Materials Methods & Makers

M M M MATERIALS

METHODS

MAKERS

GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART

DipArch - Stage 4 2017-2018

TOM DEACON

BETH DUTSON

LOUISA MCGUIGAN

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A project in partnership with;

The time and generosity of the following people has enabled us to create this body of research, so thanks to; Esmee Thomson-Smith (with new baby!) from EDLC, Fiona Dean from Trails + Tales, Thom Simmons for enthusiastically answering all our questions and facilitating workshops, Dorothy and Ian at HES for meeting with us, Johnnie Clark for the amazing tour around St Mungo’s Cathedral, and Kathy Li for her continued guidance throughout the project.

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ABSTRACT Within this document and the supporting essays, Tom Deacon, Beth Dutson and Louisa McGuigan aim to explore heritage and traditional building skills, with the context of a proposed workshop in East Dunbartonshire. Looking at how the workshop can successfully facilitate these skills and determining a variety of users is the starting point for a body of research, as well as personal critical reflections and proposals for the future of the project. The breadth of the scope of research, and connections made with practitioners and professionals involved in heritage should allow for future studies to be undertaken, and perhaps for future students to take part in the construction of the workshop.

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CONTENTS

6-13 INTRODUCTION

PARTIES INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT

14-33 CHAPTER 1

SETTING THE SCENE In this chapter we aim to explore the context within which a new craft hub in East Dunbartonshire will exist.

This chapter establishes how Materials, Methods, Makers leads on from Trails and Tales, an existing East Dunbartonshire Culture Leisure Trust project. An investigation is undertaken into historical context of making in East Dunbartonshire, examining which industries were once prevalent in the area, and those which exist now. The first chapter also sets out the location of the hub in relation to existing craft educational facilities in Central Scotland, highlighting its close vicinity to the Glasgow Cathedral site, and Historic Scotland’s new building conservation centre, The Engine Shed. The physical context of the proposed craft hub is also explored in order to set out basic design principles and parameters for the new building.

34-61 CHAPTER 2

ESTABLISHING A USER GROUP In his chapter we aim to determine which group of people the new craft hub should primarily serve. From the outset EDLC had been keen to facilitate school leavers within the workshop, and so our research centred on this age group. A pilot engagement workshop was undertaken with local secondary school pupils in order to ascertain how a new craft hub could encourage them to explore a career in heritage skills or craft, and to raise the profile of the project in the local area. We aimed to involve young people directly in the initial research and design of the building, in order to create a group with vested interests in its success. Our research into current routes into apprenticeships highlighted gaps in the apprenticeship recruitment process, as well as in existing apprenticeship programmes, which a new craft hub could seek to address.

62-83 CHAPTER 3 CASE STUDIES

In this chapter we identify and explore a selection of case studies for a variety of reasons. We look to the Mackintosh restoration project for indications of how contemporary and traditional crafts and building techniques can work harmoniously. Looking at existing, successful workshops for various programmes has helped us to gain an insight into the services and spatial qualities needed in the development of a new workshop. The Engine Shed has been a useful case study with regards to materiality and sustainability.

84-93 CHAPTER 4

INFORMING THE DESIGN This chapter sets out the performance requirements of the new craft hub building as identified by East Dunbartonshire Culture Leisure Trust. We also offer a set of proposals by way of a conclusion to the project, in which we make suggestions for the future progression of the craft hub which are based on the depth of our research. We state a list of aims that we would very much like to see encouraged within the design and build stages of the project.

94-99 GLOSSARY + BIBLIOGRAPHY 100-117 APPENDIX PARTIES INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT

PARTIES INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT

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INTRODUCTION

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Fig 1 • Taking a closer look at Glasgow Cathedral

INTRODUCTION Materials, Methods + Makers is a project in its preliminary stages, undertaken by a Stage 4 Research group from the Mackintosh School of Architecture, in collaboration with East Dunbartonshire Leisure Culture Trust.

The Materials, Methods + Makers project anticipates the building of a new workshop space for the pursuit of traditional and heritage building skills and crafts, within the grounds of the existing Kilmardinny Arts Centre.

The current phase of the project is centred around establishing the need for a new workshop space; this will be explored through an investigation of gaps which exist within education in the heritage sector, in order to define the activities that it should house. The project will also explore traditional building skills and crafts which have a legacy in East Dunbartonshire. The early stages of the project will also concern the engagement of the buildings potential user groups, to justify its existence and to increase the likelihood that the workshop will be sustained.

East Dunbartonshire Leisure Culture Trust will use the research gathered through this project to support their application for funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, in order to secure the capital needed to build the workshop. The research is also intended to inform the buildings programme as the project moves forward in conjunction with the Architect.

This body of research is supported by accompanying essays from Tom Deacon, Beth Dutson and Louisa McGuigan. These cover a variety of topics with a focus on heritage, and have all drawn from the information gathered during the course of the MMM project. The essays can be found as supporting documents.

TOM DEACON Is it feasible to self-build public buildings today? If so, can Kilmardinny Traditional Building Centre be built by the people it aims to facilitate?

BETH DUTSON The Future of Heritage; does the introduction of digitalisation dilute authentic conservation, or aid it? How can the Kilmardinny Traditional Building Workshop be developed considering this?

LOUISA MCGUIGAN How can the participatory methods instituted by Die Baupiloten be adopted to create a new craft hub such resonates with local people?

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1 INVOLVEMENT

PARTIES INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT

THE MACKINTOSH SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

Tom Deacon, Beth Dutson and Louisa McGuigan are involved through a supervised research project, ensuring the building design makes use of community consultation, and can facilitate a mixture of traditional materials and methods. We have aimed to aid the development of the workshop by raising awareness of the project via a consultation workshop in with local school children and forming a document to aid a funding bid to the National Lottery Fund.

EDLC

East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Trust (EDLC) is a limited company managing three leisure centres (including pavilions); 8 libraries, a museum, an art gallery and an arts centre. We have been working with Esmee Thompson, Heritage and Cultural Learning Project Manager at EDLC who enables artists and creative specialists to engage with schools and communities in participatory settings to inform regeneration, enable skills development and social change.

Esmee is leading the heritage skills workshop at Kilmardinny House. We have assisted Esmee through organising a consultation work and assembling a research document to support EDLC’s bid to the heritage lottery fund.

TRAILS + TALES

Trails and Tales is an arts and heritage learning programme engaging artists with communities to explore their local history and heritage. They have been working in East Dunbartonshire since 2014, generating research, conversations and creative responses to learning to inform the design and creation of a series of outdoors sculptural arts and heritage trails. We have been working closely with Fiona Dean Project Coordinator and Evaluator within Tales + Trails, who helped found the workshop and project.

MAST ARCHITECTS

MAST Architects are the appointed architects for the project, engaged in creating sustainable environments and architecture. The practice has been based in Glasgow for the last 40 years and recently completed the restoration and extension of the Kilmardinny House Arts Centre in 2017.

Matthew Holloway is the appointed project architect for the workshop.

THOM SIMMONS

Thom Simmons is the Conservation Skills Coordinator at the Mackintosh Restoration. Thom’s role within the Mackintosh Restoration Team is to ensure that maximum use is made of the many learning opportunities available through the restoration project. He will be delivering a wide program of training and outreach engaging students within the GSA, professionals, school children and the general public. The role will create a legacy for the restoration project by increasing available craft skills within Scotland and by building capacity for conservation craft training. Thom has been a key figure throughout our research project providing us with information and contacts within the heritage sector.

Thom also helped deliver our consultation workshops in December and March running a stone cutting workshop to students from Bearsden Academy, Kirkintiloch High School and Glasgow School of Art. HES

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is the lead public body established to investigate, care for and promote Scotland’s historic environment. HES consider this as a model project for engaging a wide range of audiences and testing new partnerships with local authority services utilising their new resource of the Engine Shed and increasing access and knowledge to traditional building materials and associated skills. Throughout the project we talked with Dorothy Hoskins (HES technical outreach and education manager) and Ian Walker (HES Building Craft Development Manger) providing us with information on apprenticeships in Scotland and the future potential of the workshop.

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METHODOLOGY FACILITATING RESEARCH

Primarily, this study is rooted in ‘Action Research’, whereby qualitative information is derived from localised settings rather than abstract knowledge which can be applied to a setting. In order to obtain this specialised information, a mixture of methodologies has been utilised in the procurement of the research, over the course of some months.

These include;

CASE STUDIES With a plethora of heritage buildings and educational centres in Glasgow and surrounding areas, we felt it was fundamental to understand the architectural role of buildings in Scotland’s rich heritage, and how certain aspects of these could be applied to the development of the workshop.

INTERVIEWS As we began to delve into understanding our local built heritage, they were many people who generously shared some of their expertise with us by way of an interview. These took the form of emailed questions, phone calls and face to face meetings, and were a great way to gather information and create further connections. These have been attached in their full forms in the appendix of this document, but referred back to thoughout.

LITERATURE + ONLINE RESOURCES We utilised the diverse and extensive material available in online archives to explore the local heritage of East Dunbartonshire and the presence of industries throughout Scotland. We were also able to draw upon quantitive data concerning apprentices, and the area of East Dunbartonshire generally.

MEETINGS Many meetings were arranged to discuss the future of the project and the organisation of workshops. These were primarily with Esmee and Fiona from EDLC and Kathy Li, but also with Thom Simmons, Matthew from MAST Architects, Dorothy Hoskins and Ian Walker from HES, and teachers from Bearsden Academy and Kirkintilloch High School.

WORKSHOPS We ran a successful workshop with groups of school pupils, introducing them to spatial design and stone carving, under the umbrella of raising awareness of heritage building skills. Beth and Louisa also took part in a stone carving workshop with Thom Simmons.

VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS Throughout the project, we have taken photos, sketches and created maps, diagrams and instructions to fully elucidate and clarify our findings, as well as inform and describe.

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ACTION! A TIMELINE OF EVENTS

The following is a chronological record of the meetings, site visits, interviews and workshops that have been attended and organised by Tom, Beth and Louisa over the course of the project. This does not include the valuable meetings with Kathy Li.

OCTOBER 18 T, B + L visit the Engine Shed in Stirling, which is run by HES. They explore the building and current exhibitions.

NOVEMBER 3 T, B + L visit Kilmardinny House, to meet with Esmee, Fiona, Kathy and Matthew. and discuss the project and our respective roles within it. The site is explored.

NOVEMBER 10 T, B + L return to the Engine Shed for a meeting with Esmee, Fiona, Kathy and Dorothy Hoskins and Ian Walker from HES to discuss the involvement of HES. NOVEMBER 15 T, B + L meet Thom for the first time and talk about apprenticeships, heritage awareness in schools and those involved in promoting it.

NOVEMBER 17 T, B + L meet Esmee and Fiona to discuss practicalities of the forthcoming workshop with Bearsden Academy and Kirkintilloch High.

DECEMBER 1

T, B + L meet teachers from Bearsden Academy and Kirkintilloch High School with Esmee and Fiona to dicuss the logistics and setup of the workshops with pupils from their schools. The meeting is at Bearsden Academy.

DECEMBER 13

The Workshop! T, B + L facilitate a workshop in Kilmardinny House for school pupils with the help of Thom Simmons and Michael Goodger, Esmee and Fiona, and Kathy.

JANUARY 19

T, B + L submit research document to support EDLC funding bid to Heritage Lottery Funding for the workshop project development.

FEBRUARY 15 B visits Ian Walker in the Engine Shed, Stirling, for an interview on the subject of apprentices and apprenticeships specialising in heritage skills.

FEBRUARY 27 T, B + L visit Johnnie Clark and Thom Simmons at the Bankers Yard within the grounds of St Mungo’s Cathedral, Glasgow, and have a full tour of the current works on the cathedral as well as the yard.

MARCH 9

T + L meet Thom Simmons and talk further about his involvement with the refurbishment of the Mackintosh building.

MARCH 26

B + L spend the day in a stone carving workshop which is run by Thom Simmons in the McLellan galleries at GSA.

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Fig 2 • Thom explains how to carve an initial.

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CHAPTER 1

SETTING THE SCENE 15

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Map 1 • Scotland, highlighting East Dunbartonshire.

CHAPTER 1 Understanding the nature of the context of the workshop was our initial research step. We aimed to discover the historical and present-day trades and skills intrinsic to the area as a starting point, so that we could focus on what was not available, whilst gathering inspiration and information on what is and has been.

Within the entirety of Scotland, East Dunbartonshire is a relatively small region, yet its proximity to Glasgow and rich historical background make it an interesting place to explore. Our research, however, was not limited to the boundaries of the county, and we have outlined on the next page some of the educational sites of importance which we have come across and been involved with throughout the process.

The proposed site for the project is an existing garage within the grounds of Kilmardinny House near Bearsden; an accessible location with a usable concrete foundation and close proximity to the House itself. Time spent meeting with Esmee and Fiona at Kilmardinny House, and cycling through the area has allowed us to gain an understanding of the location and appreciate the tranquillity of the site, which is ideally suited to accommodating a workshop for heritage building skills.

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KILMARDINNY HOUSE THE ENGINE SHED THE LIME CENTRE BLACKNESS CASTLE GLASGOW CATHEDRAL + MACKINTOSH BUILDING

DUMFRIES HOUSE

Map 2 • Central Scotland, highlighting places of importance with regards to Heritage education and practice.

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1 HERITAGE - SCOTLAND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

The fortresses, castles, traditional homes and monuments of Scotland are renowned for their history, longevity and resilience, and require ongoing maintenance and education in heritage building skills. The following buildings set the scene, and are of importance within this body of research.

