban
office buildings. However much of the
design process is equally valid when applied
to other projects. Clark makes the case for
considering design interventions across a
range of criteria, outlining the challenges
and opportunities this presents.
Clark also makes the case for focusing
on energy and carbon as being both
the touchstone of many regulatory and
financial drivers and as being indicative of
wider resource issues. He also recognises
that the creation of a built environment
that sustains is a much wider subject and
impossible to cover in a single, user friendly,
publication.
In describing the opportunities
for improving fabric and services
FABRICA
69
STRUCTURAL DESIGN IN BUILDING
CONSERVATION
DIMITRIS THEODOSSOPOULOS
ROUTLEDGE
£36.99
This book is aimed at architectural
and engineering students in their final
year and at new graduates in practice.
Dr Theodossopoulos is a Lecturer in
Architectural Technology and Conservation
in the Edinburgh School of Architecture
and Landscape Architecture. He is a trained
Civil Engineer.
Building adaption and re-use is a broad
and complex field. The requirement for
structural intervention in existing and
historic buildings to be sympathetic to
the existing fabric and yet to give future
security and integrity is a very difficult
subject to summarise.
In this book the author gives an
introduction to the theory of conservation
and relates that to the execution of
structural interventions. After this he
discusses the materials typically used
in existing traditional buildings and the
types of construction commonly found.
He discusses the requirement for and the
methods of assessing, existing structures
and the techniques and technology
available to the assessor. He then gives
examples of interventions from around the
world – discussing and explaining what was
done and the issues that were raised in each
type of situation.
70
This is a book that attempts to cover
a very broad field and to give detail at the
same time.
As an academic and as a European
trained engineer, the approach of the
author may at times appear too academic
for practising engineers. In the preface he
states ‘Education is fundamental in this
sector as only a limited amount can be
learned through practice and the learning
experience of taking a course permits
the right focus and eventually creates the
sensitivity such buildings require’. This is a
comment that few practitioners would fully
agree with and which most would prefer to
reverse. However something may be lost in
the translation and perhaps if this refers
only to the theory of conservation the
statement can stand.
Practical experience of conservation and
of the way building structures are actually
made is critical to the understanding of
the requirements of intervention and the
techniques to be adopted. However there
is no doubt that formal education in the
field is also very important. It is especially
true that more exposure to conservation is
needed in the university curriculum. This
is a subject that is widely lacking in formal
education and it is to the author’s credit
that this book has been produced to try to
fill that gap.
The difficulty of condensing the theory
and practice of this field into a single book
is indicated by the fact that there are few, if
any, that have attempted to cover all these
aspects in one place before now. It has led
to a book that is a little patchy in the depth
to which individual topics are discussed.
In some cases perhaps too much detail
is included and in others the touch is too
light.
One of the difficulties for a practising
professional is the continual use of
references – a clear sign of the academic
approach – which can be frustrating when
they are not to hand to discover exactly
why they are being referenced. Perhaps a
slightly longer description of the reason
for the reference would have been useful.
The bibliography and the project gazetteer
run to twenty-six pages. This is another
indication of the amount of work that has
gone into the research for this book.
There appear to be a number of factual
errors that lead to irritation and distraction
– generally minor in nature (e.g. a spliced
timber connection is noted as being a
scarf joint and Glenelg is in Highland not
Sutherland) – but none the less significant.
The English is also sometimes difficult and
some of the academic technical terms may
be unfamiliar to the average practitioner
and may be off-putting. These are matters
that should perhaps have been picked up
by and dealt with by the editor. Perhaps
the next edition will address some of these
issues.
The book should also indicate the
long-term aspects of the repair techniques
that may be adopted when dealing with a
building that has existed for many years
and where the distress may be apparent for
a long time before it requires intervention
– if any. More emphasis should be placed
on the fact that most issues are relatively
simple and the resolution often the
same. The description of Finite Element
Analysis may give the impression that all
buildings may require this, whereas this is
rarely required. The photographs used to
illustrate the book are not always clear and
would benefit from higher quality paper or
contrast.
For all these minor issues, this is a book
that does give a very good introduction
to the field of structural intervention and
conservation. The author has made a valiant
effort to cover a very disparate subject.
The book is an excellent starting point for
a career in conservation for the structural
engineer – and will perhaps give other
conservation professionals an indication
of the structural requirements of a historic
building and the value that a properly
trained, experienced and sympathetic
engineer can bring to a project.
DAVID NARRO
1
REVIEW NO. 2: TYPOLOGIES - HONG
KONG, ROME, NEW YORK, BUENOS
AIRES
EMANUEL CHRIST + CHRISTOPH
GANTENBEIN
PARK BOOKS
£56.00
‘baggage’ but focus their ire against investordriven generic architecture and seek a
more poetic, more creative response to the
particular demands of the contemporary
city. They view typology as offering a sort
of physiognomy of the built environment.
In order to establish each project’s ‘essence’,
they prioritise legibility of purpose and
spatial organisation. Essentially they search
“… for what can be called the typological
principle – the type. This type decisively
determines the relationship between
building and city.”
They have also experimented by
importing foreign typological precedents
in an effort to challenge conventional
expectations when operating in the
constricted (and archly conservative)
context of Swiss cities. This contrived
transgression can spark some interesting
results, as evidenced by the concluding
section of the book. Imagine the tower
blocks of New York transposed and
transplanted to downtown Zurich.
Park Books are to be commended for
allowing Christ + Gantenbein such an open
brief and the luxury of time to assemble
their research, tease out nascent ideas and
then coalesce the material into a series
of collectable books. Certainly the book’s
layout is supremely elegant. The designer
Ludovic Balland deservedly scooped a prize
at this year’s Most Beautiful German Book
Awards.
MARK COUSINS RIAS
DESIGN STUDIO EMANUEL CHRIST AND CHRISTOPH
GANTENBEIN, ETH ZURICH
The Basel-based practice, Christ +
Gantenbein, may appear quintessentially
Swiss in both attitude and oeuvre but they
occasionally confound expectations by
producing quirky, almost ethereal, works
such as the Pilgrim’s Column in Mexico or
the Swiss Church in London.
Emanuel Christ and Christoph
Gantenbein teach at Zurich’s ETH
(Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule).
In conjunction with their publisher, they
have initiated a series of books exploring
issues relevant to their practice. The
inaugural edition Review No.1: Pictures from
Italy documents a six week sojourn, soaking
up Italy’s historic architecture whilst
ruminating on the notion of timelessness
and its enduring influence on their
architectural sensibility.
In 2010 they presented an exhibition
entitled Hong Kong in Zurich? at the Venice
Biennale, along with the publication Hong
Kong Typology: An architectural research on
Hong Kong building types. Their new book
Review No.2: Typologies builds on this
exploratory thread and provides a platform
for their theoretical agenda. The core of the
book is the transcript of a polemical lecture
presented at the ETH on 30th November
2011 entitled Typology Transfer – Towards an
Urban Architecture.
The new book systematically documents
150 buildings from the four selected cities.
Each example includes a scale floor plan,
axonometric, photograph and descriptive
text. The specific architect is usually
cited but these buildings are essentially
anonymous and comprise the sort of stuff
glimpsed fleetingly from your taxi as you
speed into the city’s historic core.
Nikolaus Pevsner’s classic A History of
Building Types (1976) remains the definitive
historical over-view of the subject. However
the role and relevance of typology continues
to reverberate through architectural
discourse. In the late 1970s, for example, it
was adopted by some Post Modernists (such
as Leon Krier) as a touchstone, providing a
sense of coherence and shared meaning at a
time of uncertainty.
Christ + Gantenbein acknowledge this
HONG KONG
NEW YORK
71
t
s
e
,
.
y
s
t
s
,
n
,
s
g
s
o
w
,
t
d
;
,
:
,
e
1/8/13
11:14
Page 33
CHA R LES S POONER
Arts and Crafts Architect
ALEC HAMILTON
SHAUN
TYAS
SHAUN TYAS
CHARLES SPOONER Arts and Crafts Architect
Alec Hamilton
h
.
n
Spooner6:Charles Holden Architect
Born in Glasgow in 1949, Alec
Hamilton read English at Oxford, and,
after a career in advertising, came late
to art and architecture.
He studied for a BA in Fine Art
and History of Art in 2002–5, and MA
2006–9, both at the University of
Gloucestershire, which he can walk to
from his home in Cheltenham. He is
now researching for a DPhil on the
influence of Arts & Crafts ideas on
church architecture, back at Oxford.
He is a Trustee of The Landmark
Trust, and of Friends of Friendless
Churches. He has appeared at the
Edinburgh Fringe as Shakespeare, and
at the Cheltenham Literary Festival as
a number of ‘Irritant Victorians’
including Thomas Bowdler and Lewis
Carroll. He lectures on the Arts &
Crafts in Gloucester Cathedral. He is
married, and his two daughters work
in radio and in advertising.
Published by
SHAUN TYAS
1 High Street
Donington
Lincolnshire
PE11 4TA
ISBN 978-1-907730-21-4
Price £45 net
CHARLES SPOONER: ARTS &
CRAFTS ARCHITECT
ALEC HAMILTON
SHAUN TYAS
£45.00
‘Charles Spooner is more or less forgotten
now. It is partly his own fault, perhaps even
his desire’ are the intriguing opening words
of Alec Hamilton’s book about a minor
Arts and Crafts architect from the turn of
last century. As the architectural media
increasingly becomes an animal which eats
itself, it is a relief to come across a few years’
worth of scholarship devoted to someone
so unheralded. Charles Spooner is one of
architecture’s invisible men.
The book’s publisher, Shaun Tyas, has
a keen interest in architects from what
you might call the progressive wing of
the Arts and Crafts movement. Previous