KILMARDINNY HOUSE Kilmardinny house in Bearsden is where we set the scene for the workshop development. The house is surrounded by mature gardens, and currently supports and hosts a mixture of arts and culture events, aided by the addition of a new pavilion extension. The proposed workshop is to be situated on the site of the existing garage.

THE ENGINE SHED Sitting on a plot adjacent to Stirling train station, the Engine Shed is a renovated MOD munitions warehouse, with additional newbuild wings. Inhabited by Historic Environment Scotland, it hosts researchers and an educational facility open to the public throughout the year, with examples of traditional building techniques exhibited.

THE LIME CENTRE

www.scotlime.org

The Scottish Lime Centre Trust is based on a site in Fife, and promotes the knowledge and traditional skills required for the conservation, repair and maintenance of the historic built environment. They offer advice and training for anyone looking to use lime as part of a heritage project.

BLACKNESS CASTLE Blackness Castle is a 15th Century fortress situated on the Firth of Forth, perched on the water’s edge; a monument to fortitude.

As are many others, it’s maintained by HES and recently hosted a resident stone mason apprentice.

GLASGOW CATHEDRAL Glasgow Cathedral is dedicated to St Mungo, and was built in the 1100s. Today, it’s the most complete medieval cathedral on the Scottish mainland, having survived the Protestant Reformation almost intact. Johnnie Clark is the works manager and has worked on maintaining the stone work of the cathedral for 17 years.

MACKINTOSH SCHOOL OF ART The Mackintosh building was completed in 1909 and heralded a new style of 20th century architecture, pioneered by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Recent devastation of the famous library, caused by a fire, has provided the challenge of restoring the building, adopting the traditional materials and techniques used in over 100 years ago.

DUMFRIES HOUSE Dumfries House is an 18th century house set in a 2,000 acre estate.

Within the grounds, the Kuanyshev Traditional & Craft Skills Centre offers summer master classes entitled ‘Get into Sustainable Building’. The course, offering education in traditional timber and stone work, is supported by the Prince’s Trust.

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2 EAST DUNBARTONSHIRE - CONTEXT THE REGION AT A GLANCE

East Dunbartonshire; one of Scotland’s 32 counties, borders Glasgow to the south, and contains many of the suburbs of Glasgow. The Campsie fells border East Dunbartonshire to the north. The county has low levels of deprivation and unemployment, has recently received accolades such as being named the ‘Best Place in Great Britain for women to live in 2017’ (BBC Radio 4 Women’s Hour)1.

BBC Radio 4, Women’s Hour. 12th September, 2017.

East Dunbartonshire’s rich industrial history offers a backdrop to the proposed project. Tales + Trails, an organisation based at Kilmardinny House in Bearsden, has been curating heritage-exploring activities and events over the last few years, in an effort to retain and bring to light important parts of the area’s history. A site located in the grounds of Kilmardinny House has been earmarked for the development of the new workshop. With Bearsden Academy a walk away, the site is accessible and connected - an ideal location for heritage education.

Bearsden is a wealthy suburb, with Bearsden Academy ranked 8th best performing state school in the The Sunday Times Schools Guide 20182.

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Fig 3 • A tram travels through Bearsden, 1955

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Figs 4 + 5 • Bearsden Cross, and the train station, present day

Aileen Clark, ‘Why is East Dunbartonshire the best place to be a woman?’, www.bbc.co.uk, September 2017 Russell Jackson, ‘Survey names Scotland’s top-performing state secondary school’, www.scotsman.com, 10 April 2018 3 SIMD, ‘Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2016’, http://simd.scot/2016, 15 Feb 2018 1 2

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LENNOXTOWN TWECHAR MILNGAVIE KIRKINTILLOCH BEARSDEN

LENZIE BISHOPBRIGGS

GLASGOW

Although East Dunbartonshire is home to some of Glasgow’s wealthier suburbs and more highly regarded schools, it is also a county in which levels of deprivation can be seen to be high, particularly around Kirkintilloch. The map below illustrates data from the ‘Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation’ 3.

Most Deprived Areas 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Least Deprived Areas

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CALICO PRINTING

PAPER MAKING

WEAVING MILL

IRON FOUNDRY

BRICK MAKING

BOOK BINDING

FIRED CLAY

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Fig 6 • A map of historical industries.

2 EAST DUNBARTONSHIRE - HERITAGE HISTORICAL INDUSTRIES

PAPER MAKING The Ellangowan Paper Mill opened in Milngavie in 1882. The premises had formerly housed a cotton mill, which closed following the decline of the cotton industry in Scotland.1 Paper is produced over several stages, first the tree is pulped, and the pulp washed, screened and bleached. The pulp is then pressed, dried and rolled into paper.2 The Ellangowan Paper Mill produced fine quality paper for writing, printing and cheque books.1 The mill closed in 1949. Although paper making in Scotland declined during this period, there are still more than ten large scale paper mills in operation across Scotland.4 CALICO PRINTING Lennoxtown and Milton of Campsie were formerly centres for calico printing works. Calico involves printing small repeating patterns onto cotton, and these fabrics were sold in India and in the Far East.5 In Lennoxtown the works were first opened in 1780, and established a need for the expansion of the village, with a new and unprecedented demand for housing in the area. Dunbartonshire has a rich history in the textiles industry, it was a stronghold for the Turkey red dye process. The Turkey red process utilised natural dyes to create a red colour of cotton which could then be printed with patterns or left as a durable fabric.6 WEAVING The James Slimon weaving mill was a very large employer of women in Kirkintilloch. The vast majority of the output; shirting, skirting, zephyr and costume cloths, was sold in America. During the First World War they produced massive quantities of khaki shirts for soldiers.7 The motto of Kirkintilloch, “Ca’canny but Ca’awa” or “carry on carefully but keep carrying on” is said to have existed first as a line of advice which experienced local weavers would tell their novice co-workers when working on the hand looms.8 The textile industry still bears a presence in East Dunbartonshire; the West of Scotland Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers meet monthly in Milngavie to share their skills.10 BRICK MAKING + FIRED CLAY Scottish fired clay products were at one time in demand all over the world. Glenboig became a centre for brick making because of the local natural resource of high quality fire clay and the bricks manufactured here were transported to exhibitions across the globe.11 Currently there are four brick works remaining in Scotland, all of which produce bricks through mechanical means. The last brick works capable of producing handmade bricks in Scotland closed in 2007.12 BOOK BINDING Blackie and Son published books across lots of volumes, to be released in monthly and weekly instalments called “numbers”.13 The numbers allowed people to buy a book bit by bit by subscription, this was common place during the early 1800’s when it was very unusual to find a bookshop outside of big cities.14 Blackie and Son produced beautiful bound books for schools, with elaborate illustrations and embossed covers. Book binding still exists within West Scotland, in Glasgow Downie Alison Downie hand stitch and bind short run books.

IRON FOUNDING Iron Founding is one of few remaining industries in East Dunbartonshire, with one of the historic foundries Archibald Young Ltd still is existence. The most well recognised firm Lion Foundry have since closed but at one time produced the iconic red telephone boxes. 15 Archibald Young produce decorative and sculptural castings as well as architectural metal work and refurbishment on heritage buildings.16 East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Cultural Services, ‘East Dunbartonshire Photo Library: Ellangowan Paper Mill’, 10 April 2018 Remade Scotland, Paper Making and Paper Mills in Scotland, (Glasgow, 2000), page 1 4 Remade Scotland, Paper Making and Paper Mills in Scotland, (Glasgow, 2000), page 2 5 East Dunbartonshire Tourism Partnership, ‘East Dunbartonshire Towns’, 10 April 2018 6 National Museum of Scotland, ‘National Museum of Scotland: Turkey Red in Scotland’, 10 April 2018 7 Marin, Don, Kirkintilloch in Old Picture Postcards, (Europese Bibliotheek, 1985) page 66 8 East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Cultural Services, ‘East Dunbartonshire Leisure Culture Trust: Kirkintilloch Coat of Arms’, 10 April 2018 10 Weave Spin Dye Glasgow, ‘Weave Spin Dye Glasgow: Membership’, 10 April 2018 11 National Museum of Scotland, ‘National Museum of Scotland: Scottish Bricks’, 10 April 2018 12 Historic Environment Scotland, ‘Historic Environment Scotland: Scotlands Traditional Building Materials’, 10 April 2018 13 Scottish Printing Archival Trust, A Reputation for Excellence Volume 2, (1994), page 7 14 Kirkintilloch Herald, ‘Kirkintilloch Herald: Kirkintilloch foundry unveils new mural’ (13 August 2014) 15 Archibald Young, ‘Archibald Young: Product Page’, 10 April 2018 1 2

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METAL FOUNDRY BOOK BINDING

CABINET MAKER

STONE MASONS

GARMENT MAKING

ART FABRICATORS

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Fig 7 • A map of current industries.

2 EAST DUNBARTONSHIRE - HERITAGE INDUSTRIES TODAY

The 1840 census data for East Dunbartonshire shows that more than 45% of the working population of East Dunbartonshire were employed in manufacturing industries, this was far higher than the national average which was around 30%. Today however, the percentage of workers employed in manufacturing industries is slightly below the national average, at around 5%, following a significant decline during the mid 1970’s. The present day makers and manufacturers are on a much smaller scale than the industrial scale of making which formerly took place in East Dunbartonshire, with a focus on heritage related crafts, as well as arts and sculpture fabrication.

BOOK BINDING Downie Allison Downie are a bookbinders based in Partick, in nearby Glasgow. They have a small workshop there where they produce handcrafted short run books for artists and writers, utilising a diverse range of materials and binding techniques. They also work in the conversation and restoration of books, and run classes in book repair and binding techniques.1 The National Library of Scotland run an annual bookbinding competition which aspires to exhibit the continuing talents of bookbinders across Europe.2 CABINET MAKING Wood craft continues to thrive in Scotland. Craft Scotland is an agency who promote craft and its contributions to “Scotland’s cultural, economic and social well-being”.3 In recent months they have focused on makers who work with timber to create bespoke furniture, for example Aberfeldys Angus Ross ltd, who utilise the ancient technique of steam bending to curve and coax native Scottish timbers into articles of furniture. In Maryhill, Westend Cabinet Maker has worked in collaboration with renowned Scottish artists to create timber works for exhibition as well as unique pieces of furniture.4 ART FABRICATION Sculpture and Design Ltd are a fabricating workshop based in Glasgow. Their work centers around collaboration with sculptors, fine artists and designers to create bespoke fabrications and installations.5 Fabricators allow artists to utilise specialist skills, machinery and processes which may not be available within their studio space.

METAL FOUNDRY Metal Founding is one of the few remaining industries in East Dunbartonshire. Archibald Young Ltd were founded in 1959 and still operate from their original site in Kirkintilloch.6 They are one of several foundries in Scotland who specialise in architectural metal work such as bespoke railings, gates and fireplaces for historic buildings.

STONE MASONRY Of the 2500 stone quarries which once existed across Scotland, only 7 remain active today. Despite this, the large number of historic stone buildings around the country in need of restoration mean that stone masons are still very much in demand. 7 Stone masons train through apprenticeships, spending long periods working on site in combination with time in college. Historic Scotland operate a large number of heritage sites across the country and have their own team of stonemasons to carry out repair and restoration work.

GARMENT PRODUCTION Greenhills are a small scale garment manufacturer in Coatbridge. They work with independent designers and brands to create short runs of garments.8 Makeworks is an online directory of makers and manufacturers in Scotland, they feature many textile firms and believe that this is an area of industry in Scotland which is consistently growing. 9 Make Works Scotland, ‘Make Works: Downie Allison Downie’, 10 April 2018 National Library of Scotland, ‘National Library of Scotland: Bookbinding skills celebrated at National Library’, 10 April 2018 3 Craft Scotland, ‘Craft Scotland: About’, Creative Scotland, 10 April 2018 4 Make Works Scotland, ‘Make Works: West End Cabinet Maker’, 10 April 2018 5 Make Works Scotland, ‘Make Works: Sculpture and Design’, 10 April 2018 6 Archibald Young, ‘Archibald Young: Information’, 10 April 2018 7 Historic Environment Scotland, ‘Historic Environment Scotland: Scotlands Traditional Building Materials’, 10 April 2018 8 Make Works Scotland, ‘Make Works: Greenhills Clothing’, 10 April 2018 9 Make Works Scotland, ‘Make Works: 10 Scottish manufacturers for fashion designers’, 10 April 2018 1 2

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3 ON SITE

KILMARDINNY ARTS CENTRE

The proposed site in question for the heritage skills workshop is an existing garage in the grounds of Kilmardinny House. The House itself is A-Listed and has been home to a string of West Indies merchants, shipping merchants and business people, before being acquired by the East Dunbartonshire Council in 2004. In 2017, an extension to the building was completed by MAST Architects, which provides function space with views into the grounds of the House.

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KILMARDINNY ARTS CENTRE

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Fig 8 • Kilmardinny House before the extension.

Fig 9 • A visualisation of the extension by MAST Architects. This project was completed in 2017.

Below: Site plan of the Kilmardinny House Grounds.

The site is heavily wooded with mature trees, and seems very private. A large car park facilitates the House, and the existing garage is tucked away between trees to the left hand side of the house, accessed by a driveway. The new extension flanks the house to the right, with views across the lawn.

EXISTING GARAGE/ PROPOSED SITE

KILMARDINNY HOUSE

NORTH

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3 ON SITE

THE EXISTING BUILDING

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Fig 10 • The garage is tucked away in the corner of the grounds of Kilmardinny House, but less than 100m from the house itself.

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Fig 11 • The garage is flanked by mature trees; a yew and a horse chestnut, which may have implications on the scope of the design.

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The proposed site in question for the heritage skills workshop is an existing garage in the grounds of Kilmardinny House. Currently disused as a garage, is has been used as a hang out spot by locals and is now fenced off. The concrete foundation provides a solid grounding for a future workshop.