publications include Wandering Architects:
In Pursuit of an Arts and Crafts Ideal and
a monograph about James MacLaren,
of Fortingall fame. Each book is a study
of both life and work and Hamilton has
tracked down enough raw material to
justify 300 pages, which cover all aspects of
Spooner’s working life.
The book features modern photographs
of his buildings, plus reproductions of
Spooner’s original drawings, each of which
are large enough to be easily legible –
which is a lesson that other architectural
publishers could learn from. The drawings
are key to understanding Spooner’s career
and without his discovery of a portfolio of
72
Spooner’s work, the author may not have
attempted anything more than an article in
a learned journal.
Spooner is characterised as an architect
spurred to meet the brief, hit the budget and
produce something of lasting value. Above
all, his aim was to do good works as opposed
to great things – which was a pious hope,
even in those days. He built seven churches
and a series of houses, yet spent much of
his career teaching furniture design. As
a result, his architectural evolution was
thwarted, although perhaps Spooner wasn’t
driven to build in the way that Mackintosh
was. Like Mackintosh, however, Spooner’s
interests included furniture design and the
decorative arts – plus he married someone
who was equally creative and with whom he
forged an artistic partnership.
After tracing his inspirations and built
work, Charles Spooner: Arts and Crafts
Architect does a good job of setting Spooner’s
scissors trusses and gauged brickwork
into the context of contemporaries such
as Maufe and Blomfield. One underlying
theme is how architects dissolve from
history. As a young man, Spooner was
identified with Lethaby and Ashbee and
was a friend to William Morris and Walter
Crane. Yet he was self-effacing and lacked
the talent for publicity which his peers
cultivated by lecturing and manifestowriting.
Further, Hamilton’s book also hints
at how the art historical machine works.
While Spooner found that the Arts and
Crafts movement was small, sociable and
surprisingly free of feuds and rivalries,
modern tastemakers operate in an
antagonistic way which makes and breaks
names from the past. For example, take
the demonisation then rehabilitation
of Basil Spence, in the years since his
Hutchesontown tower blocks were
demolished.
Perhaps Hamilton’s book is a first
step to re-forging a modest reputation
for Charles Spooner, this most admirably
modest of architects.
MARK CHALMERS RIAS
BRICK CITY: LEGO FOR GROWN UPS
WARREN ELSMORE
MITCHELL BEAZLEY
£12.99
Without seeing the cover, the title
suggested a philosophical or theoretical
book, discussing the nature of the city. The
book is, however, quite literally, about Lego
for adults. Colourful, vibrant and graphic
throughout, Lego artist, Warren Elsmore
delivers an educational and instructive
insight into the art of creating some of the
world’s most recognisable building icons, in
Lego.
The book is roughly divided into
two sections. In part one, Elsmore
enthusiastically details the history of Lego,
the available components, the Lego design
process and lots of detailed ‘know how’,
including techniques for more complicated
structures. A useful insight for the avid
Lego enthusiast.
Part two takes us on a global journey
of famous landmarks and objects from
New York to Shanghai. From the Empire
State Building to the Temple at Chichen
Itza, St. Paul’s cathedral and more modern
structures, such as the Petronas Towers,
ultimately ending at Sydney Harbour
Bridge. Along the way Elsmore provides
plenty of building tips to overcome the
inherent problem of scale relative to the
modular unit available. A Lego brick for
example is quite large at 1:1000! The
miniature Lego figures (minifigs) are also
1
disproportionate to a real human which
brings its own problems. Also included are
step by step instructions on making some
of the less complicated models illustrated.
It may be difficult to appreciate this
book if saddled with the critical baggage
of being an architect. Many of the models
are extremely impressive and skilfully
executed, such as an epic reproduction of
St. Pancras Station, The Eiffel Tower or ‘The
Sail’ (Burj Al Arab) which stand out. A lot of
the models, however, lacked detail, looked
somewhat out of proportion or seemed to
lack grace or reason. The low point is a mini
model of The White House which borders
on the ridiculous.
I came to realise however this is not
a book for architects. This is a fun and
educational book for Lego fans and big
kids. A book for people who see the fun in
the childhood toy being controlled to create
large, reasonably accurate models, elegant
in comparison to the loose and garish
creations of our early years. The key here
is fun. A life size scale Lego model of a hot
dog (in a bun) may seem pointless, however
to many this is a fun return to a roaming
childhood imagination.
The apparent skill of Elsmore and his
collaborators is not dissimilar to that of
freehand sketch artists. It is not so much
about precisely reproducing the original
building or object. It is about capturing
the essence, the overall form and look of
the building within the limitations of the
components available. Upon consideration,
quite a skill when we look at the models in
detail.
Controversially, I think this is actually a
book for kids that adults will also enjoy. It
is not unlike a Pixar movie offering in that
sense. Enough to entertain any age group
and plenty for new Lego artists to learn
from. Just don’t take the issue of detailed
representation too seriously.
All told, a fun book.
CIARAN BRADLEY RIAS
MICHAEL WOLCHOVER
SAGRADA FAMILIA, BARCELONA
BATTERSEA POWER STATION, LONDON
ST PANCRAS, LONDON
OLYMPIC PARK, LONDON
ALL THESE NEW TITLES
ARE AVAILABLE AT THE RIAS
BOOKSHOP, 15 RUTLAND
SQUARE, EDINBURGH;
BY MAIL ORDER (0131 229 7545);
OR ONLINE AT
WWW.RIAS.ORG.UK/BOOKSHOP
73
TECHNICAL
THE LATEST NEWS FROM RIAS PRACTICE
IF YOU HAVE ISSUES YOU WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS
PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT US.
MARYSE RICHARDSON, MANAGER: PRACTICE
0131 229 7545 [email protected]
74
JON JARDINE
PRACTICE UPDATE
RIAS PRACTICE SERVICES
PLANNING UPDATE
RIAS Practice Services has shown an increase in subscription levels
this year with a commensurate increase in demand for frequently
requested practice notes and positive feedback on the quality of
the notes and the range of topics covered in Practice Information.
CPD proposals for this autumn are responding to this with
seminars on the new RIBA Plan of Work touring the Chapters
and plans for a tailor made contract administration workshop to
examine the issues facing architects when administering contracts.
Many of the CPD events ultimately generate practice notes
and unpublished papers are archived for future reference.
In 2013 the subject matter of practice notes has ranged
from contract issues such as differences between SBCC and JCT
contracts, insolvency and insurance, getting paid, to difficulties
with SAP compliance and arrangements for business continuity.
The RIAS Environment Housing and Town Planning Committee
submitted a response to
TECHNICAL HANDBOOKS 2013
The 2013 Edition of the Technical Handbooks are available to view
or download. As in 2010, a hard copy of these documents will
not be made available. These handbooks provide revised guidance
and support the Building (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland)
Regulations 2013. The amended regulations and technical guidance
are scheduled to come into force on 1 October 2013. Through
the same amendment regulations, changes are also made to the
Building (Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2004 and the Building
(Forms) (Scotland) Regulations 2005.
The current 2013 Domestic Edition and 2013 Non-Domestic
Edition as well as previous editions can be found on the Scottish
Government website, under Technical Handbooks & Key
Supporting Guidance. You also have the option to download a PDF
version.
A summary guide, which provides detail on the main changes
introduced to the mandatory standards and associated guidance
for 2013, is also available as a free download on the Scottish
Government website.
• Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) consultation
• National Planning Framework 3: Main Issues Report
consultation
SBCC CONTRACTS UPDATE
The SBCC annual update
conference takes place 28
November 2013, at the Royal
Society of Edinburgh, 22-26
George Street, Edinburgh.
As well as providing essential
information on changes to
contracts, advising on legal
challenges and guiding users
on best use, the conference
features Nicola Sturgeon
and Alistair Darling on the
potential consequences for
the sector of a ‘yes’ or ‘no’
vote in next year’s Referendum. There will be updates too on the
challenges of procurement and the impact of BIM on contracts.
The speakers include John Riches (JCT), Mike Towers (McLaren
Murdoch & Hamilton), Lindy Patterson (Dundas & Wilson),
David Scott and Kirsti Olson (Maclay Murray & Spens), Doug
Fiddes (Baxter Dunn & Gray, the SBCC Chair), Shona Frame
(MacRoberts), Janey Milligan (Construction Dispute Resolution)
and Kenny Valentine (Pinsent Masons).
For further information (and a copy of the programme and
registration form) see the SBCC website, www.sbcconline.com or 1
call Deborah Mays, 0131 221 7507.
1
75
PRACTICE UPDATE
CONSERVATION UPDATE
VALUING CONSERVATION
In June 2013 the RIAS organised a national CPD event entitled
Valuing Conservation. The event was held at the Storytelling
Centre in Edinburgh and over 70 delegates attended from all RIAS
chapters. Six speakers provided excellent presentations.
The conference focused on conservation theory for the first
three sessions, followed by accounts of how in practice, listed
buildings coped with change, in particular in accommodating
access and lifts.
RIAS Secretary, Neil Baxter, introduced the topics to be
discussed, describing the RIAS accreditation in conservation
architecture as being a process by peer review and explaining
the six competences which applicants for accreditation have to
demonstrate.
James Simpson of Simpson and Brown Architects, then
described the theory and process of writing Conservation Plans,
with some illustrated examples. He explained how Dr James
Semple Kerr’s Conservation Plan, first published in 1982 by the
National Trust of Australia, has had a great influence on the
writing of conservation plans.
He was followed by Terry Levinthal, Director of Conservation
Services and Projects at the National Trust for Scotland, who
described how the Trust had studied the analysis of the heritage
significance of its portfolio and the methodology which had
emerged and been adopted by the Trust in assessing the relative
significance of NTS properties.
Roger Curtis, Technical Research Manager at Historic
Scotland, then spoke to the PowerPoint presentation prepared by
Henry Russell, a member of the working committee on the revised
BS 7913. Consultation on the draft had ended on 31st May, but the
nature of the revisions to the standard were explained as was the
emphasis on significance as the basis of conservation.