Fig 12 • The garage is made up of bricks, concrete and timber joists, which are unlikely to be re-used but some material could be salvaged for future projects within the workshop.

3200mm

The garage is modest in scale and so the future workshop must be designed as a compact unit to fit within this area of the grounds. There is scope for further outdoor space to be paved as an open-air extension to the workshop, which could be covered by a canopy.

7800mm

6000mm

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PRESERVING HERITAGE TALES + TRAILS

As well as looking at the context of the existing building within Kilmardinny House grounds and, at a wider glance, the county of East Dunbartonshire, we feel that it is important to note what is currently being facilitated by Kilmardinny House Arts Centre as a way to set the scene, which leads us on to Trails + Tales.

Tales and Trails is an artistic platform which was created by East Dunbartonshire, initially intended to run the course of three years. The initiative invited citizens of East Dunbartonhire to explore their local heritage and history through participatory workshops with artists.

Over the years the Trails and Tales initiative has seen the creation of a series of arts and heritage trails, across eleven local towns and communities. The trails have provided a tool for people to engage with their local history and re-visit old memories, linking together artefacts and sculptures created as part of the projects.

The Materials, Methods and Makers workshop at Kilmardinny House could provide a location for further Trails and Tales workshops, allowing more people in the area to become involved in traditional skills and crafts education. During the course of the T + T initiative, many workshops took place outside and were restricted to the summer months. A new flexible workshop space could allow the future projects to take place all year round. The location of the workshop within the grounds of Kilmardinny House could also draw more people to the site, where a new sculptural piece ‘The Kilmardinny Tree’ has been installed by artist Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva as part of a Trails and Tales Heritage Route. An uprooted tree from the grounds was guilded and planted upside-down for the installation.

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Fig 13 • The Kilmardinny Tree before being guilded.

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Fig 14 • Examples of previous T+T events.

4 PRESERVING HERITAGE

TALES + TRAILS - AN INTERVIEW WITH FIONA DEAN

Fiona Dean is the Project Coordinator and Evaluator within Tales + Trails, and plays a big part in organising art events around East Dunbartonshire. Fiona graduated as a fine artist and sculptor, and looked at issues of social class and inclusion to visual arts practice as a PhD. She works freelance as an artist, as well as developing a range of artist-led research and development projects. With extensive experience in community based art and space projects, Fiona is involved in the initiation of the workshop at Kilmardinny house. Louisa asked her a series of questions to clarify and define ‘Materials, Methods, Makers’.

8TH MARCH 2018

Louisa; How does the Materials, Methods, Makers project lead on from the Trails and Tales project?

Fiona Dean; T&T engaged groups through hands on processes of making across a range of materials and methods. This hands on engagement with methods, materials and ‘craft’ skills received a lot of interest locally. When this was coupled with the work we had done in creatively engaging people with the content of the archives and collections we felt there was an important opportunity to look more deeply at skills related to these heritage areas. Many people had first hand memories of these industries and their associated working methods and T&T really opened up understanding of the need to work to conserve and develop heritage skills that were disappearing from use.

How did you establish the need for a new workshop space in East Dunbartonshire?

This need grew from learning and evaluation that was carried out throughout the T&T programme. All of the work was evaluated and sought feedback from people about why they wanted to take part, what they enjoyed most, what they learned about heritage and what they wanted to see happen. We had also run workshops that were very skills based in stone carving and metal forging and recognised the interest but also the need for dedicated spaces for working.

T&T has amassed a great deal of heritage material that uses the archives and collections, but that also comes directly from communities - many people began to bring heritage objects to us as part of their stories. These led to on-line developments, however, having a dedicated resource and space that focused on making, methods, materials was seen as an important way forward that could keep skills living alongside the stories. In terms of younger people living in the community, this hands on approach to researching and making was also often a way of engaging, especially those harder to reach, as it allowed a quite different form of engagement with ideas. This kind of space also complemented a newly developed centre (due to be opened) about heritage made in Kirkintilloch; offering a ‘live’ experience of the skills, materials, methods and makers that realised these heritage objects.

Why was Kilmardinny selected as the site for the workshop?

Kilmardinny is a historic building and its grounds had been the site of our metal forging and had worked very successfully. The building had just been newly renovated and developed, giving it

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a very prominent role in the area. There was also an existing footprint that we could work with.

What crafts do you imagine will take place in the workshop?

The crafts and materials & associated local Industries would be: Clay/ceramics connected with pottery production at Campsie ware, Milton & Allander Pottery, Milngavie.

Foundry Metals and Wrought Iron, the production of Kirkintillochs Foundries, still alive through our last foundry Archibald Youngs. Torrance & Baldernocks Smiddies & Lennoxtown’s Kali nail works.

Textiles/Printing, which features across many towns & villages from Calico printing in Milton of Campsie, weaving in Baldernock & Auchinairn, the red turkey dye works at Milngavie, flax for linen production at Waterside.

Paper, produced at Ellengowan Mill in Milngavie, Milton of Campsie Paper Pulp Works & is also represented through a unique publishing industry in Bishopbriggs, namely, Blackies and more recently harper Collins.

Glass, decorative leaded and painted production features across 30 churches in East Dunbartonshire, created by international crafts people such as Alf Webster & Sadie McClellan.

Stone carving would features as part of Roman heritage & Whynstone quarries.

What different user groups do you envisage will use the space?

We aim to target all young people, in particular those who live in areas of deprivation (70% of Kirkintilloch High School pupils live in SIMD Bands 1-4), who have additional support needs or below average reading age/maths age as defined by standardised tests, receive FME /Clothing Grants or are lacking in aspiration/parents unemployed. These participants will be identified through formal & informal referrals across Schools, Youth Services & employment services.

Young people who have left school & are unemployed ages 18 – 25 years. Volunteers from the Mackintosh School of Architecture. Local heritage groups & volunteers. Families, parents, carers of participants. Youth & education agencies.

How do you plan to engage these groups as the project moves forward?

This will be funding dependent, however year 1 would be very much a hands on consultation phase, working with small pilot groups to shape the nature of the proposed provision, the space itself and test and evaluate working methods. This will involve working closely with our group of partners who will all have different levels of responsibility within the project. Some partners are key to delivery, others are key in communication & the identification of participants as well as supporting their on going skills development. The development period would give us the opportunity to work closely with partners, developing & experimenting with ideas, solutions & processes. This would be a crucial period of time which would inform our communications & partnership strategy going forward.

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CHAPTER 2

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ESTABLISHING A USER GROUP 35

CHAPTER 2

1 WORKSHOP

KILMARDINNY HOUSE, EAST DUNBARTONSHIRE

Identifying the user group for the Heritage Skills Workshop is an instrumental process in determining the architectural formulation of the workshop itself. From the outset, EDLC have been keen to facilitate young people who may be leaving school and considering further studies or work in the fields of heritage, conservation and traditional building skills. This demographic will maintain a priority within the space, however in order to sustain the workshop and ensure that it is fully utilised to its best potential, it may be open to other groups and individuals at certain times.

We feel that if the workshop is to be built and properly utilised straight away, it needs an aware and prepared user group who have played a part in the initial stages of the research and design.

Targeting students currently studying for their Highers, with views to going to university, college or the workplace afterwards, we devised a half-day interactive workshop within Kilmardinny House. As a preliminary pilot scheme. This workshop provided a chance for us to ascertain the current awareness of the user group, as well as to raise awareness amongst them as to the future possibilities of the workshop.

Location of workshop - Kilmardinny House, Kilmardinny Avenue, Bearsden, Glasgow G61 3NN Date of workshop - The morning of Wednesday 13th December 2017 Schools involved - Kirkintilloch High School and Bearsden Academy Number of students - 16 In conjunction with - EDLC, GSA, Glasgow City Heritage Trust, Mackintosh Restoration Team The following pages are a record of the workshop, and the information gathered was used to make up a research document to aid with the EDLC’s lottery funding bid.

The morning’s program; 1 Whole group - presentation delivered by GSA 2 Whole Group - preliminary questions 3A Half Group - stone carving session whilst other half of group takes part in 3B 3B Half Group - spatial workshop whilst other half of group takes part in 3A 3A + 3B swapped after an hour so that all students took part in both activities.

Finally, a round up of the morning with the whole group.

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1 WORKSHOP

THE PRESENTATION

To the full group of pupils, we delivered a presentation (put together by Tom), which offered a brief introduction to Traditional and Heritage Skills and the wide range of crafts and building techniques that could be taught within the proposed workshop. We showed examples of how traditional techniques were used in contemporary architectural situations.

Beth briefly talked about a project she had been a part of in Uganda, building a classroom using hand tools and locally available materials to offer a contrast with the UK based examples shown in the presentation, and to suggest the sort of project that architecture or construction students may get involved with.

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We looked at the Mackintosh School of Art as the perfect example of how traditional building skills are being utilised in the refurbishment of an iconic and much loved piece of architecture, and Thom Simmons was on hand to further explain how apprentices had been employed as part of the process.

Fig 15 • Slides used in the presentation.

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1

WORKSHOP PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS

AIM; Gain a preliminary understanding of the level of knowledge that the students have before the workshops with regards to traditional and heritage building skills. Encourage the pupils to begin thinking about heritage in their local area and their possibilities after leaving school.

Before taking part in the workshops, the pupils were asked four questions, and filled in their answers on cards. Their answers are a useful insight into their knowledge on traditional building skills and how much exposure pupils at this age (around 16 and 17) had with regards to architecture and tradition.

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Figs 16 + 17 • Question cards created by Louisa are filled in by pupils.

1 - Do you have any interest or knowledge of heritage in your local area?

If so, could you write or draw a heritage building that you know about?

2 - have you had any prior hands on experience of heritage crafts and skills?

If yes, what was it?

3 - If you were to have the opportunity to participate in any traditional craft or skill, what would interest you the most?

4 - Can you identify any barriers which might be stopping you from taking part in any traditional crafts and skills?

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17, Male, Kirkintilloch High School

17, Male, Bearsden Academy 1 – University of Glasgow 2 – Joinery Work 3 – Anything!

4 – Age, location and not being told about it in school 16, Male, Bearsden Academy 1 – Rosslyn Chapel 2 – Yes 3 – Glass moulding 4 – Blacksmithing

1 – Kirkintilloch Town Hall, Hillhead Chapel + St Mary’s RC Church, Bearsden 2 – Architectural Model Making at GSA. 3 – Stone Masonry 4 – Lack of information, education + location 17, Female, Bearsden Academy 1 – Cathedral of St John the Devine, New York + Notre Dame, Paris 2 – Sculpting + Pottery 3 – Pottery 4 – Haven’t really heard about it before in terms of a career.

16, Male, Bearsden Academy

17, Male, Bearsden Academy 1 – St Andrews Church, Bearsden + Bearsden Cross Parish Church 2 – Painting + Architectural Modelling 3 – Glass blowing 4 – We haven’t heard a lot about it 16, Male, Bearsden Academy 1 – Douglas Academy 2 – Origami, Chicken Coops, Clay 3 – Glass, Blacksmithing, Stone Carving 4 – Knowledge of the places to learn craft skills 17, Male, Bearsden Academy 1 – St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh 2 – Clay making and woodwork 3 – Woodwork, because it’s interesting 4 – Just haven’t heard much about it!

1 – (Sketch) 2 – Clay making, Expressive Painting + Pottery 3 – Ice Sculpture 4 – We don’t usually get asked.

17, Male, Kirkintilloch High School 1 – Kirkintilloch Town Hall, Hillhead Chapel + St Mary’s RC Church, Bearsden 2 – No experience 3 – Textiles 4 – Don’t know anything about it!

17, Male, Bearsden Academy 1 – St Andrews Church + Bearsden Cross Parish Church 2 – Painting + Clay making, Architectural Model Making at GSA. 3 – I would like to try clay again 4 – We don’t get told about it usually 17, Female, Kirkintilloch High School

16, Female, Bearsden Academy 1 – Notre Dame, Paris 2 – Clay at school, Built a treehouse 3 – Clay and Sculpture, Stone Masonry 4 – Skills aren’t good enough

1 – Kirkintilloch Town Hall + St Mary’s RC Church, Bearsden 2 – No Experience 3 – Glass blowing 4 – Unaware of the opportunities available

17, Male, Kirkintilloch High School

17, Female, Kirkintilloch High School

1 – The Lighthouse, Glasgow 2 – Yes, some experience 3 – Wood carving 4 – Lack of knowledge

1 – Kirkintilloch Town Hall, Hillhead Chapel + St Mary’s RC Church, Bearsden 2 – No experience 3 – Textiles + Glass 4 – Unaware of opportunities + nowhere to try it 

Fig ? • Responses from the students.

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1

WORKSHOP SPATIAL WORKSHOP SETUP

This hour long workshop looked at encouraging the students to understand a sense of space and scale, and to back their design decisions with pragmatic reasoning. We provided small groups of 2-3 students with a two sided MDF box, representing the proposed workshop site at a scale of 1:20. We prepared sheets of material textures, objects such as tools, furniture and windows, and people to inhabit the spaces. The groups cut out these objects and pasted them into the boxes, forming 3D collages.

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Figs 18 - 25 • Resources which we created for the workshop.

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1

WORKSHOP SPATIAL WORKSHOP INSTRUCTIONS

AIM; Allow the pupils to explore scale and spatial design in 3D, with a chance to explain their reasoning in an informal ‘review’ of their designs. Gather ideas from the user group for the potential design of the workshop within the grounds of Kilmardinny House.

Whilst half of the pupils worked with Thom and Michael in the stone carving workshop, the other half worked in small groups with Tom, Beth and Louisa in a collage model making workshop. Firstly, the groups were taken outside to have a look at the proposed site of the workshop, within the grounds of Kilmardinny House. The pupils were then provided with a pre-made MDF base for their model, which represented the workshop at a scale of 1:20. Using printed textures, materials, furniture, objects and people, the models were put together quickly in a collage fashion. The pupils worked quickly and efficiently and each small group had made particular pragmatic design decisions which they were able to articulate to the wider group after the hour of making was up.

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Fig 26 • Instruction sheet drawn by Beth.

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1

 

WORKSHOP SPATIAL WORKSHOP

Figs 27, 28 + 29 • The workshop in action!

Figs 30 - 35 • The workshop in action!

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1 WORKSHOP

SPATIAL WORKSHOP OUTCOME

These collage models were produced by the pupils over the course of an hour and presented at the end to the wider group. The following captions describe the design decisions which were explained by the pupils during their presentations.

1

A workshop specifically designed for stone work.

Focus on the outside space as a ventilated work zone. Stone as a building materials illustrates the workshop’s function.

2

This workshop uses heritage skills within the fabric of the building, and includes a sculptural garden.

There is an extraction system for aiding dusty activities.

3

A workshop where stone is used on the outside of the building’s fabric to bring the outside in. Raised windows allow natural light without compromising wall space for machinery.

4

A workshop specifically designed for pottery.

Tiled floor and sinks are easy to clean. Large windows allow for a well lit workspace. The workshop includes a kiln for firing clay.

5

A workshop for blacksmithing / forgery.

Door is positioned in the corner for maximum uninterrupted floor space. There’s a fire for heating the tools and workbenches at varying heights.

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A workshop specifically designed for wood and stone work. The slatted walls allow for ventilation and the stone floor is durable.

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WORKSHOP STONE CARVING

AIM; Introduce the pupils to working with their hands and allow them to get a feel of traditional tools and a material in a way that they may not have had a chance to do at school. Give the students the opportunity to work with experts in a field of traditional skills.

Thom Simmons, the GSA Conservation Skills Co-ordinator, worked with Michael Goodger from Glasgow City Heritage Trust to deliver two stone carving sessions throughout the morning. Within the hour-long sessions, the pupils had the opportunity to carve an initial or symbol into a block of stone using traditional tools, under the expertise of Thom and Michael. The pupils were all fully engaged and by the end of the session had successfully completed at least one letter.

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Figs 36 + 37 • Thom and Michael guide a stone carving workshop

‘Perhaps the workshop could be an outdoor working area with one big sheltered space underneath?

A pupil offers their advice on the workshop

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1

WORKSHOP THE BID DOCUMENT

All information gathered from the workshop was assembled and analysed in a research document, which was used by EDLC to support their bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund. Our supporting document was used to emphasize the need for the workshop by establishing a user group. The following three pages are exerts from the document.

Materials, Methods + Makers

Stone Carving Workshop

Kilmardinny House

Spatial Design Workshop

REPORT OF FINDINGS

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1

WORKSHOP THE BID DOCUMENT

2 ENGAGEMENT

PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS: OUTCOMES

DO YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST OR KNOWLEDGE OF HERITAGE IN YOUR LOCAL AREA? IF SO, COULD YOU NAME A HERITAGE BUILDING THAT YOU KNOW ABOUT? FEMALE STUDENTS

MALE STUDENTS

AGE 17

AGE 16

BEARSDEN ACADEMY

KIRKINTILLOCH HIGH SCHOOL

DO YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST OR KNOWLEDGE OF HERITAGE IN YOUR LOCAL AREA? IF SO, COULD YOU NAME A HERITAGE BUILDING THAT YOU KNOW ABOUT?

UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW

ROSSLYN CHAPEL

NOTRE DAME, PARIS

ST JOHN THE DEVINE, NYC

THE LIGHTHOUSE, GLASGOW

ST MARY’S, EDINBURGH

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DOUGLAS ACADEMY, BEARSDEN

ST ANDREW’S, BEARSDEN

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WORKSHOP THE BID DOCUMENT HAVE YOU HAD ANY PRIOR HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE OF HERITAGE CRAFTS AND SKILLS? IF YES, WHAT WAS IT?

POTTERY + CLAY GLASS ORIGAMI WOODWORK PAINTING ARCHITECTURAL MODELLING SCULPTURE NO EXPERIENCE

IF YOU WERE TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY TRADITIONAL CRAFT OR SKILL, WHAT WOULD INTEREST YOU THE MOST?

STONE MASONRY BLACKSMITHING / FORGERY GLASSWORK POTTERY + CLAY WOODWORK TEXTILES SCULPTURE ANYTHING!

CAN YOU IDENTIFY ANY BARRIERS WHICH MIGHT BE STOPPING YOU FROM TAKING PART IN ANY TRADITIONAL CRAFTS AND SKILLS?

My skills aren’t good enough

We don’t usually get asked Haven’t really heard about it before in terms of a career

Not really part of Scottish Culture

Unaware of the opportunities available

Don’t know anything about it!

We haven’t heard a lot about it

Unaware of opportunities + nowhere to try it

We don’t get told about it usually

Limited knowledge of the places to learn craft skills

Not really talked about Seen as more of a Just haven’t heard in school like most male profession much about it! parts of art Age, location and education Lack of informaLack of knowledge not being told about tion, education + it in school location

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1

WORKSHOP CONCLUSION

OUR FINDINGS

This pilot workshop was the first participation session working with the user group for the proposed workshop in the grounds of Kilmardinny House, and proved to be an interesting and informative morning.

The students enjoyed the morning at Kilmardinny House, and were enthusiastic participants in the activities that were run. Encouragingly competitive streaks were revealed during the Spatial Workshop, and all groups were willing to present their design decisions. Whilst working, we spoke to the students about their plans on completing Highers and leaving school, many of which had questions about applying for university, and the Glasgow School of Art which we were able to help them with.

All students had enjoyed taking part in the stone masonry workshop with Thom and Michael, with many wishing that the session had been longer in order to complete a bit more. For most students this was their first attempt at working with traditional tools on a heritage building activity.

Findings from the Preliminary Questions (4).

1 - Do you have any interest or knowledge of heritage in your local area? If so, could you write or draw a heritage building that you know about?

In response to this question, most students named well known buildings of Heritage in Scotland (e.g.

The Lighthouse, Glasgow and Rosslyn Chapel). A few suggestions were of buildings further afield (Notre Dame, Paris). Overall, most students understood the nature of a heritage building, but a few suggestions proved otherwise. Douglas Academy and St Andrew’s Church, both in Bearsden, were mentioned; neither of which could be associated with heritage building as they were built in recent decades. These answers demonstrated a slight lack of either comprehension or knowledge from the students.

2 - Have you had any prior hands on experience of heritage crafts and skills? If yes, what was it?

Some interesting answers were given to this question, with crafts and skills ranging from pottery and clay to origami and chicken-coop building. We were interested to hear all of the projects that the students had been involved with both in and out of School, but it was apparent that none of them had previously taken part in the traditional building techniques and skills which we had outlined in their earlier presentation.

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3 - If you were to have the opportunity to participate in any traditional craft or skill, what would interest you the most?

It was encouraging to discover that the group suggested a wide range of crafts and skills that they would be keen to get involved with; some that we had spoken about during the presentation and some new ones too!

4 - Can you identify any barriers which might be stopping you from taking part in any traditional crafts and skills?

We wanted to discover the reasons as to why the students had limited experience of traditional crafts and skills; something that was approached with this question. All of the male students had similar answers, alluding to the fact that they had not been informed of any possibilities within the field, at school or otherwise. There was a more varied selection of answers from the female students, but they too mentioned that they had not been made aware, as well as mentioning that it more of a male profession, and that skills may not be good enough.

It was clear from reading the responses and speaking to students throughout the morning that awareness was the biggest set back to having no previous experience, but that the majority of students had benefited from the activities and were keen to take part in further workshops in the future. Most students said that they would be keen to use the proposed facilities at Kilmardinny House, and some were thinking of pursuing architecture related courses at university after their Highers. Many of the students mentioned having limited resources for design and building within their schools, as well as limited time and access during certain terms or years only.

The pilot workshop has proved to us to be a success, and has the potential to lead to future workshops, such as working with Thom Simmons on a stone carving initiative for students in the same peer group as those who took part today. We felt that with the proposed workshop facility, these events would be far easier to run, and more complex and interesting projects would become available to a keen and responsive user group within the local area, who are currently lacking the facility to engage in a wide range of Heritage and Traditional Building Skills.

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2

2ND WORKSHOP STONE CARVING THOM SIMMONS, GSA

Kathy Li initiated a series of stone carving workshops, which were run by Thom Simmons over three days. These were open to architecture students, to expose them to traditional skills and provide an opportunity to try something first hand. The workshops took place in a studio in McLellan galleries, where Thom had set up workbenches, and provided the limestone and tools, as he had with the previous workshop which was run with Kirkintilloch High School and Bearsden Academy.

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Louisa and Beth took part in one day of the stone carving workshop and attempted to carve traditional serif lettering.

The tools used to carve stone by hand are simple and easily attainable, with tungsten tipped chisels used to carve, and a metal and wooden hammer for driving the chisel. Eye-wear is essential to protect against flying chips.

Extraction isn’t necessary when cutting limestone, as it does not contain the Silica that sandstone does.

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Louisa carves out an initial.

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Fig 38 • The stone carving session underway in McLellan Galleries.

OUR FINDINGS

The workshop provided a brief but insightful experience, and has provoked many ideas for future projects. The scale of the studio space was something that are were interested in and can relate to the Kilmardinny Workshop. With only very simple tools and sturdy workbenches needed to carve Limestone, the process requires no specialist and space-consuming equipment. The workbenches would also be fully appropriate for woodwork, as well as other craft activities and could be used in a multitude of situations.

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3

APPRENTICESHIPS INTERVIEW WITH IAN WALKER, HES

Most people who work in construction and heritage conservation have worked as an apprentice for some time as an entry to their trade. We were interested in finding out more about how apprenticeships work, how school leavers become enrolled as apprentices and how much awareness there is around the routes into apprenticeships. The following pages outline our findings.

Historic Environment Scotland’s Building Craft Development Manager, Ian Walker, offered insight into the trajectories of young people as they leave school and enter the world of construction, and ultimately Heritage Building. In a meeting in November he spoke briefly about HES apprentices, and Beth returned to The Engine Shed in Stirling in February to gain a little more detailed information from Ian, in order to determine where the workshop could be influenced by current programs taking place within HES and the Engine Shed.

The following is a summarised version of the interview, focusing on Ian’s information about apprentices and their trajectories in the industry. The full interview can be found in the appendix.

15TH FEB 2018

Ian: All apprentices in Scotland must have employed status; you need an employer. That’s the bottom line, and that’s before any funding comes with any apprentice. The traditional route for an apprentice would be that they leave school, they would move to an employer. When they’re with that employer, they would then attend college on a block release pattern. Construction is traditionally four years.

There are other apprenticeship routes out there within construction which is the adult apprenticeship.

So, someone who’s had a lot of experience working on site but doesn’t have the qualifications can get through that route in 2 years to do that.

Beth: Would they stick with the same employer for four years?

That’s how its traditionally happened. Even within HES, sometimes we can have people stuck in one site for 4 years. They can be very focused on what’s happening at that site so they’re not getting the breadth of experience. So we have been, in the last 18 months, putting them (HES apprentices) out with private contractors and they can spend 3/4/5 weeks getting a taste of what the outside world is like.

Only round 40 new stone masons come out of a 4 year apprenticeship each year, in the whole of Scotland. There is a massive shortage of stone masons, in fact a massive shortage of tradesmen in Scotland at the moment just now.

Are most apprentices those who have left school at 16/ after their Standards and not gone on to do Highers / A Levels?

We are doing a project with one of the local high schools in Stirling. They come in to do Stone Masonry for example, and need the equivalent of four GCSEs / Standards at a certain level. There are many out there who disengage with school and don’t achieve. We are looking for maths, English, a science subject and a technical subject. Some people leave school and don’t have that, but they would make really good tradespeople, so we are working with the school and Forth Valley College to develop a pre-apprenticeship course for people like that. It would be an 8 week course, not sure.

We will prepare these people who don’t have their academic qualifications and are not going to get them before they leave school. We are going to specifically target the skills that they need in terms of academia, to get them into the apprenticeship. So rather than broad brushing them, we would focus on the areas that they do at college. For stone masonry, they need to understand calculations and geometry to draw things out, so we would focus on the drawing so they have that. The English 52

part can be got around. As long as they can use a computer! Even students who have real issues with reading and writing; we can try and get around that. They would do the pre-apprenticeship course instead of doing their qualifications at School. It’s for the ones who are never going to achieve it, and we could guarantee them an apprenticeship.

We take on up to 10 apprentices a year, with 2 new stone masons this year in Stirling Castle. We would guarantee these students an interview if they got through the 8 week pre-apprenticeship course, have been good and reached a certain standard without playing ‘Jack the Lad’ (or Jack the Lady). I would take female apprentices every time over guys.

I feel that is also the aim for the workshop, to provide somewhere accessible for people to come and give things a try where they might not have been able to before.

With this qualification, we will pilot it and do it, and we will try and get SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority) to buy into it. I am meeting with them about it, and if they approve it, it means it’s an accredited unit. It means that even though we are piloting it, it can be picked up by the rest of the sector and will be a route for people to get in.

We are also doing quite a few specific heritage skills, so are doing the SVQ Level 3 Heritage Skills.

This is about six different courses; stone masonry, brick work, carpentry and joinery, painting and decorating, restoration etc. These are up-skilling qualifications, very specific to each tradesperson.