The case for revision centred on the recent developments in
conservation since 1998, the values-based approach which had
become embedded in principles and practice, deriving mainly from
the Australian ICOMOS Burra Charter such as the Scottish Historic
Environmental Policy 2011 and the English National Planning Policy
Framework 2012 and the need for skills in heritage assessment and
the sustainability agenda. A new title, heritage asset was now a
common phraseology in law and guidance. BS 7913 describes best
practice in the management and treatment of built heritage assets.
It was applicable to all built heritage assets, with our without
protection.
76
There are some changes in terms and definitions such as:
Conservation – action to manage change that secures the
survival or preservation of historic assets and retains their
significance and
Heritage asset – building, monument, site, place, area or
landscape considered to have a degree of significance.
After the break the second half of the afternoon concentrated
on practical examples of solutions to access problems to existing
listed buildings, with Stewart Coulter of Adapt Access Services,
who prepared access reports on both the National Museum of
Scotland and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, leading us
through a number of well considered examples of good practice
both in Scotland and Europe.
PETIT PALAIS, PARIS
PLATFORM LIFT, BRUGES
Stewart was followed by Gordon Gibb of Gareth Hoskins
Architects and Brian Park of Page\Park Architects who described
their approaches to historic buildings with regard to the provision
of access for all, at all levels.
A short question and answer session followed and the
conference concluded with a vote of thanks to Jocelyn Cunliffe,
Convenor of the RIAS Conservation Committee, for all her hard
work in devising the day’s subject matter.
CONSULTATIONS
The RIAS has responded to two further consultations from Historic
Scotland: The Joint Consultation on the Historic Environment
Strategy for Scotland and the Merger of Historic Scotland and
the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments
of Scotland (RCAHMS) and the Revised Listed Building Record
Consultation on Changes in the Way Designation Information is
Presented.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY RESEARCH UPDATE
CONFERENCE
Practice Services subscribers will recall the recent practice notes
FI1319 Performance Gaps between Energy Design and Building
Performance by Graham Martin and FI1320: SAP Compliance,
co–authored by Graham and Richard Atkins. On the 18th June
1
2
Richard Atkins, Technical Advisor to the RIAS Energy Design
Certification Scheme, attended the STBA / SPAB Energy Efficiency
Research Update Conference in London on behalf of the RIAS.
He reports as follows:
The conference opened with Neil May, STBA Project Leader,
giving an update on the STBA Gap Analysis published a year ago
by the STBA. Neil went on to explain that STBA is about to expand
membership to include Affiliates in order to generate commercial
support for the work of STBA (visit www.stbauk.org) based on an
ACT – QUESTION –LEARN approach.
There were many research presentations on the differences
between insitu U-value tests and theoretical calculated U-values,
which generally overestimate heat loss from traditional buildings,
as well as thermal bridging and moisture movement in traditional
fabric construction.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC),
English Heritage and Historic Scotland all gave presentations
on recent and planned research in particular Historic Scotland is
one of 23 partners in the Energy Efficiency for EU Historic Districts’
Sustainability project “EFFESUS”, investigating the energy
efficiency in historic urban districts and Tech Paper 17 - Green
Deal, Energy Company Obligation and Traditional Buildings is now
available to download from the website www.historic-scotland.
gov.uk
The audience was comprised in the main of those with expertise
in conservation and or sustainable construction. The depth of
knowledge soon became apparent and it was good that neither
speakers nor audience were unafraid to speak out, highlighting the
current myopic approach of the UK government in seeking single
policy outcomes, which ignore the lessons to be learnt from the
law of unintended consequences.
It was also reassuring to see that Scotland was well represented
at the conference and in many areas was leading the debate.
CHANGES TO THE CONTENT OF AN ASBESTOSRELATED APPROVED CODE OF PRACTICE (ACOP)
3
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched a consultation
on changes to the content of an Asbestos-related Approved Code of
Practice (ACOP) that will consolidate two existing documents.
The draft of the consolidated ACOP, which provides practical
guidance on how employers, architects and CDM co-ordinators
can comply with the requirements of CAR 2012, is now subject to a
12-week consultation ending on 30 September 2013.
Details of how to contribute to the consultation can be found
at www.hse.gov.uk/consult/live.htm.
MARYSE RICHARDSON, MANAGER: PRACTICE
1
2
3
Atlas Kitchens
&
Kwik Construction
 General building company and
kitchen & bathroom studio
under one management
 Many years of experience on Polish
and Scottish sites, UK certificates
 all building & renovating services,
design, extensions, structural
works, conversions, commercial
jobs, Big & small renovations
 own brand Atlas kitchens - made to
measure, top quality, many styles
Call us for a free survey or
design consultation
0141 237 14 94
120 Queen Margaret Drive
Glasgow
G20 8NZ
Kitchens: [email protected]
Building: [email protected]
www.atlaskitchensglasgow.co.uk
www.kwikconstruction.com
The New Generation of
Insulation
Spray Foam Your Home
•
REDUCE YOUR HEATING BILLS
ELIMINATE DRAUGHTS
KEEPS YOUR HOME WARM & COSY
IMPROVE SOUND QUALITY
•
Air gap
maintained as
per building
regulations
Approved contractors available throughout the UK
Phone: 0844 22 555 44
Email: [email protected]
www.cpifoam.co.uk
Avoid getting yourself in a tangle!
Revolutionary New Wire-Free
Self Testing Emergency Lighting System
Significant cost and energy savings, easy to install, remote monitoring and fully addressable
Call 01328 850555, Email [email protected]
or visit our Website www.p4fastel.co.uk
Leading the way in self testing emergency lighting
P4 RIAS 195MM X 141MM AUG 2013.indd 1
06/08/2013 11:22
WWW.FANPOP.COM
INSURANCE
HERE BE DRAGONS
WITH AN INCREASING NUMBER OF ARCHITECTS BEING REPORTED TO THE ARCHITECTS REGISTRATION BOARD
(ARB), FOR THE BENEFIT OF RIAS MEMBERS THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE BY CHARLES MCGREGOR SPELLS OUT
EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A COMPLAINT IS MADE ABOUT AN ARCHITECT TO THE ARB.
We are fully conscious that the architect lives off his reputation.
Consequently, RIAS Insurance uniquely offers up to £50,000 of costs
to protect architects if subject to the ARB’s disciplinary procedure,
where there is a potential PI claim of the same substance. This benefit
was specifically written into the policy to support our clients through
this challenging process.
Most architects will be familiar (whether at first or second
hand) with the mechanics of a claim for damages and any resulting
court action. Many claims can be resolved without the need for
litigation. Even in those which proceed down that route the bulk
of responsibility for dealing with the matter tends to rest with
the insurer and their appointed representatives. The balance of
responsibilities is, however, different in respect of complaints
presented to the Architects Registration Board and these are
becoming increasingly common.
Some insurers will, it is true, arrange to pay for solicitors
to assist an architect in responding to such a complaint and to
appear on their behalf in any hearing. However such cover is not
universal. If an architect requires to appoint their solicitors in
order to deal with the matter then the expenses involved could
prove significant. Some advance warning of what is involved in the
complaints process might therefore prove helpful.
The Board is authorised to consider two broad forms of
complaint against a registered architect, namely that they are
guilty either of unacceptable professional conduct or, alternatively,
that they have committed an act or acts of serious professional
incompetence. That latter charge is not the subject of any statutory
guidance but presumably means something more than simple
negligence. “Unacceptable Professional Conduct” has the benefit
of recent judicial interpretation that it involves some degree of
moral blameworthiness.
In determining any complaint the Board will judge the
architect’s actions against the provisions of the Code of Conduct.
Both the present and the previous versions of this document are
available on the Board’s website. Every practising architect should
be aware of their content. The Board professes that not every
failure to meet the standards set out in the Code will necessarily
give rise to disciplinary proceedings however a single breach might
well justify prosecution. There are certain common failures (such
as the absence of appropriate written terms of engagement) which
will almost certainly result in a prosecution and a later reprimand.
That approach might appear draconian however past experience
suggests that the failure to issue appropriate terms of engagement
at the outset of a commission is often responsible (directly or
79
INSURANCE
not) for later problems. There is therefore a conscious effort to
“encourage” all members of the profession to give appropriate
attention to this in every project.
The initial process of responding to a complaint is handled by
employees of the Board. Once it is clear what the architect is said to
have done wrong then the relevant documentation will be issued
to the architect with the request that they respond within a period
of 14 days. Depending upon the extent of the documentation and
the nature of the complaint then that can represent an impossibly
tight deadline, especially where the nature of the complaint
requires the architect to review extensive (and potentially historic)
documentation in order to investigate matters. Provided that some
proper explanation is provided then the Board will, generally, allow
some short extension to this timetable.
The architect’s response will be exhibited to the complainer
who, in turn, will be given the opportunity to comment on the
response made to the complaint. Strictly speaking new material
should not be introduced at that stage but that rule proves
difficult to police. Such further comments as are at that stage
made by the complainer are then forwarded on to the architect.
At least in theory, he or she is given a final opportunity to respond
to whatever is at that stage said against them, before the whole
paperwork is passed to an Investigations Panel (comprising one
architect and two lay members) who will review the papers and
then meet in order to discuss the complaint.
Before reaching a final decision the Investigations Panel will
prepare and issue preliminary findings in respect of which both
the complainer and the architect have an opportunity to comment.
Past experience suggests that, once a preliminary view has been
reached by the panel then it is very difficult to change their mind.
It is also worth bearing in mind that, in considering a complaint
the Panel is required only to determine whether or not there is a
case to answer. This is interpreted as comprising both a realistic
prospect of a finding of unacceptable professional conduct and
also that it be in the public interest for the complaint to proceed.
This is therefore a relatively low threshold.
There is a restricted number of people from whom the
membership of an Investigations Panel are selected. The
impression given is that they are sometimes overwhelmed by
the volume of complaints. It is not untypical for this stage of the
complaints process to last six months or longer.
Where the Panel considers that there is no substance in the
80
complaint then the proceedings terminate at that stage. Where,
however, they consider that there is a case to answer then those
complaints proceed by way of the papers being passed to a
solicitor appointed by the Board to prepare a formal report to the
Professional Conduct Committee, setting out in some detail the
background to the complaint and, in particular, the circumstances
said to justify a finding either of unacceptable professional conduct
or serious professional incompetence.
In certain rare instances an Investigations Panel may determine
that the facts presented are not sufficient to justify the matter
being referred on to the Professional Conduct Committee and
yet recognise that the client’s concerns are not entirely without
foundation. In such cases the Panel is authorised to offer “advice”
to the architect regarding their future conduct.
Where a complaint does proceed to a hearing before the
Professional Conduct Committee then it can take several months
for the relevant report to be prepared by the Board’s solicitor.
That will, however, generally be available and produced to the
architect at least three months before the hearing itself. In respect
of complaints directed against Scottish registered architects then
the Board generally arranges for the hearing to be held in either
Glasgow or Edinburgh.
The report prepared for the Committee will include not only
a narrative, setting the background to the complaint and the
information relied upon as justifying it, but also any relevant
documentation, including all prior correspondence exchanged
by the parties with the Board. It is therefore worth bearing in
mind that any such earlier correspondence might eventually be
scrutinised by a Member of the Committee, immediately before
you give evidence.
The Committee is generally chaired by a solicitor and includes
one architect and one lay member. Proceedings are relatively
formal and similar to what might be found in a Court. Evidence is
given by witnesses, either on oath or following upon affirmation.
An audio recording is made of the proceedings. Witnesses cannot
be compelled to attend (in the way that they could, for example
be in a Court action) but, once present, they are subject to the
general rules of examination in chief and cross examination. Only
documentation previously produced to the Board can be referred
to during the course of the hearing.
Where the facts in dispute are limited then a hearing might
be concluded within the space of one day. However cases of any
particular complexity will certainly require longer hearings and
might require to be adjourned, with evidence led over a, potentially,
very extended period.
Once the evidence is eventually concluded provision is made
for submissions to be offered to the Committee by or on behalf
of the architect member. The Committee then retires to consider
its verdict. Where a complaint is upheld there is at that point a
further opportunity available to the architect to present a plea
in mitigation regarding the scope and form of any appropriate
sanction. Depending upon the seriousness of the complaint
then those range from the issue of a formal reprimand through
the imposition of a fine (of up to £5,000 on any one charge); a
temporary suspension from the Register of Architects; or (in
extreme cases) erasure from the Register.
The consequences of a complaint being upheld are therefore
potentially significant but even those complaints which are
ultimately rejected will require the expenditure of significant
time and resources. There is no provision for an architect to be
compensated where their position is ultimately vindicated. The
stress associated with being the subject of a complaint should also
never be underestimated. It is therefore in the interests of every
architect to seek to avoid, as far as possible, ever becoming the
subject of an ARB complaint.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the likelihood of a complaint
being presented to the Board depends at least as much upon the
character of the client as it does to the circumstances which have
generated the dispute. However, there are some obvious steps to
take which might either minimise the risk of a complaint or, at
least, mitigate its consequences.
First and foremost every architect accepting a commission
from a client should ensure that the terms of their appointment
are recorded, not only in writing but in sufficient detail to comply
with the provisions of the Code of Conduct. Even if all other heads
of complaint are rejected, the failure to issue appropriate terms of
engagement will of itself almost certainly be sufficient to justify
the matter being referred to a hearing of the Professional Conduct
Committee which will, at a minimum, issue a reprimand, which
will be publicised on the Board’s website.
Secondly, bear in mind that the Board is prepared to consider
complaints presented to it up to six years after the relevant events.
It is a rare individual who can claim credibly to retain a detailed
recollection of what was discussed with a client either in a meeting
or during a telephone call only a few weeks previously. Anyone who
maintains differently will face an immediate issue of credibility.
Written records of what was instructed or agreed are crucial and
can prove invaluable in responding to a complaint. In considering
what should be recorded ask yourself what your position might
be if the client either claimed no recollection or a completely
different recollection of any particular point which you know to
have been discussed and agreed. Formal minutes of meetings are
generally best but an email issued to the client immediately after
the discussion and purporting to record what was discussed and
agreed would prove equally valuable.
Thirdly, where matters are committed to writing then bear in
mind that your audience is not simply the immediate addressee
but potentially also a later investigator, Judge or member of the
Professional Conduct Committee. An email issued in irritation
might provide some temporary relief but may come back to haunt
you at a later stage. Conversely I know of at least one complaint
to the ARB which was dismissed at a very early stage when the
architect was able to produce to the Board communications earlier
issued by the client both to himself and a project engineer and in
which grossly intemperate language was used.
Contrary to a general perception the ARB is not ‘out to get’
architects however its mandate and its processes do impose a very
significant burden on any architect who is unfortunate enough to
be the subject of a complaint.
While the ARB cannot award compensation to a disgruntled
client, neither will it charge them anything for the privilege of
investigating and progressing their complaint. From the client’s
point of view it may therefore be an easy option to adopt. This
may help to explain what appears to be a recent growth in their
numbers. Be aware of the risks posed and try very hard to avoid
any dispute ever being required to progress down this route.
CHARLES MCGREGOR
SIMPSON & MARWICK, SOLICITORS
RIAS INSURANCE SERVICES
Tel 0131 311 4292 Fax 0131 311 4280
Email [email protected]
81
Balcony Solutions
bringing a façade to life
Living on the inside • Extra Space • Noise Reduction
• Increased Security • Improved Indoor Climate • Reduced Fuel Bills
• Increased Energy Efficiency Managing the outside
• Lower Maintenance Costs • Reduces Façade Corrosion • Fewer People
Move Out • Increased Property Value
+44 (0) 1452 559 404
CHAPTERS
HOUSE, LENZIE – CAMERONWEBSTER ARCHITECTS
PHOTO: ANDREW LEE
THE RIAS IS A FEDERATION OF SIX LOCAL CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER ACTIVITY IS CENTRAL TO THE LIFE OF THE
INCORPORATION AND OUR SERVICES TO OUR MEMBERS.
THESE UPDATES ILLUSTRATE THE BREADTH AND
QUALITY OF CHAPTER ACTIVITY.
83
WWW.ABERDEENARCHITECTS.ORG
Whilst I hope all members were able to enjoy some of the good
weather we have had over the summer period it is time to focus
again on Chapter duties.
Before looking forward, I am delighted to reflect on the
opportunity to judge the annual ASA Silver Medal Award for
students in their final year of study at the Scott Sutherland School
of Architecture in Aberdeen. Ably assisted by Duncan Collin, ASA
Vice-President, we spent an interesting afternoon reviewing a
diverse range of projects, reflecting a number of architectural
styles and approaches.
Without question this was a tough decision with a number of
high quality schemes on display, but ultimately a decision had to be
made. The Silver Medal was awarded to Emma Gibb for her Boat
Building Workshop in the East End of Glasgow. Emma’s scheme
achieved the integration of traditional craft within a contemporary
design and her attention to detail and effort to investigate and
develop all aspects of her design is to her credit. In addition,
Commendations were awarded to Amy Holmes for her Reuse
Centre and Hollie Shepherd for her Densification housing scheme.
Across the board the standard was strong and I would like
to wish all those who graduated every success as they enter the
workplace. It is to be hoped that this standard will augur well for
those in practice who may be in a position to offer employment
towards the Part 3 qualification.
I am also delighted to have been given the opportunity to
join the judging for the Aberdeen Civic Society Awards 2013 over
recent months. This has proved a rewarding experience and the
opportunity to consider a range of contributions to the City. With
judging now complete and awards pending, I will not let the ‘cat
out of the bag’, suffice to say that the award-winning schemes
make a very significant contribution to the City.
Moving forward, we are in the process of finalising details for
our next Chapter CPD event which is planned for mid-November.
This again will be a half-day event and I hope that as many
members as possible will be able to lend their support. The refresh
of the Chapter website will also take a meaningful step forward
over the next quarter as we seek ideas from students at the Scott
Sutherland School of Architecture to create a stimulating and
innovative alternative to our current offering. The Chapter Awards
and Annual Dinner preparations are also progressing and details