Someone who is already a stone mason or a joiner would do this as an upskill / masterclass.

So, maybe the Kilmardinny workshop could be seen as another base or outreach facility for this accredited course.

Yes, and local colleges and schools are really pushing construction training just now. You often hear about people from deprived areas trying to go to university; everyone wants to go to university. Its great that people have the opportunity, but there should also be more emphasis on putting people through the craft route.

I was going to ask about the application process for those school leavers who haven’t made their grades and are going to do the pre-apprenticeship program?

It breaks down into two areas. There’s an application for where we (HES) put down what we’re looking for and explain to them that we are trying to help those who won’t make their grades. The other 95% of the construction industry are private companies, and the vast majority of their apprentices are someone who knows someone who knows someone… They’re happy to take them on and that’s how it happens. Not many advertise apprentices. People say ‘how do you become an apprentice?’ and you have to go personally, knock on the door and go in and see them.

How many apprentices do you have at HES? Right now we have about 34. We are recruiting 6 this year; four stone masons, a joiner and a painter and decorator. They are scattered everywhere around Scotland. Lots of stonemasons, two joiners, a couple of gardeners. One gardener is in Holyrood Palace, one at Dirleton Castle. That’s in construction. We also have apprentices in Visitor Services Operation. They’re doing a two year SVQ Level 3 in visitor attraction or something. They do that on the job.

[The workshop] will be a stepping stone for those who don’t know about the possibilities of apprenticeships.

What we would be happy to do, once we have this pilot pre-apprenticeship scheme kicked off, is to share that with you guys. Once we get approval if we do go down the SQA route, which we will, it sits on the shelf so it’s open for anyone to use and I think there’ll be a fair bit of uptake from the school on that.

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3 APPRENTICESHIPS

DETERMINING THE GAPS

In 2010 Historic Scotland published a skills audit which investigated existing qualifications in trades and crafts, examining the extent to which the programmes covered heritage aspects of each discipline.

They also sought to highlight traditional building skills and crafts for which there were no formal qualifications. To examine this, they compiled a wish list of all the heritage related skills which it would be worthwhile for an apprentice working in traditional buildings or craft to learn. This allowed for a comparison against the topics currently covered as part of the courses.

Meaningful gaps were found in almost every discipline. In stone masonry, Historic Scotland highlighted that although the ability to point masonry below 5 mm is an essential in retaining the character of many traditional masonry buildings, it is currently not taught as part of any qualification.

Stone matching, another significant element of the stone masonry craft is also missed out entirely.

It was found that there are currently no existing apprenticeships in pattern making, wrought iron working, iron founding, or earth, clay, and turf related crafts. In addition, none of these disciplines are covered in any part by an existing apprenticeship.

The new workshop space in East Dunbartonshire could be utilised to teach masterclasses in particular heritage skills not currently taught as part of the apprenticeship.

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Fig 39 • HES are supporting successful apprentices throughout Scotland

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Following on from Beth’s conversation with Ian Walker, a diagram has been made to illustrate the paths taken by school leavers on their way to becoming apprentices, and how these differ depending on whether or not they have passed their standard grades. If they haven’t, intervention by HES can enable them to take part in a pre-apprenticeship course, hosted by the Engine Shed (or perhaps the new workshop at Kilmardinny House!) and on successful completion, have an interview for an apprenticeship with HES guaranteed.

FOUR YEAR APPRENTICESHIP IN CONSTRUCTION AFTER FINDING AN EMPLOYER...

ABLE TO PASS STANDARD GRADES PRE-APPRENTICESHIP COURSE OFFERED TO SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS

SCHOOL ON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION...

UNABLE TO PASS STANDARD GRADES

APPRENTICESHIP INTERVIEW GUARANTEED

FACILITATED BY THE ENGINE SHED

INTERVENTION

BY HES

COULD THE KILMARDINNY WORKSHOP HOST SIMILAR PROGRAMS IN THE FUTURE? 

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Fig 40 • Potential routes from school to an apprenticeship

3

APPRENTICESHIPS FINDING A WAY IN

From our discussions with Thom Simmons, Johnnie Clark , Ian Walker and Dorothy Hoskins, one things is apparent; there is no clear trajectory for school leavers to enter an apprenticeship.

Many pupils become apprentices as they have a connection with someone already in the trade, and have had exposure to the world of construction that way. Others are encouraged whilst at school, and some decide to begin an apprenticeship after already completing a degree.

James Fitzpatrick is a peer who has started out as an apprentice and now successfully runs ‘Joint Effort Masonry’. Beth asked him a few questions on his journey into becoming a stonemason and his answers seems indicative of many others; a connection through a friend. 

Correspondence between Beth and James Fitzpatrick of ‘Joint Effort Masonry’.

SCHOOL

CONTACT WITHIN THE INDUSTRY

56

FOUR YEAR APPRENTICESHIP IN CONSTRUCTION

Megan Crawford worked as an apprentice for Historic Environment Scotland, and was the resident stone mason at Blackness Castle for a while. Beth spoke to her to ascertain how she came to start her apprenticeship. 

Correspondence between Beth and Megan Crawford.

Beth spoke to Ian Walker about meeting Megan; Beth: I met Megan (Crawford) at a hill race in Fife; I remember you saying that she used to go off on the weekends for big runs, and I recognised her face from the Blackness Castle HES video. She was very friendly.

Ian: Yes she has gone on to do her teacher training to be a tech teacher, so for us it’s a good result! So she will be enthused with the message of heritage when she comes out of her teacher training. We’ve had a great female apprentices, so much less trouble than the guys! Not all the guys but there’s sometimes a bit of nonsense with the guys… People found it strange when we had female stone masons years ago and now it’s fine, it works really well. We have one based here, Lara, who was an apprentice who left and we’ve brought her back as Historic Scotland Craft Fellow, so she will be doing stone carving here.

SCHOOL

UNIVERSITY DEGREE

UNIVERSITY DEGREE MASTERS

57

SPECIALISED APPRENTICESHIP WITH HES

4

TRADITIONAL BUILDING MAKING IT PAY

Ian Walker spoke about the cost of an apprenticeship to the employer, and the salaries received by Apprentices throughout the course of their four year apprenticeship, and why it pays to commit to the duration of the process.

Ian - The 4 year apprenticeship; a lot of time and commitment. A lot of money to do it, because taking on a commitment like that for any employer takes a lot of money. You’re probably looking at over the four years, £120k investment. There is some grant money coming from SDS but it probably only going to be around £20k. So, for any employer, by the time they have paid out wages and factored in the down time of someone training that individual, and materials etc., it’s more than that.

Ian - When people ask how much an apprentice earns, there are different answers. My daughter was in childcare and the apprentice minimum wage was something like £2.90 an hour. Construction is different. A 16 Year old leaving school will get £135 a week. Second year; up to over £210, Third year; £340. Fourth year, £450.

Beth - Is that standardised?

Ian - Yes, its controlled right through all the construction trades.

Beth - A good incentive for people to carry on and do the full four year course.

Ian - Exactly. Once their out of the four years, if they’ve done everything they were meant to, they’re a very good commodity for their employer.

Where university students will complete a degree with a sizeable debt, an apprentice may find that they move straight into full time employment after completing the apprenticeship, and as they are paid to learn, have already begun to establish a career.

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By way of comparison, the RIBA Appointments chart1 below outlines expected wage for architects at various stages throughout their career.

4th Year Apprentice

£22,950

The salary of a construction apprentice in their fourth year is more than that of the highest paid Part 1 Architectural Assistants, who have completed four years of university education and, if they are paying for their tuition and maintenance as an English student, will have accrued a debt of around £55,000.

Below - statistics from the National Careers Service2 outline expected salaries for non-specialised stonemasons and carpenters/joiners, which again are very competitive with the salary of an architect.

OUR FINDINGS

It’s clear that there is money to be made within the trade industries, and as many heritage trades are so specialised, there is little competition for work, so contractors are free to charge a premium.

A common perception is that Architects earn a good wage, but in fact it is very much comparable to a trades person, who also has the benefit of not accruing a huge amount of student debt, by being paid throughout the course of their apprenticeship.

1 2

RIBA Appointments, ‘Salary Guide April 2018’, www.ribaappointments.com, accessed April 2018 National Careers Service, ‘Job Profiles’, www.nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk, accessed April 2018 59

5 APPRENTICESHIPS PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS

OUR FINDINGS

Megan Crawford, a former Historic Environment Scotland stone masonry apprentice, highlighted that secondary schools can often push bright students away from vocational career paths. She sighted her own experience of this, where she felt she was wrongly advised to pursue academia and go to university. Megan completed a master’s degree before pursuing a stone masonry apprenticeship, in the hope of following a career path which was more hands on, and therefore fulfilling.

In 2015, Nicky Morgan, the education secretary in the U.K at the time, made a statement issuing a stark warning to pupils about the pursuit of arts related subjects at secondary school, saying that these could “hold them back for the rest of their lives”.1 This view point, particularly from someone in such a senior position, is very damaging in terms of the public perception of arts and vocational career paths. It eludes that the government sees these professions as less important and less worthwhile than careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) related subjects.

Responses to the questions asked to secondary school pupils during our participation workshop only go to exemplify the extent to which arts and vocational studies are marginalised. The majority of pupils stated that the main which might be stopping them from taking part in traditional crafts or building skills is the fact that they are ill-informed at school and have very limited knowledge of the world of construction. The diagram below is adapted from the workshop write-up and illustrates this lack of awareness.

Lack of knowledge or similar Other

1

Hytner, Nicholas, ‘The Guardian: Arts education is a postcode lottery. Britain must invest for post-Brexit theatre’ (5 Jun 2017) 60

OUR FINDINGS

Studies have highlighted the large skills gaps within the workforce in Scotland, demonstrating the importance that government draw people into these career paths. The Scottish Stone Liaison Group undertook a study of 230 stone buildings in central Glasgow during 2005, they found that in order to sufficiently repair these buildings, 1.4 million stone mason days would be required.

The intake of stone masonry apprentices at Glasgow colleges during this period was only ten people per year, highlighting a growing deficit of skilled crafts people in this heritage area.2 A new workshop space at Kilmardinny could be utilised to highlight to young people both the monetary and emotional rewards of perusing a career in traditional building skills or crafts. When HES establish an SVQ accredited pre-apprenticeship course for those leaving school without sufficient qualifications, the workshop space could also be used as the educational outreach facility for the programme.

2

Historic Scotland, Traditional Building Skills, (2011) page 10 61

CHAPTER 3

62

CASE STUDIES 63

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64

Fig 41 • The exhibition hall of the Engine Shed, Stirling

CHAPTER 3

1 CASE STUDIES AN OVERVIEW

We felt that looking at case studies of projects, studios and workshops would help us to gain a better understanding on how our research could be applied to the design of the Kilmardinny House Workshop.

We looked at a selection of case studies for a variety of reasons, from how contemporary and traditional building techniques are used in restoration and conservation, to determining what spaces are needed for particular types of activity within a workshop. Below are the outlines of each case study.

2 - THE MACKINTOSH SCHOOL OF ART - LIBRARY RESTORATION

This has been used as a case study to demonstrate the relationship between traditional and contemporary building techniques, and how they be interchangeable, as well as an example of the sort of project that someone learning about heritage, or a potential apprentice could aspire to.

3 - CITY OF GLASGOW COLLEGE; NAUTICAL & ENGINEERING WORKSHOP

This case study looks at a more state-of-the-art, architect designed workshop, for extensive scientific research at a large college. It considers the combination of education and production within one space.

4 - LAURENCE MCINTOSH

Laurence McIntosh are the joiners who have been commissioned for the restoration of the Mackintosh Library. Their workshop is looked at as a case study to determine the machinery and spaces needed for woodworking.

5 - THE BANKER’S YARD, GLASGOW CATHEDRAL

This yard and workshop space is used for cutting the stone used in the ongoing restoration of the cathedral, and is used as a case study as a way of looking at the facilities necessary for stone masonry.

6 - THE ENGINE SHED, STIRLING

The Engine Shed is a new development by HES and accommodates their offices, as well as a new visitors centre. It was interesting to use it as a case study when considering the materiality and sustainability approach of a potential future workshop.

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2 CASE STUDY

THE MACKINTOSH SCHOOL OF ART

The Mackintosh building at the Glasgow School of Art is widely considered to be Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s greatest architectural work and for over 100 years the Mackintosh building functioned as a working art school. In May 2014 a fire damaged the west wing of the Mackintosh building destroying library, one of the world’s finest examples of art nouveau design, which housed many rare and archival materials as well as original furniture and fittings.

We spoke to Thom Simmons, the Conservation Skills Coordinator from the Mackintosh Restoration Team to understand the scope of the restoration and how the project has utilised both contemporary and traditional techniques in its reconstruction.

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Fig 42 • The Mackintosh School of Art before fire

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Fig 43 • The Mackintosh School of Art during the fire on 23rd May 2014.

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2 CASE STUDY

THE MACKINTOSH SCHOOL OF ART

T, B, L; Traditional and non traditional tradesman working on the Mac Restoration and where they come from Thom Simmons; ‘The Mackintosh restoration encompasses the types of heritage skills and crafts the workshop at Kilmardinny intends to facilitate. The complex nature and scale of the Mackintosh restoration has brought together a highly specialised team together from all over the UK from general builders and demolition contractors involved in the takedowns before the restoration work started to four joinery contractors on site, working on everything from rebuilding the roof to reinstalling the library, a highly specialised piece of joinery work. As well as more traditional heritage trades such as led work, slate roofers and internal lime plasterers.’

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Fig 44 • Joiners work in the professors’ studios at Glasgow School of Art.

The majority of the contractors have been sourced from around Scotland with the exception of the Lime plasterers from Leeds, Thom Simmons explains that ‘there are other contractors in Scotland that can do lime plastering but they’re not on the scale required for a project of this size.’