of these will be shared with the membership over the coming
months.
84
SCOTT SUTHERLAND SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
ABERDEEN
EMMA GIBB - BOAT BUILDING WORKSHOP
Finally, it is encouraging that there are a number of new
members seeking to become involved in the local Chapter. I hope
that this may lead to others becoming involved. Fresh ideas and
contributions are most welcome. I can be contacted through the
website or directly on [email protected].
BRUCE BALLANCE RIAS
PRESIDENT ASA
WWW.DIA-ARCHITECTS.COM
Although Council was in recess for the summer we were still working
behind the scenes, preparing our CPD events and our annual
awards ceremony and dinner. We are grateful to MacRoberts who
have very kindly agreed to sponsor this year’s CPD programme.
This allows us to use a different venue and format so please look
out for our e-bulletins and come along to these events which will
be free of charge. These will be held in Dundee Contemporary Arts.
Our dinner this year will be in the Invercarse Hotel on Thursday
21 November and has been well supported by our sponsors,
Andrew Shepherd Builders, Ora, Marley, Fobo Nairn, Blackadders,
Bentleys, Cupa, The Forestry Commission, the Denfind Stone
quarry and Scotframe. Many thanks to our sponsors without
whose support we could not hold the awards. This year has
once again provided us with an abundance of entries across all
categories. It is heartening to see there are clients out there willing
to commission architects and to fund buildings which enhance our
built environment.
Perth City Hall has hit the headlines once again with the local
MP wishing to see this fine Edwardian hall demolished and replaced
by a civic square. One cannot help feeling that an undercover
market, such as in Oxford, would be a fitting use for the building
in a climate like ours. Although we have had some good spells of
sunshine, they are far from the norm. An undercover market that
could spill out onto the surrounding streets seems a plausible and
sensible idea! One cannot think of any other Council seeking to
demolish such a venerable building in this age.
Our CPD programme has continued through the summer
recess with visits to the Highland Folk Museum at Newtonmore
and to Denfind Stone quarry and processing plant at Monikie
in Angus. These events are proving extremely popular and are
a format we intent to expand upon, along with our “Supper”
meetings, with an informal meal and a CPD talk.
Some of our members have indicated that they are seeing an
upturn in commissions, both commercial and domestic. Although
this is welcome and may be the first glimpse of recovery, no-one
can afford to be complacent. With budgets and fees tight, we
still have to compete with the “plan drawers” and architectural
consultants who boast of doing the work of architects just as well
and, of course, cheaper! We have had complaints of individuals
indicating that they are architects when they are not on the
register. These have been passed onto ARB for investigation and
hopefully prosecution.
COLIN DOIG RIAS
DUNDEE
SOME OF OUR MEMBERS AT THE VISIT TO
NEWTONMORE’S “HIGHLAND FOLK MUSEUM”
The regeneration of Dundee’s waterfront is continuing with
the demolition of what was Dundee’s least loved building, Tayside
House. This has led to Dock Street and the Caird Hall once more
becoming visible as an entity. New infrastructure development is
continuing, although the roads layout appears to change on a daily
basis. Preparation is being made for the demolitions of the Casino,
the Hilton Hotel, the Olympia Leisure Centre and Dundee Railway
Station. It is an exciting time to be a Dundonian.
Hopefully the new buildings that arise on the waterfront shall
have the architectural merit befitting the site! Dundee continues to
reinvent itself with the demolition of two of the city’s largest tower
blocks in a controlled explosion, changing the city’s skyline forever.
The new hard landscaping to the city square is now complete, this
will welcome larger public events, along with creating a new focus
and a dignified civic space within the city centre.
COLIN DOIG RIAS
PRESIDENT DIA
85
EDINBURGH
WWW.EAA.ORG.UK
© PAUL ZANRE
EDINBURGH URBAN DESIGN PANEL
EAA continues to provide three members for the Panel’s monthly
meetings, reviewing major projects at the pre-application stage.
EAA’s involvement with the EUDP remains a core part of the
EAA’s activities. It is an area where the EAA can positively deploy
our members’ expertise to inform debate surrounding major
Edinburgh projects at an early stage.
CPD
In order to ensure that CPD events are well organised and well
attended, the EAA is re-launching its CPD programme in 2014.
ESALA
We are looking to form a stronger relationship with the Edinburgh
School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (ESALA) and
have met with the Head of the School, John Brennan. We are
looking at two joint endeavours covering practitioner research and
career pathways.
GENERAL
We have purchased a new computer, which is up to date and fully
compatible with the RIAS system. This will enable the EAA to serve
our members better. We also have a new secretary, Stuart Bryce,
who started on 5 August, working Tuesday-Thursday afternoons.
Stuart is also the RIAS Bookshop Manager, working for the RIAS
on weekday mornings.
More information and other Chapter news is available on the EAA
website: www.eaa.org.uk.
IAN STEWART RIAS
PRESIDENT EAA
86
BEACON ARTS CENTRE, GREENOCK – LDN ARCHITECTS COMMENDED IN THE
AMBASSADOR AWARD CATEGORY OF THE EAA AWARDS 2013
GLASGOW
WWW.GIA.ORG.UK
Summer is nearly over and the heat wave is now behind us. For
the GIA the next three months are our busy time of year and with
a few additions to our calendar, it is all hands to the pumps until
Christmas. There have been quite a few new members joining this
year and it has taken a few months to find them spots on each
committee and get them slotted in. Now that it is all in place, each
committee has a very healthy number of members.
After the last Council meeting, I was very very enthused to
see how active everyone was and especially how active each
committee was (more later); the only sad news is that long
standing Vice President Stuart Gray has moved on to pastures
new and has unfortunately had to stand down - he will be sadly
missed as his contribution as Vice President and Convenor of the
Communications Committee was exceptional. I have been very
fortunate to be able to replace Stuart with Steven Miles who also
sits on RIAS Council with me.
The CPD committee has been working very hard, not only
organising their very impressive CPD events for the year but
also organising site visits. We were very honoured in late August
(four weeks before Rod Stewart) to have a guided tour for 30
GIA members of the Hydro by Foster and Partners. To say I was
impressed would have been an understatement. The structure is
out of this world and the attention to detail is second to none. I
only wish now I had managed to get Fleetwood Mac tickets!
That said the new Glasgow School of Art is starting to cut a
very high profile on the Glasgow skyline. From a bit of insider
knowledge I am led to believe it too will be a truly stunning
building which will stand shoulder to shoulder with the Mac.
Finally on CPD we have managed to sell over 30 season tickets for
our CPD events and the first event is now sold out.
The AP & P committee is working hard on this year’s GIA
competition, pulling together a competition brief entitled
Connecting The Seven Lochs Wetland Park in association with
Glasgow and Clyde Valley Green Network Partnership (GCVGNP)
and Central Scotland Green Network (CSGN). We will be inviting
entries to produce concept design proposals to connect two key
sites within the Seven Lochs Wetland Park. For more info please
go to: www.gcvgreennetwork.gov.uk/seven-lochs-wetland-park.
html.
The Con Sus committee is in the midst of pulling together
funding to run a very much needed community consultation
during the September weekend. The purpose of the event will be to
develop the brief in consultation with the local community and will
be coordinated with a Doors Open Day event that Save Springburn
Winter Gardens is holding that same weekend. Springburn Winter
Gardens is a very unknown and neglected gem of Glasgow. It is
great to see the Con Sus committee getting involved with this and
also helping to raise the profile of the GIA outwith its membership.
Finally, but by no means least, is the Communication committee
has just launched this year’s GIA Building and Photography awards
(please enter if you can!) and is busily sorting out GIA and guest
judges as well as pulling together this year’s annual GIA Annual
Members’ Dinner and Awards Ceremony. On top of this they have
managed to pull together a PDF formatted brochure of last year’s
awards as a template for the printed brochure that will be issued as
an insert to December’s RIAS Quarterly.
MICHAEL JARVIS FRIAS
PRESIDENT GIA
87
We had a very full agenda for our August meeting, partly through
having no meeting in July. There were a few significant outcomes.
One was confirmation that the September meeting was to take
place in Stornoway, involving a good proportion of the Western
Isles Architecture Group and with an exciting pre-meeting tour
itinerary put together by sba architects. After the meeting there
was the chance to continue unfinished business in the less
formal atmosphere afforded by the Digby Chick restaurant. RIAS
President, Iain Connelly, was overseas and therefore was unable to
attend but, happily, the Secretary Neil Baxter came along.
Although the tour of Lewis and Harris stands out as bona
fide CPD, our scheduled November event remains prominent
on the horizon. Its content and direction is becoming clearer.
With Keppie Design as its convenor, the meeting will start with
a talk on one of Keppie’s current major projects and move into
a comprehensive, multidisciplinary discussion around the subject
of Building Information Modelling. That could, of course, change.
Fuller detail on content and confirmation of the date, in the week
beginning 4 November and the venue will be advertised as soon
as is practicable.
The review of the IAA Awards is now well under way. We have
come through the canvassing phase and beginning to bring clarity
to potential changes. Should anyone feel they have a legitimate
comment that may not have been expressed, please let me
know. One consideration worthy of mention is the potential for
integrating the IAA Student Medal with the awards, opening it
up to a wider field of entry. In the short term we are containing
the competition for its partial redesign to students at the Scott
Sutherland School of Architecture and Gray’s School of Art in
Aberdeen.
We are reviewing delegates attending the various RIAS
committees on behalf of the IAA. We have no presence at some
and intend to be represented on them all.
The coincidence, by year, of the 2016 Festival of Architecture
and our own Chapter Centenary has been noted. We are exploring
a few ideas to mark and integrate both. It is important that as
comprehensive a sense of involvement as practicable is fostered.
Should there be ideas out there, please get in touch. A few changes
to our website have been agreed and will be introduced soon –
keep logging on.
The October meeting of the IAA on the 8th of the month is to
be back in Balnain House. The agenda will make space, potentially,
88
KEPPIE DESIGN
WWW.HIGHLANDARCHITECTS.ORG
CENTRE FOR HEALTH SCIENCES, RAIGMORE, INVERNESS
KEPPIE DESIGN
INVERNESS
THE APARTMENTS HOUSING EXPO BALVONIE, BRAES
for a broad discussion of public contract procurement. Although
we are never shy of a quorum, it would be particularly useful to
have a good attendance that day, please come along.
PETER MCILHENNY FRIAS
PRESIDENT IAA
STIRLING
WWW.S-S-A.CO.UK
NICOLL RUSSELL STUDIOS
After a quiet summer, the Chapter has a number of exciting events
planned for the coming months.
STIRLING SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTS AUTUMN
NETWORKING LUNCH & CPD EVENT
Following the success of the March CPD, our next event took place
on Thursday 26 September 2013 at Forth Valley College Stirling
Campus. Kindly sponsored by Nordan Windows, speakers for the
event included Steve Cameron of Nordan Windows, Ross Murray
of Taylor Law, discussing how to get paid, Ian Thomson from IT
Turning Point on Project Planning and Management and Mike
King on the highly anticipated Helix Project..
THE ‘REAL’ STIRLING PRIZE BUILDING OF THE YEAR
2013, BEST USE OF SLATE & BEST USE OF TIMBER
AWARDS
Entry for the SSA Design Awards 2013 is now closed. The judging
panel are looking forward to reviewing the entries and seeing the
excellent projects carried out across the Chapter over the past year.
Full details of the winning entry will be published in the next issue
of RIAS Quarterly and on our website.
BUILDING OF THE YEAR 2012 EXHIBITION
The SSA Design Awards Exhibition will move to the Smith Art
Gallery Stirling, following a successful period at Falkirk Central
Library. The exhibition will then be based at a final location in
Clackmannanshire, still to be confirmed. Check the website
www.s-s-a.co.uk or email [email protected] for further details.
SSA 80TH ANNIVERSARY & AWARDS DINNER
To celebrate the Stirling Society of Architects 80th Anniversary, all
members, clients and associates are invited to a dinner at the Airth
Castle Hotel, Airth, Falkirk on Friday 22nd November. To help
celebrate the history we would like to invite all SSA Past Presidents
to the event. The working group has been busy organising an event
that is not to be missed and final arrangements are soon to be
announced. Tickets will be competitively priced and great value for
money at this exceptional venue.
If you would like to note your interest in attending please
email [email protected].
THE KELPIES
STUDY TOUR TO BARCELONA
After successfully gauging interest, the Chapter intends to
organise a study trip to Barcelona next spring. Contact has already
been made with the Catalonian Institute of Architects to organise
a meeting and an invite extended to Scotland. Plans will progress
over the coming months. If you would like to register your interest
please do so at [email protected].
FINAL THOUGHTS
We are also keen for members from other Chapters who live in
our Chapter area to take advantage of our events programme and
register for our email news. If you have anything you wish to raise
or contribute, perhaps future CPD events that you would like us
to deliver, please do get in touch via our website or email us at
[email protected].
KEVIN SPENCE RIAS
PRESIDENT SSA
89
CHARTERED ARCHITECT
MALCOLM COCHRANE
PRESIDENT’S DIARY
AUGUST 2013
08
14
14
15
18
RICS Summer Reception / Edinburgh
RIAS/RIBA Joint Membership Committee / Edinburgh
RIAS CEAM Committee / Edinburgh
Italian Cultural Institute Festival Event / Edinburgh
Meeting with HS and RCAHMS joint CEOs re merger /
Edinburgh
20 Meeting with Sarah Spiers, Director of RICS Scotland /
Edinburgh
22 RIAS Government & Consultancy Committee / Edinburgh
SEPTEMBER 2013
02
03
04
10
10
11
RICS Housing Commission Meeting / Edinburgh
SELECT Dinner / Ayr
Fellows Reception, Chapel of St Albert the Great / Edinburgh
Meeting with Annabel Goldie MSP / Edinburgh
RIAS Council / Edinburgh
RIBA Presidential Inauguration Event / London
PRESENTATION TO RICHARD CASSIDY FRIAS
Support designed for you
Unemployment, illness, accident, bereavement and personal misfortune can
destroy lives and livelihoods.
When life’s tragedies strike, we help members of the architectural profession
and their families rebuild. That’s why we’re here.
To get in touch with us call 020 7580 2823 or email [email protected]
@ArcBenSoc
/ArchitectsBenevolentSociety www.absnet.org.uk
Architects Benevolent Society | 43 Portland Place | London | W1B 1QH
Reg Charity No 265139
REPORT ON SEPTEMBER 2013 COUNCIL
Council adopted the Accounts with a revised forecast out-turn
Carnegie Trust has identified the possibility of potential funding
of £4,866 to 31st December 2013. The Membership Report was
in the future. Council supported progressing those initiatives.
noted, with six deaths, four Resignations, three Removals, nine
Transfers to Retired, 14 Reinstatements, 31 elections to Student
Council supported the ISOCARP Placemaking and Urban
Membership, 21 elections to Membership, four Nominations to
Improvement Workshops in Dundee in 2014. Council noted the
Fellowship and three Nominations to Honorary Fellowship.
success of the Valuing Conservation event held in June 2013 at
the Story Telling Centre with over 70 delegates and commended
Council considered the RIBA subscription increase to £393 for
2014 and the effects on the RIAS only rate. RIAS subscriptions
the two responses to Historic Scotland (HS) consultations on the
merger and listing.
have been pegged at the 2007 level. Council approved that the
RIAS only rate should continue at £360 for a further year but that
subscriptions should rise to £380 for 2015.
The Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists
contends that CIAT qualifications are equal to those of architects.
The Secretary proposed to write to the RIBA to ask for their view
Following the Government’s announcement of the 2016 Year
on the matter.
of Architecture, Chapters were requested to co-ordinate a month
of events and nominate two representatives to the co-ordinating
committee.
Discussions have taken place with the new Chair of the
Industry Leadership Group, Ed Monaghan, to press for more
accountability in the Group’s constitution and improvements in
Council noted the draft Educational Survey which is under
consideration and the Jan 2014 target for issue. Council heard that
its industry links. Past President, David Dunbar and the Secretary
were asked to pursue a further meeting.
traditionally RIAS and RIBA Presidents have enjoyed reciprocal
membership of each other’s Council. As the RIAS President is a
The Incorporation has taken independent advice on the
long standing RIAS only member the RIBA has refused to allow
continuing damp ingress into the basement and sub-basement at
him to vote on their Council unless he joins the RIBA which he
15 Rutland Square. A proposal has been developed to counter the
considers inappropriate. The RIBA is not agreeable to change their
problem. Council approved a budget of £70,000, exclusive of VAT.
byelaws.
Council approved the new arrangement with HEADS Ltd
Council approved a staff small loan scheme. With regard to the
to provide the IT system, support, CPD and expansion for the
outcome of the George Square Competition, Council were informed
RIAS Energy Design Scheme. Council noted the initiatives being
that the publication of the Standards Commissioner’s conclusions
pursued with RIAS Insurance Services to extend the range of
and the determination of Audit Scotland were still awaited.
insurances which could be purchased within one “wrapper”.
Council supported the introduction of a quinquennial review of
Chapter representation on the Incorporation’s committees.
AJ HUGH FRIAS
The Robertson Trust, the main funder of the Millennium Fund
projects can no longer continue this funding but has indicated
that new support may be available in 2015/2016. Contact with the
91
CHARTERED ARCHITECT // MEMBERSHIP
MEMBERSHIP REPORT
THE FOLLOWING DEATHS WERE REPORTED WITH
REGRET:
Iain Banks hon frias
John Gifford mbe hon frias
Gordon William Hamilton Mechan rias
Ian Archibald Munro frias
John Howard Penton mbe rias riba
Heather Smith rias
Francis Milloy rias riba Outwith
David Charles Reat rias riba Glasgow
Nicholas Rennick rias riba Glasgow
Douglas Ian Martin Roxburgh rias riba Outwith
Karen Charlotte Margaret Sanderson rias riba Outwith
John Stewart Stevenson rias Glasgow
David Wilkinson Rrias riba Outwith
David Arthur Wallace rias Glasgow
ELECTIONS TO AFFILIATE MEMBERSHIP:
RESIGNATIONS REPORTED:
Graeme Ralph Kerr, Florence Ma, Gavin Monachan,
Samantha Williams
REMOVALS APPROVED:
Simon James Chadwick, Ian Ross McSweeney, Sarah Wilkinson
TRANSFERS TO RETIRED MEMBERSHIP APPROVED:
John Cameron Duncan rias riba Edinburgh
Gordon John Hayles rias riba Glasgow
Alan Kirk rias riba Glasgow
Thomas Angus Langlands rias riba Glasgow
Brian Bond Lawrias riba Glasgow
Iain MacLeod rias riba Inverness
Derek Alan Marshall rias riba Edinburgh
David Hyslop Roulston rias riba Glasgow
Glynne Lincoln Shackleton rias riba Outwith
REINSTATEMENTS TO FULL MEMBERSHIP:
Colin Bloch rias riba Outwith
Andrew Brown rias Aberdeen
Ian David Inglis rias riba Edinburgh
David MacLeod rias Outwith
Roy C McGregor rias Outwith
92
Rory Bryden Inverness
ELECTIONS TO STUDENT MEMBERSHIP:
Sucymurniati Zul Ahiyar Glasgow
Anna Barbieri Glasgow
Martin Sunjic Bertoni Glasgow
Katie Burrell Glasgow
Andrew Casey Glasgow
Alexander Corvinus Glasgow
Nathan Cunningham Glasgow
Bruce Doran Glasgow
Joe F Drinkwater Glasgow
Chloe Fawcett Glasgow
Ruairi Gaffney Glasgow
Louise Gydell Glasgow
Mari Nysveen Hellum Glasgow
Ryan James Hodge Glasgow
Alastair Hunter Glasgow
Jing Kang Liu Glasgow
Alasdair Stuart McAlpine Glasgow
Andrew McDonagh Glasgow
Angela McIntyre Glasgow
Lema Nail Glasgow
Agata Olszewska Glasgow
Liam Potts Glasgow
Emmeline Quigley Glasgow
Sniedze Riekstina Glasgow
Mazvydas Samoulis Edinburgh
Invention of the year
stops wasted energy
Squashing your loft insulation with storage
halves its effectiveness. StoreFloor by LoftZone
is the ‘green’ solution.
Keith Sinclair Dundee
Amy Smith Aberdeen
Orlaith Swords Dundee
Fiona Suzanne Thaddeus Aberdeen
Cameron James Young Glasgow
Francis Young Dundee
ELECTIONS TO FULL MEMBERSHIP:
Neil Duncan Alexander rias riba Glasgow
Bob Allies rias riba Outwith
Howard Butt rias riba Edinburgh
Alistair Cameron rias riba Glasgow
Maria Belén Francos-Taylor rias riba Outwith
Alan Victor Hamilton rias riba Stirling
David Halliday rias riba Aberdeen
Christopher Hogg rias Glasgow
Jamie Melville Holden rias riba Outwith
Lee Johnson rias Edinburgh
Jennifer Kennedy rias riba Aberdeen
Karen Kerr rias riba Aberdeen
Marcus Lee rias riba Outwith
Andrew James Mackie rias Glasgow
Derek McDonald rias Edinburgh
Philip Mercer rias riba Edinburgh
Graham Morrison rias riba Outwith
Michael Nelson rias riba Edinburgh
Stuart Ian Robertson rias riba Outwith
Ryan Sylvester rias Glasgow
Aaron Taylor rias riba Outwith
With StoreFloor you can fully insulate
and continue to use the loft space for storage,