Trade or Craft?

Despite utilising traditional and materials and techniques within the Mackintosh restoration there isn’t such a clear division between the what dictates modern or traditional tradesman working on the Mack.

Simmons explains that joinery is an example of a trade that still retains a capacity for a both modern joinery with a certain element of traditional work. Joiners completing the duking work, (a traditional joinery technique for rawl plugging) will have worked on modern construction projects before. Likewise, joiners who haven’t come from a traditional background could probably ‘turn their hand to if not some but all’ of the traditional work on the Mack.

Elements of the restoration such as the Library are a highly specialised work and the team have enlisted Laurence McIntosh a the joinery contractor, who have the capability of recreating a complex traditional piece of work. Laurence McIntosh utilise traditional techniques required for the library but have embraced modern technology such as digital models and information during prototyping with the help of Page & Park Architects and cultural heritage experts to ensure the library is as close to the original as possible.

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2 CASE STUDY

THE MACKINTOSH SCHOOL OF ART

Trades outside Scotland Dublin, Ireland Gloucester, England Leeds, England Leeds, England

11

3

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Map 3 • Base locations of all sub-contractors currently working on the Mackintosh restoration

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2 CASE STUDY

THE MACKINTOSH SCHOOL OF ART

TYPES OF TRADESPEOPLE WORKING ON THE MACK RESTORATION, AND WHERE THEY COME FROM

The Mackintosh restoration is an example of a heritage and conservation project that utilises the types of traditional building skills the Kilmardinny Craft Hub will incorporate.

The list of sub-contractors below1 has been provided by Kier Construction, (the main contractor of the restoration) It shows the scope of skills and tradespeople working on the restoration.

COMPANY NAME

TRADE

WORK-PACKAGE

COMPANY LOCATION

Avesta BEST Services Limited Briggs Amasco Castle Group (Scotland) D&D Decorators DM Roofing Elmwood Eradakil Socotec (Formerly ESG) FES Ltd Jamieson Contracting Group JCJ John Fulton (Plumbers) Ltd Lambstounge Lareine Engineering Laurence Mcintosh Levolux Martec McConnell Decorators McKay Flooring One Stop Safety Netting Ornate Interiors Orona Prime Build Rainbow Glass SGB Stirling Stone Limited Ventrolla Scotland Xcell Misting Ltd

Fire Protection Lighting protection Mastic Asphalt Roofing Civil engineers Decorators Roofing Joinery Structural water proofing Building inspection and sampling Electrical Containment Contractors Demolition specialists Plumbing and Roofing Furniture and window maker Roof Lighting maker Joinery Specialist in solar shading Structural Steel Work Decorators Timber Flooring Roof Safety specialist Lime Plastering Lift engineers Drainage Glass window conservation Scaffolding Stonework & masonry repairs Specialist window maker Fire Protection

Fire Stopping & Intumescent Coating Lighting Protection Mastic Asphalt Roofing Concrete Repairs Decoration Harling Render Works Timber Screens Wood Rot Repair Testing & Sampling Electrical Containment Structural & Roof Timbers Temp propping & downtakings Slate Roof Steel Windows Rooflights Library Blinds Structural Steel Work Painting & Decorating works Timber Flooring Roof Safety Systems Lime Plastering Passenger Lift Drainage Lead Windows Scaffolding Stonework & masonry repairs Timber Windows Low Pressure Mist System

Glasgow, Scotland Wilshaw, Scotland Glasgow, Scotland Perth, Scotland Ayrshire, Scotland Kilmarnock, Scotland Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow, Scotland East Kilbride, Scotland Stirling, Scotland Dunfermline, Scotland Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow, Scotland Dublin, Ireland Livingston, Scotland EDINBURGH, Scotland Gloucester, England Glasgow, Scotland Ayrshire, Scotland Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow, Scotland Leeds, England Glasgow, Scotland AIRDRIE, Scotland Ayrshire, Scotland Glasgow, Scotland Stirling, Scotland Lockerbie, Scotland Norfolk, England

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Fig 45 • List of sub-contractors who have worked on the Mackintosh restoration provided by Kier Construction LTD, April 2018.

The map shows illustrates the base locations of the current sub-contractors working on site. The study shows the majority of the contractors have been sourced locally from Scotland with the exception of a few further afield from England and Ireland. Thom Simmons explains that lime plasterer’s have ‘come up from Leeds.

There are other contractors in Scotland that can do lime plastering but they’re not on the scale required for a project of this size.’2

1 2

Kier Construction Ltd, Sub-Contractors List, 2018 (Spreadsheet available in appendix) Tom Deacon and Louisa McGuigan, ‘Conversation with Thom Simmons’, Glasgow, 2018 (Full text in appendix) 69

2 CASE STUDY

THE MACKINTOSH SCHOOL OF ART

TRADITIONAL CONSTRUCTION

The Mackintosh library at Glasgow School of Art, one of the world’s finest examples of art nouveau design, was almost entirely destroyed by fire in May 2014 but efforts began almost immediately to bring it back to life. The library’s restoration has brought together a specialist team consisting of master joiners, architects and cultural heritage experts.

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Fig 46 • Original Mackintosh Library.

Fig 47 • Library After Fire.

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The library of the Mackintosh Building was perhaps the culmination of the architect’s design ethos. Built of rich Tulip wood, the room rose the full height of the projecting oriels punctuating the Western elevation, divided into an upper and lower gallery. The ongoing replication of the library involved the construction of a full-sized library prototype replete with Tulip wood sourced from the United States, and decorated with Mackintosh’s distinctive pendants and scallops. Through the analysis of the library’s charred remnants, the design team was able to unlock information regarding the joinery of the woodwork, allowing for the replication of assembly, nailing and detailing. (Marani, 2018).





“What is important is for this room to age in exactly the same manner as it would age from 1910 onwards that is really important,” Natalia Burakowska, of Page Park architects.

(Brockhurst, 2018).

Fig 48 • Head carver Martin Cirulis works on a design for the front panel.

Fig 49 • The prototype uses American Tulip wood, the same as the original.

Specialist woodworkers Laurence Mackintosh were responsible for building the prototype. Their brief ‘was to reconstruct the library as it was handed over in 1910’. (Brockhurst, 2018). Details are faithful to the original library rightdown to the using the same nails.



Fig 50 • A prototype of part of the library.

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The library prototype has helped identify the pitfalls before the library is recreated for real on-site.

Laurance Mackintosh have the task to match precisely what was done by the Mackintosh tradesman in every aspect from the timber used, the fixings, the nails, the finish, the carvings and the paint effects on the spindles. It has all had to be precisely replicated. (Brockhurst, 2018).

2 CASE STUDY

THE MACKINTOSH SCHOOL OF ART

ADVANCES IN MODERN CONSTRUCTION

It had been decided very soon after the fire that the Mackintosh would be restored to its original design and construction using the original building materials and techniques of its time. The ‘Hen Run’ and ‘Studio 58’ are examples of how advances in modern construction have improved certain aspects of the building and allowed parts of the build to be reconstructed as Mackintosh originally intended but weren’t possible during Mackintosh’s day.

THE ‘HEN RUN’ The original ‘Hen Run’ roof was designed with a shallow pitch. The Victorian glazing used at the time couldn’t quite deal with the Scottish whether and subsequently leaked. Shortly after the space was built the roof was then replaced with a steeper pitch.

The restoration team are able to return the pitch to its original angle using a modern glazing system which is far more robust and prevents water ingress.

Utilising a modern construction system has allowed the space to honour’ Mackintosh’s original design and create the sense of perspective originally intended.

Fig 51 • ‘Hen Run’ before fire

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Fig 52 • ‘Hen Run’ after fire

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Fig 53 • During reconstruction, 2018

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STUDIO 58

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Fig 54 • Original Studio 58 before fire

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Fig 55 • Studio 58 after fire

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Fig 56 • During reconstruction, 2018

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The restoration of Studio 58, a Japanese-inspired gallery located on the top floor of the building, highlighted a few problems in its reconstruction.

Firstly, there was no historical record of the original glazing system in the roof. The glazing system that was there before the fire was installed in the 70’s. Instead of recreating a pastiche of what might have been built. Simmons explains the restoration team decided to introduce a modern glazing system that ‘honours the intent of space but is clearly not old.’

The Mackintosh restoration demonstrates the integration of both old and new construction methods.

New building technologies have only been used to improve upon the original construction or honour parts where construction information is missing.

3 CASE STUDY

CITY OF GLASGOW COLLEGE; NAUTICAL & ENGINEERING WORKSHOP

Built in March 2017 by the Edinburgh firms Michael Laird Architects and Reiach and Hall Architects, the Nautical and Engineering workshop is part of the City of Glasgow College and provides facilities for nautical and engineering students, including a replica of a ship’s engine room. Although no traditional building techniques are housed in the college, the workshop represents one of Glasgow’s most state of the facilities for education and trade.

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Fig 57 • The college integrates teaching and workshop spaces together under one roof. The exposed steel frame creates a large column free space allowing for flexibility and change in programme, whilst representing the industrial trades it houses. Partition walls and furniture are all moveable.

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Fig 58 • Exhibited machinery from the engine room of a ship.

Workshop space and machines surround the engine.

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Fig 59 • Extraction units above metal working stations. Service ducts are accessible to allow for frequent maintenance.

4 CASE STUDY

LAURENCE MCINTOSH WORKSHOP

Laurence McIntosh are master woodworkers and joiners, who often work with architects in creating bespoke pieces and interiors. They specialise in using traditional techniques and tools, but without being ‘hidebound by tradition’ and take advantage of new technology to stay ahead in their field. Their workshop is in Edinburgh, and is a modern facility accommodating both traditional and contemporary woodwork, with space for assembling components such as the 1:1 prototype of a portion of the Mackintosh Library.



The workshop construction; industrial shed supported by a steel portal frame, clad in corrugated steel. The shop-floor is lit from above by both electrical lighting and natural light from skylights.

Space and flexibility are major requirements, allowing the team to adapt to the change and scale of projects as well as store materials.

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Fig 60 • Assembly in the workshop

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Fig 61 • A joiner hand carves a detail for the Mackintosh Library prototype. Central woodworking benches are surrounded by walls of stored tools and materials.

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Fig 62 • As the appointed joiners for the restoration of the Mackintosh Library, Laurence McIntosh built a 1:1 scale prototype of a portion of the library, based on pieces of the original salvaged from the fire, photographs and drawings.

The height of the workshop allows for specialist and large projects.

5 CASE STUDY

BANKERS YARD, GLASGOW CATHEDRAL

The Bankers Yard is a permanent fixture in the grounds of the mediaeval Glasgow Cathedral; a yard and workshop in which the on-going restoration of the Cathedral is facilitated.

Johnnie Clark works with HES as the works manager at the yard, and has worked on site for 17 years.

He understands the complexity of the Cathedral like no-one else, and tirelessly works on repairing and replacing stone work, some of which dates back to the 12th century. Johnnie generously took some time out to show us, along with Thom Simmons, around the yard and Cathedral in February.

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“IT’S A STONEMASON’S DREAM TO WORK ON” 

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Figs 63 - 66 • Photos from our visit around the heights of Glasgow Cathedral.

3 CASE STUDY

BANKERS YARD, GLASGOW CATHEDRAL

GLASGOW ROYAL INFIRMARY

BANKER’S YARD

GLASGOW CATHEDRAL

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Fig 67 • The Banker’s Yard consists of a covered workshop space, with outdoor storage and circulation, and a cosy portacabin for warming up with a cup of tea.

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5 CASE STUDY

BANKERS YARD, GLASGOW CATHEDRAL

Johnnie Clark is a stonemason who has worked on the restoration of Glasgow Cathedral for the entirety of his seventeen year long stonemasonry career. Beginning as a Historic Scotland apprentice on the building, his current role is the works manager, overseeing all of the stonework on site.

We spoke to Johnnie to gain an insight into how a stonemason learns their trade, how Historic Scotland recruit apprentices to work on the Cathedral, and to discover how a new workshop space could help to open up this career path to a wider group.

A primary route into becoming a stonemason is through an apprenticeship. Johnnie explained that the LEARNING THE TRADE

training and examination takes place both on site, where an apprentice will have specific techniques to learn and exhibit, and in college where their drawing skills and theory work are studied. The programme takes place across four years, and is open to people of all ages; Johnnies current apprentice is in his thirties.

Historic Scotland take on a number of stone masonry apprentices each year, but only one apprentice will be stationed at the cathedral.

T,B,L; Do you think that young people know that stone masonry is a viable career path?

Johnnie; Well I don’t know. The good thing about Historic Scotland is they’re doing a lot, and I’m doing a lot of outreach. So I’m making young people aware that there is an opportunity to become a stone mason or any kind of modern apprentice throughout Historic Environment Scotland. It’s getting a bit better, a lot of people still when you go and have a conversation they think it’s a dying trade or there aren’t enough of you out there, but no there is.

PATHWAYS INTO STONE MASONRY

We asked Johnnie about the Historic Scotland apprenticeship recruitment process, he highlighted a problem with the application process; all Historic Scotland applicants, whether applying to work in one of their libraries or as an apprentice are asked the same questions as part of their application. The challenging nature of this questioning could allow some potentially promising apprenticeship candidates to slip through the net. Historic Scotland Craft Development Manager Ian Walker also alluded to this issue, he highlighted a “pre apprenticeship” program currently in the works at Historic Scotland to facilitate those students who are not on track to meet the minimum qualifications necessary to be accepted onto an apprenticeship. This programme would widen the opportunities for young people to get into stone masonry. There is a potential for the workshop to play a role in this process. Both Johnnie and Ian highlighted the opportunities of apprenticeships to provide young people with fulfilling and rewarding work.