by quickly and easily creating a strong deck that
protects the 270mm (11in) of insulation
and keeps energy bills low.
The deck also allows safe access for maintenance in
the loft spaces of commercial buildings and social
housing, and reduces the first-fix cost of new build.
It is all manufactured in the UK
and easily installed within one day.
LoftZone’s mission is to transform Britain’s lofts
into energy-saving, space-maximising,
safely accessible storage environments, through
providing a high quality, innovative solution.
StoreFloor – Ideal Home Show
Best New Invention 2013 and
Best Environmental Technology from
Oxford University’s Centre for Innovation.
ELECTIONS TO FELLOWSHIP:
James Denholm rias riba Dundee
Patrick Lorimer rias riba Glasgow
Michael Spens rias riba Edinburgh
Ian Springford rias riba Edinburgh
www.loftzone.co.uk · 01483 600304
LoftZone, Unit 17 Millers Wharf House,
78 St Katherines Way, London E1W 1UE
[email protected]
CHARTERED ARCHITECT //
HONORARY FELLOWS
ANNE MCCHLERY
MALCOLM COCHRANE
MALCOLM COCHRANE
LIZ DAVIDSON OBE
Born and brought up in Wales, Liz is currently the Principal of
City Design for Glasgow City Council. She was previously Project
Director of the Merchant City Townscape Heritage Initiative,
Director of Glasgow Building Preservation Trust and has also
worked at the Scottish Civic Trust and Edinburgh New Town
Conservation Trust. She was seconded to Historic Scotland to set
up and manage the roll out of the Conservation Area Regeneration
Scheme.
Liz is a Trustee of the Architectural Heritage Fund and sits on
the newly established Technical Advisory Group for the Scottish
Lime Centre. She is an External Examiner at the University of
Dundee School of Town and Regional Planning’s MSc in European
Urban Conservation, a past Chair of the UK Association of
Building Preservation Trusts and a past member of the Historic
Buildings Council for Scotland.
Liz has been a loyal Affiliate Member of the Incorporation
since 2002. She is a great supporter of architects and has frequently
served as an excellent client. She has written for the RIAS Quarterly
and spoken at RIAS Conventions and at ‘The Future of Scotland’s
Past?’ event in 2012. She is a greatly respected figure and has
exerted much positive influence on architectural conservation in
Scotland over the last three decades. Her enthusiasm is infectious
and she brings a generosity of spirit and real passion to all of
her endeavours. She is also very generous with her time and has
delivered numerous talks and tours to visitors of her adoptive city
and a place about which she is passionate – the City of Glasgow.
After many years in the Housing Association movement, Anne
became Director of the Glasgow Building Preservation Trust
(GBPT) in 2005. She is a powerful advocate of the adaptive re-use
of historic buildings as catalysts in urban regeneration.
GBPT, one of the largest in the UK, has over the last three
decades successfully saved many buildings and become part of
Glasgow’s “Urban Toolkit”. GBPT has also delivered Glasgow’s Doors
Open Day, now one of the most joyous, free, built environment
festivals in the UK - for an impressive 22 years! With Anne at its
helm, GBPT and its workload have grown steadily. She has also
Chaired the Association of Preservation Trusts, supporting a
growing number of BPTs throughout Scotland. Anne contributed
to the RIAS Convention in 2011. More recently she spoke at the
seminar, ‘The Future of Scotland’s Past?’ She has also written for
the RIAS Quarterly – giving, as ever, generously of her time in the
cause of Scotland’s historic built environment.
Anne describes GBPT’s mission as: “bringing likeminded people
and organisations together to sustainably improve Glasgow”.
Working with the Trust’s board, particularly its indefatigable
Chair, Patricia Chalmers MBE Hon FRIAS, Anne continues the
fraught and frequently anxious task of raising development
finance, encouraging good architects to deliver great work, saving
buildings and improving Glasgow’s built environment. All this
is delivered with a no nonsense enthusiasm, tremendous drive,
good humour and an endless optimism which inspires her own
excellent team and all those around her.
LIZ DAVIDSON IS AWARDED THE INCORPORATION’S
ANNE MCCHLERY IS AWARDED THE HONORARY
HONORARY FELLOWSHIP FOR SERVICES TO
FELLOWSHIP OF THE INCORPORATION FOR SERVICES TO
CONSERVATION AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT OF
THE PRESERVATION TRUST MOVEMENT AND SCOTLAND’S
SCOTLAND.
HISTORIC BUILT ENVIRONMENT.
94
OBITUARIES
16 FEBRUARY 1954 TO 9 JUNE 2013
Iain Menzies Banks was the son of a
serving Admiralty officer stationed in
Rosyth. After reading English, philosophy
and psychology at Stirling University,
he graduated and took himself off on “a
grand hitch-hiking holiday”. The material
he gathered was invaluable in later years.
Banks was a close observer of people and
events. Throughout his life, he walked the
Scottish hills taking in the beauty and the
people.
Banks knew he wanted to be an author
from the age of 11. To fund his writing, he
took day jobs that left him free to write in
the evening. His first published book, The
Wasp Factory, came out in 1984 – many
critics argue that this dark ruminating
story is his best. There followed a
succession of best sellers including The
Crow Road, Complicity and The Bridge.
Raw Spirit (2003) detailed his lifelong passion for Scotch whisky – he took
much pleasure in visiting all the Scottish
distilleries during his research. In 2006,
he captained a team of writers which won
University Challenge. Whisky was his
specialist subject when he appeared on
an edition of Celebrity Mastermind – and
won.
Banks had a finely-tuned political
mind, certainly of the Left, but took
strongly against Tony Blair’s foreign policy
and recently admitted he had voted SNP.
In April 2013, Iain Banks revealed that
he was suffering from terminal cancer and
unlikely to live for more than a year. His
final novel, The Quarry, just published,
tells, in graphic detail, the last weeks of a
man dying of cancer. While the novel is
RAY CHARLES REDMAN
IAIN BANKS HON FRIAS
fiction, the story is largely autobiographical
and Banks’s harrowing descriptions of the
horrors of a cancer sufferer are clearly very
personal.
Such a sad demise does not detract
from Banks’s eminence as a writer. He
enjoyed breaking literary traditions and
delighted in merging a straight-forward
narrative with futuristic and fantastic
storylines. An exceptional wordsmith, his
sense of drama, fertile imagination and
a canny and personally distinctive sense
of humour were qualities that made him
popular with readers worldwide. It was
his informality, wit and charm that many
will especially remember. He was named
in The Times list of “The 50 greatest British
writers since 1945”.
Banks marriage to his first wife, Annie,
who he met in 1984, was dissolved in 2007.
He married his second wife, Adele Hartley,
this year at Inverlochy castle. His poignant
proposal was “please do me the honour of
becoming my widow”. They honeymooned
in Venice and Paris and then holidayed
on the Isle of Barra, as Banks wrote:
“walking on pristine beaches, listening to
the quietness, eating just-caught fish and
chatting with the islanders”.
Adapted from the Scotsman obituary by
Alasdair Steven.
95
OBITUARIES
REV BERNARD WILLIAM
BLANCHARD RIAS
31 AUGUST 1921 TO 12 SEPTEMBER
2012
A career in architecture was as natural for
Bernard Blanchard as was his involvement
in Methodism. His father’s practice,
Blanchard, Wheatley and Houldsworth,
was founded in 1907; his grandfather wrote
over 150 Methodist hymns and tunes. At
Hull school of architecture, under Max
Lock, Bernard’s thesis on Non-conformist
Architecture gained a distinction.
When he took over the practice in
1956, churches became a prominent part of
his workload in rebuilding Hull following
the War. He was later associated with
the building of Methodist churches in
Yorkshire. Bernard particularly enjoyed the
personal contacts and relationships that
are the key to a successful architectural
practice, what he called the ‘outside work
of the practice’ and it was his interest in
people and their problems that prompted
him to become a magistrate in 1966,
concentrating on juvenile and domestic
cases. This experience, informed by his
Christian faith, convinced him to become
a Methodist minister in 1976.
96
He handed over the practice to his two
partners. He later commented that it was
quite a wrench going into the unknown at
the age of 55 as he had been happy in his
work as an architect. He went on to serve
for 12 years as the minister of Blaydon and
Sedbergh Methodist Church.
With the support of his wife, Joan,
Bernard continued to have a deep and
supportive interest in people. The circle of
those whose lives were touched by their
care was vast. He also maintained his
interest in architecture, joining the RIAS
as a retired member and as a volunteer
helping to catalogue the RIAS drawings
collection at the Royal Commission.
He was always keen to encourage
younger architects. However, despite his
many experiences as an architect and
minister, he was much more interested in
talking about others than about himself.
Bernard died peacefully at his home
in Chirnside and is survived by his wife,
Joan.
Obituary kindly supplied
by Robin Kent RIAS.
WILLIAM CAMPBELL RIAS
13 MARCH 1929 TO JULY 2013
Born in southern India, Bill Campbell
came to Scotland aged four to be reared
by his maternal grandmother. He went on
to become Dux of Dollar Academy. After
graduating from the Edinburgh School and
two years of National Service, he returned
to Edinburgh in 1957 to work in Regent
Terrace in Robert Matthew’s fledgling
practice. The office was the launchpad for a
number of young practices which, in 1962,
included Campbell and Arnott.
Bill bought and restored the
seventeenth-century Kinloch House in
Haddington, living on the top floors above
the office. The early years there were rich,
varied, chaotic and fun, embracing Bill’s
belief that labour should not interfere
with picnics, in the summer or sledging
in winter. After the office moved to
Edinburgh in late 60s, the pleasure
principle remained and no excuse for a
party was ever willingly overlooked.
In the early ‘70s, Bill went to Edinburgh
University to study Planning. After
graduating he worked in Leicester and
Hampshire before returning to Scotland to
join the Scottish Office Inquiry Reporters
Unit. He took on a lot of contemporary
oil related work, as well as listed building
and architectural cases. The very high
standard of his work led to his eventual
promotion to Deputy Chief Reporter. He
is remembered among colleagues for his
professionalism, courtesy and humour.
Following his retirement Bill became
involved with many public bodies, among
them The Royal Fine Art Commission,
the Cockburn Association and The Saltire
Society. Blessed with a keen, enquiring
mind, his curiosity was boundless.
Enormously well-read, his library reflected
the great range of his interests. As a
genealogist he explored the outermost
branches of his family tree world-wide.
He was an inveterate traveller, enjoying
serious walking tours all over Europe,
indulging his love of flowers and plants.