Have you ever had someone come for a taster workshop and really enjoy it, and want to pursue an apprenticeship?

You do get some folk that have done maybe just a wee taster session of it, and they feel, but again, these taster sessions they can give them a bit of wrong direction as well because these taster sessions they can have a lot of emphasis on carving, and stone masonry is a big scope of works, its not carving.

Stone masonry, its not just carving stone, I mean I could be cutting out a chimney in the middle of winter, I could be pointing a chimney, well not in the middle of winter but in the middle of summer.

Then I could be removing vegetation, so all these important factors, they’ll need to be made aware of because a lot of them think, well they like the romantic side of stone masonry.

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Fig 68 • The Banker’s Yard is nestled amongst the Royal Infirmary, the Cathedral and the rise of the Necropolis.

UTILISING THE WORKSHOP

We asked Johnny how the new workshop space could be used to help drive more young people towards traditional building skills as a career path. He highlighted how a more substantial taster programme would help better prepare apprentices ahead of their training, and would impress him as a potential employer.

Do you think that this space could help generate interest?

Bringing the workshop and doing a bit of outreach? Aye it could do. When we get the kids along at the Buchanan Street they’re always… you’re giving a kid a hammer and a chisel, and they’re getting to smash stone, so, you know what I mean, they’re enjoying it, you know what I mean. It’s a bit of vandalism isn’t it?

Another thing we have talked about it some kind of pre apprenticeship programme to prepare apprentices ahead of time.

When I was in college, and that was what, 2001, so my apprenticeship was solely stonemasonry, but you had other folk doing maybe a six week course in brick laying, or a six week course in plastering, six week course in tiling throughout the year, so you’ve got that as well. So if you could have had that, a six week course in stonemasonry, I dare say that gives them a good, it gives them a start.

Would that impress you as a potential employer?

Aye it would, aye. Taster sessions are for about a day or so but I mean a six week programme would be ideal because they could get to learn a wee bit, and hopefully they would stick at it.

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6 CASE STUDY

THE ENGINE SHED, STIRLING



Figs 69 + 70 • Architects drawing of the design, and central exhibition hall of the engine shed in use.

Historic Environment Scotland opened the Engine Shed in July 2017 as Scotland’s first conservation hub.

Whilst facilitating offices for HES building and conservation professionals, it is open to the public as an exhibition hall and events space.

We visited the Engine Shed in November to meet Dorothy Hoskins, the technical outreach and education manager, who spoke to us about the future potential of the building and involvement and involvement with young people and apprentices. We spent some time looking at the public displays of conservation materials, as well as the new building which is itself an example of both restoration and sustainable new build. The renovation from MOD munitions store to public building was designed by an in-house team from HES, and encompasses a mixture of sustainable materials.

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SHEEP’S WOOL INSULATION



WOOD WOOL BOARD

GLU-LAM TIMBER

Figs 71 + 72 • The new wing of the Engine Shed

RECYCLED TIMBER

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Fig 73 • Existing MOD building refurbishment.

Above; a selection of the materials used in the construction of the new build. These are taken from a longer list, including; Wood Wool • Zinc Cladding • Glu-Lam Timber • Clayboard • Recycled Timber • Sheep’sWool Insulation • Sandstone

OUR FINDINGS

Looking at the materiality of the building as inspiration for the Kilmardinny Workshop is insightful; HES have retained the original MOD munitions shed as a central part of the design, and minimised the impact of the new build by using a mixture of sustainable modern and traditional building methods. Materials such as glu-lam and wood wool boards could well be adopted in the design of the workshop, and the idea of using reclaimed materials could be used, if there is anything worth using from the existing garage.

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7 CASE STUDIES CONCLUSION

OUR FINDINGS

From exploring the case studies stated above, we have ascertained the following, which can be seen as proposals for the Kilmardinny House Craft Hub; • • • • • • • • •

Outdoor space would be beneficial for stone work, and adjustable extraction pipes are necessary Heavy stone work requires the use of a scissor lift table which is adjustable in height Lighter stone work and woodwork can be done on timber workbenches Storage is essential for materials, and only stone can realistically be stored outside in Scotland Ceiling mounted gantry cranes ease the manoeuvring of materials + suspend items to be worked on Access through a garage-sized door means that larger items and 1:1 scale prototypes can be made Flexibility in the size of the tables and arrangement of chairs allows for eduction and activities A stone wall could be used to practice lime mortar pointing, then raked and used again A worktop with a large Belfast sink is necessary for washing hands, brushes etc.

• Using reclaimed materials reduces the cost of the build and increases the sustainability • Timber, sheep’s wool insulation and stone can be sourced locally • A warm place to have a hot drink and a chat is a high priority!

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Fig 74 • The workshop, Banker’s yard

CHAPTER 4

84

INFORMING A DESIGN 85

1 OBJECTIVES

THE FEASIBILITY STUDY

The following performance requirements have been identified as ambitions for the project by EDLC and are to be honoured by the architect throughout the design process. These were noted in the feasibility study document produced by MAST Architects at the end of November, which can be found in full in the appendix.

• The building as an education resource – students from Glasgow Mackintosh School of Architecture will be heavily involved in a supervised learning project throughout the development phase of the project.

• The building will host a new archive of research featuring building materials & associated local industries • The building is to be a model for community consultation • The building will be constructed using a mix of traditional materials and methods • The ambition is to achieve an ‘energy neutral build’. The definition, parameters and monitoring of this is to be further agreed.

In addition to the above, the proposals should be mindful of the location in the historic garden of a Category A-Listed house.

The design should demonstrate an understanding of and response to the historic context, but should also be sensitive to the constraints imposed by adjacent trees, planting and wildlife.

The building should be designed to maintain the privacy of neighbours in its siting and location.

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87

Fig 76 • Entering the Cathedral

2 INTERVIEW

THOM SIMMONS

IDENTIFYING THE POTENTIAL PROGRAMME AND CAPABILITY OF THE WORKSHOP

Thom Simmons is the Conservation Skills Coordinator within the Mackintosh Restoration Team, and his role is to ensure the many learning opportunities available through the restoration project are maximised.

He delivers a wide program of training and outreach, engaging students within the GSA, professionals, school pupils and the general public. Thom has a great deal of experience within the traditional building and the heritage sectors. We spoke to him to gain insight into how the new workshop could be utilised and what types of skills and crafts could be supported by the space.

POTENTIAL INTEGRATED WORKSHOP SKILLS AND CRAFTS

of that whole programme. But somewhere like Kilmardinny House there’s certainly an area there for them to look at working in. I know for instance down at Dumfries house they’re also looking at kind of taking in elements of this programme and running that them selves as well. And they’re very similar in nature to Kilmardinny house.

We asked Thom how the workshop could be utilised, the types of trades and skills it could accommodate and their spatial requirements.

He informed us first that before deciding upon certain skills it would useful to look at recent information from CITB, an area sector analysis of school gaps that’s tied to the geographic deficit of skills. He said;

WORKSHOP REQUIREMENTS + LIMITATIONS

Depending on what skills are decided to be incorporated into the workshop there will be practical limitations to what can be accommodated inside. The site has a fairly small footprint and is restricted in height by adjacent trees. We asked Thom if it was possible to have a practical workshop? Could it be stone cutting one day and lime rendering the next?

Thom; If you know that your filling a skills deficit you are essentially ensuring that the people that come out of what you are doing will get some form of employment.’

Its important that the workshop not only informs people about heritage skills but these skills learnt in the workshop could lead to a potential career.

As a rough example, he suggested a broad range of skills including: stone masonry joinery, slating, roofing and lead work. ‘I think exposure to all of these things is really positive.’.

I think you probably could, you would have to think about storage but I think it would be possible to create a flexible workshop space. You might have to get a little create about how you store rigs and this certain things but I don’t see an issue with it. The other things bout theses construction skills is that they happen out side and running workshops outside is not necessarily a bad thing because as a practitioner your going to be expected to work on a scaffold in the various weathers Scotland throws at you. It’s important that kids have an understanding of what they’re getting into. Its not a bad thing if they come and experience something and its not for them because actually if they had taken it further and gone half way through an apprenticeship that’s a huge amount of resource that’s been wasted on a student that perhaps is destined for something else.

UTILISING THE WORKSHOP

For the workshop to be successful its crucial that the workshop identifies its user groups and fills a gap in local resources and facilities. We asked Thom how the workshop could be utilised and the types of people it would accommodate. He said, ‘A lot of schools probably wont have the resource or the expertise to deliver elements of these courses, having a centre for tools equipment and materials and skilled knowledge to deliver those workshops is probably essential in the way that its delivered. I think links with colleges will be really important to the success 88

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Fig 75 • Thom Simmons leading a stone carving workshop with students from Glasgow School of Art.

INTERVIEW SUMMARY AND OUR FINDINGS

POTENTIAL INTEGRATED WORKSHOP SKILLS AND CRAFTS - Stone masonry, Lime work, joinery, slating, roofing and lead work.

- However integrated skills should reflect skills shortages in East Dunbartonshire and Scotland.

UTILISING THE WORKSHOP - Schools, Colleges, Students

WORKSHOP REQUIREMENTS/LIMITATIONS - A flexible workshop space would be feasible.

- Trades such Stone masonry, Lime work, Slating and Lead happen outside in the working world. Running these skills outside frees up space in the workshop whilst preparing users to the work environment as a practitioner.

- External storage space for material and tools may be required.

- Rigging and ventilation would have to be carefully considered to fit within the limited space.

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3 THE WORKSHOP A DESIGN PROPOSAL

Throughout the bulk of our research, we have been contemplating the end result, which is ultimately the design and build of a suitable and exciting new workshop in the grounds of Kilmardinny House. Over the past few months, we have gathered information and examined work spaces, the successes and challenges of running workshops, and the trajectories of young people from school into the workplace. As a result, we feel that we are in a position to propose suggestions for consideration in the next step of the project, which is the design. The following pages outline some of these proposals.

SPACE The space of the design proposal is dictated by the existing garage that sits derelict on the grounds adjacent to Kilmardinny House, which has a footprint of 6m wide by 7.8m long by 3.2m high. Due to the site sitting between two mature trees (Horse Chestnut and Yew) it is unlikely we could push the sites area much wider or higher than the existing garage.

Space is limited, however most of the identified trades can happen outside such as stone masonry and limework. These could be accommodated on an area of external hard standing, perhaps with a canopy to protect from glare and rain.

Space for rigging and ventilation will need to be well considered and perhaps a space for storage could be considered externally.

Some exhibition wall space could be considered within the workshop for displaying crafts made by the users.

CONNECTION The link to Kimardinny house is important as many of the facilities (kitchen, bathrooms, storage etc.) may be shared.

General accessibility is to be considered, although their is an established tarmac track leading to the current garage. Disabled access to both internal and external spaces will be easy to establish also, as the workshop will only occupy one storey.

The workshop can make use of the large car park already facilitating Kilmardinny House.

FACILITIES The workshop should accommodate a WC with disabled access.

For all activities, access to large sinks and a drying area is recommended.

The workshop should be easy to clean and ventilate, with opening windows and durable floor and wall surfaces.

Lighting is important for detailed craft work, and as the existing workshop is shaded by two large trees, artificial lighting will have to be carefully considered.

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MATERIALS The workshop should be flexible enough to host activities using a wide range of materials, from stone, slate and timber to clay and textiles. There should be adequate space for visiting groups to comfortably work under the guidance of an artist or tutor.

All of the trade materials have been identified by HES as high priority to protect and aid access for in Scotland, and are those found in heritage buildings throughout the county and the country.

There will be a focus on using locally sourced and relevant materials.

Storage will be required for holding and keeping dry some of the larger materials such as timber, sacks of clay and larger pieces of stone.

VENTILATION Ventilation will be required for woodwork and joinery.

Separated extractor fans will need to be put in place for each piece of machinery.

Stone masonry requires extensive amounts of ventilation if sandstone is to be used, with facilities housed inside and so would be best suited to be facilitated in a covered external space.

USERS The workshop could ideally host school groups, where the school does not have the space, resource or expertise to deliver certain elements of the courses.

Links with colleges would be intrinsically important to the success of the workshop.

Ian Walker at HES spoke of the development of a pre-apprenticeship course; an offshoot of which could be facilitated by the workshop, allowing students to progress onto full apprenticeship schemes afterwards.

As well as school pupils and school leavers, the workshop could be open to anyone of any age, gender or background, interested in learning a new skill or to learn about the area’s unique history through turning a hand to one of the workshops identified crafts.

The workshop could be occupied for some of the time by craftspeople or artists in residence, who would have the ability to teach classes and produce their own work.

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4 THE WORKSHOP

JUSTIFICATION FOR THE BUILDING

We hope that our research can aid the justification of the future workshop, perhaps in order to secure funding or help to drive the motivation and design of the project. This volume already provides an abridged version of our findings, as there has been much discussion over the course of the year. We aim here to summarise findings in a series of conclusive statements.

TRAILS AND TALES - The success of the Trails and Tales initiative is evident, as a huge amount of well attended events were run and enjoyed by those from the area.

- Providing an indoor facility would allow future projects in a similar vein to take place year round, including activities such as stone carving, which requires extraction and ventilation.

- A Trails and Tales project could be integrated within the build of the workshop itself should any form of community build come to fruition.

LOCATION - The site is easily accessible and shares facilities with Kilmardinny House, including a large car park.

- The site currently hosts a series of art and sculptural installations which could be built on to create even more of an attraction to those in the area.

- The location is quiet and removed from the main road, and is a safe space for school children to use.

- Local high school Bearsden Academy is within walking distance.