He was also a wonderful host and an
accomplished cook.
Bill Campbell was a polymath. He
had a keen eye for pomposity and selfimportance and delighted in puncturing
both. However some of the keenest of Bill’s
dry wit was reserved for stories against
himself - the raciest and funniest of which
must remain on restricted circulation. He
enriched the lives of all those he touched,
was an entertaining companion and a loyal
friend. His business partner, Ian Arnott
FRIAS, reflects that while working with
him was an honour, Ian has had no greater
enjoyment than sharing Bill Campbell’s
close friendship for sixty-odd years.
Obituary kindly supplied
by Ian Arnott FRIAS.
JOHN VERNON GIFFORD MBE HON
FRIAS
24 DECEMBER 1946 TO 13 JUNE 2013
Born in 1946 John Gifford studied history
at New College, Oxford. After several
years as Inspector of Historic Buildings at
the Scottish Development Department,
he assumed charge of the Buildings of
Scotland Research Unit in 1980. The
Unit was based at Edinburgh College of
Art until 1991, where John also served
as a part-time lecturer. In this capacity,
he wrote or co-authored the majority
of volumes in the invaluable Buildings
of Scotland series. These are Edinburgh
(1984), Fife (1988), Highlands and Islands
(1992), Dumfries and Galloway (1996),
Stirling and Central Scotland (2002), Perth
and Kinross (2007) and recently Dundee
and Angus (2012). He was working on the
Lanarkshire volume when he died and
has left his notes in meticulous order for
whoever may continue the work.
John’s other publications include
the key monograph on William Adam
(1989), a Historical Account of Melville
House (2003) and historical notes to John
Knight’s East Lothian Villages (1976). He
was a rigorous and meticulous researcher.
However his distinctive descriptive
style, echoed that of Pevsner in resisting
standardisation. He has provided a rich
supply of informative merit assessments
of historic properties and conservation
areas across Scotland for the Historic
Buildings Council (unpublished) and given
innumerable papers on Scottish architects
and architecture over the decades.
John Gifford has been an active
committee and cases panel member of
the Architectural Heritage Society of
Scotland and a member of the Dictionary
of Scottish Architects Project Board. He
has also served as a lay member of the
General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal
Church. John has contributed widely to
our understanding and appreciation of
Scotland’s architecture and its landscape
and indeed has contributed information to
an international audience online through
the Dictionary of Scottish Architects.
John was awarded an MBE in 2005
and made an Honorary Fellow of RIAS
in 2013 for his special contribution to
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
the understanding of Scotland’s historic
built environment. The presentation by
then President Elect, Iain Connelly, at a
lunch surrounded by close friends was a
poignant celebration as his terminal illness
was then well advanced. This however did
not stop the event running to over four
hours – with many ‘toasts’ to John.
John Gifford contributed widely to
our understanding and appreciation of
Scotland’s architecture and its landscape.
He leaves behind his partner, David
Bassett.
Obituary supplied by
Dr Deborah Mays Hon FRIAS.
OBITUARIES WHICH ARE READ
OUT AT RIAS COUNCIL
ARE PUBLISHED IN RIAS
QUARTERLY
97
CONTACTING RIAS
TO CONTACT RIAS CALL 0131 229 7545 OR FAX 0131 228 2188. FOR GENERAL ENQUIRIES EMAIL [email protected]
SENIOR MANAGEMENT
ELAINE DOBIE
NEIL BAXTER hon frias
[email protected]
Joined: March 2013. Practice Services
support, administers conservation and
sustainability accreditation schemes and the RIAS Energy Design
Certification Scheme. Co-ordinates the e-PI Bulletin, Practice Services
website updates and online research.
SECRETARY AND TREASURER
[email protected]
Joined: March 2008. Oversight of RIAS
policy, governance, business planning and
budgets. Overall responsibility for the Incorporation’s membership
services, Consultancy, Practice Services, accreditation schemes, events,
publications, outreach, political liaison, CPD, educational initiatives and
awards.
LOUISE MCLEOD
SENIOR MANAGER: FINANCE AND
ADMINISTRATION
[email protected]
Joined: November 1986. Responsible for
central services function including finance, audit, salaries, pensions,
member pensions, annual contracts, insurances, personnel, recruitment,
membership, staff management, IT, health & safety, the building.
DR DEBORAH MAYS hon frias
ASSISTANT SECRETARY AND CEO
OF SBCC
[email protected]
Joined: April 2012. Director of Projects: advisor
to the Secretary, developing and co-ordinating the 2016 centenary
celebrations for the Incorporation. CEO of SBCC: managing production
and purchase of contracts, promoting their use, managing the online
services, promoting and strengthening SBCC, its membership and
website.
MARYSE RICHARDSON
SENIOR MANAGER: PRACTICE
[email protected]
Joined: April 2003. Manages Practice
Services, secretariat for RIAS Practice
committees and production of quarterly Practice Information, legal
and contractual queries, maintaining the RIAS suite of Standard Forms,
managing dispute resolution expert panels, management of conservation
and sustainability accreditation.
STAFF
SOPHIE BIRCH
COMMUNICATIONS AND EVENTS
ASSISTANT
[email protected]
Joined: October 2011. Event Management,
internal communication including website content management,
editorial assistance for RIAS Quarterly, e-bulletins, media monitoring,
awards coordination. Responsible for Online Directory and job ads.
STUART BRYCE
MANAGER: BOOKSHOP (P/T)
[email protected]
Joined: September 2012. Managing RIAS
Bookshop, including sales of architectural
appointments, certificates, administrations
forms and up-to-date and archived building contracts. Telephone,
website and direct sale to members and the public of RIAS publications
and a wide range of architectural books.
98
PRACTICE ASSISTANT
LILY OFFICE DOG (P/T)
[email protected]
Joined: March 2008. Works to maintain
a stress-free working environment,
occasionally enliven meetings and ensure a
focus on the key agenda priorities (biscuits
and sandwiches). Introduces a Zen-like calm by generally wandering
about and sleeping under desks.
CAROL-ANN HILDERSLEY
MANAGER: SECRETARY AND
TREASURER’S OFFICE
[email protected]
Joined: April 2010. Management of the
Secretary’s and President’s offices, oversight of communications and
events, administration and minuting of Council, research, Assistant Editor
of RIAS Quarterly.
MAUREEN JOHNSTONE
FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
ASSISTANT
[email protected]
Joined: March 2003. Support for finance and
central services, financial processing and filing, coordination of internal
room bookings and meeting set-ups, assisting membership, post and
mail, management of office recycling.
MARILYN LEISHMAN
RECEPTIONIST / BOOKSHOP
ADVISORS
MARJORIE APPLETON frias
PRACTICE SERVICE CONSULTANT
(P/T)
[email protected]
Joined September 2010. Advises on Practice
Information and matters relating to its publication, content and delivery.
Oversees the reorganisation and development of information issued to
practices.
RICHARD ATKINS frias
TECHNICAL ADVISOR (P/T)
[email protected]
Joined December 2009. Expert support
for RIAS Energy Design Certification,
sustainability, technical accreditation schemes, liaison with BSD, practice
advisory notes, liaison on energy assessment.
ASSISTANT (P/T)
JACK HUGH frias
[email protected]
Joined: June 2009. Dealing with incoming
calls, meeting and greeting, opening and logging mail for distribution,
ordering stationery and monitoring stock, dealing with suppliers,
maintaining press cuttings file, bookshop cover.
SPECIAL ADVISOR (P/T)
VERONICA LOW
MANAGER: COMMERCIAL
[email protected]
Joined: May 2011. Advertising sales and
sponsorship for the RIAS Quarterly. Sale and
distribution of RIAS publications and space
rentals in Rutland Square. Also responsible for sponsorship liaison for
RIAS events.
CHARLENE RANKIN
MANAGER : MEMBERSHIP / RIAS
[email protected]
Joined: November 2007. Advises on
financial matters, collation and drafting
of PPC/Council papers, preparation of agendas; maintenance of 15
Rutland Square, Head of Certification and manager of RIAS Energy
Design Certification Scheme.
PAT LALLY hon frias
SPECIAL ADVISOR (P/T)
c/o [email protected]
Joined: June 2008. Liaison with Scottish
Government and local authority politicians,
encouraging political participation in CPG and other RIAS events, chairing
of RIAS government committee, external relations with COSLA, STUC and
quasi-government organisations.
CONSULTANCY
BRIAN MOORE hon frias
[email protected]
Joined: March 2002. Management of
Membership, RIAS Consultancy, Scottish Community Projects Fund,
Architect in the House and the RIAS Clients Advisory Service.
DIRECTOR: CONSULTANCY
LORRAINE SUTHERLAND
SENIOR RECEPTIONIST / BOOKSHOP
ASSISTANT (P/T)
[email protected]
Joined: June 2005. Dealing with incoming
calls, meeting and greeting, opening and
logging mail for distribution, ordering stationery and monitoring
stock, dealing with suppliers, maintaining press cuttings file, general
administration duties.
[email protected]
Joined: 1995. Manages all aspects of
architectural competitions, deals with
procurement issues for architects and improving procurement in
architecture by ensuring value-based selection procedures in all RIAS
Competitions.
JOHN NORMAN hon frias
ACCOUNTANT (P/T)
[email protected]
Joined: April 2008. Annual budget, quarterly
accounts, annual statutory accounts for
RIAS charity and RIAS Services Ltd, VAT returns, ledger management/
supervision, RIAS/RIBA membership reconciliations, annual audit, payroll
issues, other tax and financial issues, as required.
We know design.
Uncluttered and
uncompromising, with
Aqueous, less is more.
This glass solution, with its
unique floating appearance
and pristine reflective
surfaces, brings a sense of
luxury and sophistication to
any washroom.
Innovative design
Excellent service
We know washrooms.
Call 01474 353333 www.venesta.co.uk
10-year guarantee
10-year guarantee
We know washrooms.
Peace of mind.
For indemnity insurance that offers complete peace of mind,
choose RIAS Insurance Services (one less load to worry about!).
For further information, contact Ian McCallum,
RIAS Insurance Services, Orchard Brae House, 30 Queensferry Road, Edinburgh EH4 2HS
Tel: 0131 311 4292 Fax: 0131 311 4280 email: [email protected]
RIAS
Insurance Services

STUDENT AWARDS REFLECTING ON THE DOOLAN REVIEW OF

Transcription

Similar documents

RIAS Quarterly Issue 12 PDF Document, 14.10 MB

Day One: Arrival in Scotland

ISSUE 20 WINTER 2014 RIAS DOOLAN AWARD PRESIDENT

CABINET SECRETARY ON THE DOOLAN AWARD LESLEY

RIAS Quarterly Issue 17 (Spring 2014)

RIAS Quarterly Issue 24 (Winter 2015)

Working with an architect for your home

Estructuras de unidades sedimentarias recientes en la plataforma

Scottish Borders on the screen

What does an Architect do? - NSW Architects Registration Board

udstillingsfolder

Connecting to a SoundwebTM London Network

When to Engage an Architect or Excepted Engineer

AFM Homes: Janet Brooks Elegance