- East Dunbartonshire has a very stong history in making and manufacturing, lifelong citizens of the area may have strong emotional connections with these industries.

USER GROUP - The participation workshop with pupils from Bearsden Academy and Kirkintilloch High School highlighted that local young people have a strong interest in traditional building skills and crafts, but currently there are not opportunities for them to pursue these skills.

- Encouraging school pupils to contribute design ideas through further participation events will increase their likelihood of further involvement in the workshop, creating a group with vested interests in the buildings sucess and longevity.

- Our research into current routes into apprenticeships highlighted gaps in the apprenticeship recruitment process, as well as in existing apprenticeship programmes, which a new workshop space could seek to address.

- Discussion with heritage professionals and crafts people highlighted the potential for a new workshop space to pilot taster sessions, which could lead more young people in the area into apprenticeships.

- Although it should have a focus on young people, the workshop could be a place for people of all ages to explore their local history and heritage through making.

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THE TEAM! Mackintosh School of Architecture, DipArch

Throughout this project we have been privileged to meet inspiring and knowledgeable people, and visit some exciting back-stage parts of Glasgow and East Dunbartonshire.

I hope to see the workshop develop in a way that encompasses some of our proposals, and that some of the students we have spoken to get to utilise it.

BETH DUTSON

It has been rewarding to take part in a project which is “live�. I particularly enjoyed the pilot engagement workshop which we designed and undertook, it was brilliant to see the young people engaged in the project.

I found it interesting to explore other participatory methods and how these could be utilised as the project progresses, to create a workshop which will have longevity.

LOUISA MCGUIGAN

It has been refreshing to learn more about design and the research of Scottish traditional building skills and craft.

The project has helped me understand how architects can aid the design process through collective research and community participation.

TOM DEACON

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GLOSSARY CITB – Construction Industry Training Board CSCS – Construction Skills Certification Scheme EDLC – East Dunbartonshire Leisure + Culture GSA – Glasgow School of Art HES – Historic Environment Scotland HNC – Higher National Certificate HND – Higher National Diploma MSA – Mackintosh School of Architecture SDS – Skills Development Scotland SQA – Scottish Qualifications Authority SVQ – Scottish Vocational Qualifications T+T – Trails and Tales

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Archibald Young. ‘Archibald Young: Information’. Accessed 10 April 2018. www.archibaldyoung.co.uk/infopage.htm Archibald Young. ‘Archibald Young: Product Page’. Accessed 10 April 2018. www.archibaldyoung.co.uk/productpage.htm Craft Scotland. ‘Craft Scotland: About’, Creative Scotland. Accessed 10 April 2018. www.craftscotland.org/about East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Cultural Services. ‘East Dunbartonshire Photo Library: Ellangowan Paper Mill’. Accessed 10 April 2018. www.edlcimages.co.uk/archive/categories/paper-making/view/970/ East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Cultural Services. ‘East Dunbartonshire Leisure Culture Trust: Kirkintilloch Coat of Arms’. Accessed 10 April 2018. www.edlc.co.uk/heritage-arts/local-history/towns-and-villages/kirkintilloch-coat-arms East Dunbartonshire Tourism Partnership. ‘East Dunbartonshire Towns’. Scotland Visted. Accessed 10 April 2018. www.scotland-visited.co.uk/history-of-our-towns/east-dunbartonshire%20towns/?doing_wp_cron=1520944673.2219769954681396484375 Historic Environment Scotland. ‘Historic Environment Scotland: Scotlands Traditional Building Materials’. Accessed 10 April 2018. www.engineshed.scot/media/1615/scotlands-traditional-building-materials.pdf Historic Scotland. Traditional Building Skills: A strategy for sustaining and developing traditional building skills in Scotland. 2011.

Hytner, Nicholas. ‘Arts education is a postcode lottery. Britain must invest for post-Brexit theatre’. The Guardian. (5 Jun 2017) www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/05/post-brexit-britain-need-theatre-public-investment-creative-economy Kirkintilloch Herald. ‘Kirkintilloch foundry unveils new mural’. Kirkintilloch Herald. (13 August 2014) www.kirkintilloch-herald.co.uk/news/kirkintilloch-foundry-unveils-new-mural-1-3507715 Make Works Scotland. ‘Make Works: Downie Allison Downie’. Accessed 10 April 2018. www.make.works/companies/downie_allison_downie_ltd/?r=downie Make Works Scotland. ‘Make Works: West End Cabinet Maker’. Accessed 10 April 2018. www.make.works/companies/westendcabinetmaker/?r=cabinet%20maker Make Works Scotland. ‘Make Works: Sculpture and Design’. Accessed 10 April 2018. www.make.works/companies/sculptureanddesign/?r=design Make Works Scotland. ‘Make Works: Greenhills Clothing’. Accessed 10 April 2018. www.make.works/companies/greenhills_clothing/?r=greenhills Make Works Scotland. ‘Make Works: 10 Scottish manufacturers for fashion designers’. Accessed 10 April 2018. www.make.works/blog/manufacturers-for-fashion-designers Marin, Don,. Kirkintilloch in Old Picture Postcards. Europese Bibliotheek,1985.

National Library of Scotland. ‘National Library of Scotland: Bookbinding skills celebrated at National Library’. Accessed 10 April 2018. www.nls.uk/news/press/2017/02/bookbinding-award-winners National Museum of Scotland. ‘National Museum of Scotland: Scottish Bricks’. Accessed 10 April 2018. www.blog.nms.ac.uk/2016/11/20/scottish-bricks/ National Museum of Scotland. ‘National Museum of Scotland: Turkey Red in Scotland’. Accessed 10 April 2018. www.nms.ac.uk/collections-research/our-research/highlights-of-previous-projects/colouring-the-nation/research/turkey-red-in-scotland/ Remade Scotland. Paper Making and Paper Mills in Scotland. Glasgow: 2000. www.remade.org.uk/media/13014/papermakingandpapermillsinscotland_oct2000.pdf Scottish Printing Archival Trust. A Reputation for Excellence Volume 2. 1994. www.scottishprintarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Vol-2-Glasgow.pdf Weave Spin Dye Glasgow. ‘Weave Spin Dye Glasgow: Membership’. Accessed 10 April 2018. www.weave-spin-dye-glasgow.org.uk/membership.html

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PICTURES + MAPS Figs 1, 2, 10-12, 16-25, 27-38, 63-66, 71-74 • Photos taken by the authors Figs 6, 7, 15, 26, 40, 45, 67 • Images and diagrams made or drawn by authors Fig 6 • Images from EDLC Image Library, http://www.edlcimages.co.uk/archive/categories/industries/ Fig 7 • Images from Make Works, https://make.works/scotland/ Fig 3 • Tram in Bearsden, 1955, http://www.caingram.info/scotland/pic_htm/kessington.htm Figs 4 + 5 • Bearsden today, https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/bearsden/bearsden/index.html Fig 8 • Kilmardinny House, https://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=get&db=stanwardine&id=i59 Fig 9 • MAST Architects extension, http://www.urbanrealm.com/news/6591/bearsden_garden_pavilion_set_for_spring_unveil.html Fig 13 • The Kilmardinny Tree, http://www.trailsandtales.org/news/the-kilmardinny-tree-our-first-art-work-by-elpida-hadzi-vasileva-at-kilmardinny-house-bearsden Fig 14 • Examples of Trails and Tales Projects, http://www.trailsandtales.org/news Fig 39 • HES Apprentice Award, https://www.historicenvironment.scot/about-us/news/historic-environment-scotland-apprentices-scoop-uk-awards/ Fig 41 • The Engine Shed, https://www.watchmesee.com/blog/cool-things-to-do-in-stirling-day-trip/ Fig 42 • The Mackintosh Building, https://www.socantscot.org/event/the-restoration-of-charles-rennie-mackintoshs-glasgow-school-of-artaberdeen/ Fig 43 • The Mackintosh Fire, https://i2-prod.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article3595871.ece/ALTERNATES/s1227b/Aerial-shots-Artschool-on-Fire-Glasgow.jpg Fig 44 • Mackintosh joiners, https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/nov/24/glasgow-school-of-art-mackintosh-library-fire-restoration-begins-in-earnest Figs 46 + 47 • The Mackintosh Library before and after fire, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/AED0/production/_93025744_ hi030518395.jpg Fig 48 • Martin carving, https://res.cloudinary.com/jpress/image/fetch/w_700,f_auto,ar_3:2,q_auto:low,c_fill/https://www.scotsman.com/ webimage/1.4459090.1495917360!/image/image.jpg Fig 49 • Tulip wood ceiling, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/2CC6/production/_97726411_artschoolprototype0809_ frame_9695.jpg Fig 50 • Library prototype, https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/16456/production/_97722219_tv041543267.jpg Fig 51 • The Hen Run, https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/mac-alumni-launch-photographic-archive/8664556.article Figs 52 + 53 • The Hen Run restoration, https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/416301559280595796/ Fig 54 • Studio 58, https://www.longleaflumber.com/wp-content/uploads/mackintosh-studio-58-malcolm-mitchell-before-e1490384188536.jpg Fig 55 • Studio 58, https://images.stv.tv/articles/w1280xh720xmFitxoNews/551423-the-japanese-inspired-studio-58-was-located-on-thetop-floor-of-the-west-wing-of-glasgow-school-of-a.jpg Fig 56 • Studio 58, https://archpaper.com/2018/02/restoration-glasgow-mackintosh-building/#gallery-0-slide-6 Figs 57 - 59 • Ednumd Sumner, Glasgow’s nautical and engineering college workshop, https://www.dezeen.com/2016/04/17/city-of-glasgow-nautical-and-engineering-college-michael-laird-architects-and-reiach-and-hall-architects/ Fig 60 • Laurence McIntosh workshop, https://www.laurencemcintosh.co.uk/blog/2016/08/the-wonders-of-the-workshop/ Fig 61 + 62 • Laurence McIntosh workshop, https://hiveminer.com/Tags/art%2Claurence Fig 69 • The Engine Shed, https://www.e-architect.co.uk/scotland/engine-shed-project-forthside-stirling Fig 70 • The Engine Shed, https://www.historicenvironment.scot/learn/the-engine-shed/ Fig 75 • Stone carving lesson, https://twitter.com/robyneerica/status/928645921688227840 Maps 1,2 + 3 • Made by Authors

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APPENDIX Throughout the bulk of our research, we have been contemplating the end result, which is ultimately the design and build of a suitable and exciting new workshop in the grounds of Kilmardinny House. Over the past few months, we have gathered information and examined work spaces, the successes and challenges of running workshops, and the trajectories of young people from school into the workplace. As a result, we feel that we are in a position to propose suggestions for consideration in the next step of the project, which is the design. The following pages outline some of these proposals.

1 - SUPPLEMENT DOCUMENT FOR EDLC’S HERITAGE LOTTERY BID 2 - INTERVIEW WITH IAN WALKER, HES 3 - INTERVIEW WITH JOHNNIE CLARK, GLASGOW CATHEDRAL 4 - INTERVIEW WITH THOM SIMMONS, GSA 5 - FEASIBILITY STUDY, MAST ARCHITECTS 6 - MINUTES FROM MEETINGS WITH EDLC

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1

BID SUPPLEMENT WRITE-UP OF THE WORKSHOP These icons are screen-shots of the document we prepared to supplement Esmee Thompson-Smith’s bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund. EDLC have applied for funding for the design and build of the workshop.

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2 INTERVIEW

IAN WALKER, HES

Beth met with Ian Walker from HES at the Engine Shed 15th Feb 2018 Beth: The project is the design of a workshop in East Dunbartonshire, and I guess the Engine Shed is an inspiration for this workshop because it will have a similar vibe. We are trying to put forward the case of why the workshop is necessary and why it will be a good asset to the area; part of that might be finding the gap in the apprenticeship ‘route’ that it fits into. And you know about how you get to become an apprentice…

So, if I can lead on with a bit about the background of how you become an apprentice; where the main routes are as I have an idea of where you’re trying to go. All apprentices in Scotland must have employed status, which means you need an employer. That’s the bottom line, and that’s before any funding comes with any apprentice, or you can call someone an apprentice, they have to be employed status. The traditional route for an apprentice would be that they leave school, they would move to an employer. When they’re with that employer, they would then attend college on a block release pattern. Construction is traditionally four years. There are other apprenticeship routes out there within construction which is the adult apprenticeship. So, someone who’s had a lot of experience working on site but doesn’t have the qualifications can get through that route in 2 years to do that. Engineering is very similar. There are lots of other apprenticeships out there, which the Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland fund, and can be anything from a year to 4 years. Examples are where there is a lot of on site assessment.

One example is my daughter, she did childcare, so she did her apprenticeship within 14 months in the workplace. She’s gone on now and done a degree and all the rest of it; that was the route she wanted to do instead of staying at school. So there are other routes for other things. But where you are aiming is the construction world.

It is, and specifically with Heritage building skills.

There are two routes in that one as well. The 4 year apprenticeship; a lot of time and commitment. A lot of money to do it, because taking on a commitment like that for any employer takes a lot of money. You’re probably looking at over the four years, £120k investment. There is some grant money coming from SDS but it probably only going to be around £20k. So, for any employer, by the time they have paid out wages and factored in the down time of someone training that individual, and materials etc., it more than that.

Would they stick with the same employer for four years?

That’s how its traditionally happened. We’re looking at models where there’s a shared apprenticeship scheme, so even within HES, sometimes we can have people stuck in one site for 4 years. They can be very focused on what’s happening at that site so they’re not getting the breadth of experience. So we have been, in the last 18 months, putting them ( HES apprentices) out with private contractor and they can spend 3/4/5 weeks getting a taste of what the outside world is like. WE also introduce them to new build as well. Very few people in Scotland can make a living just doing heritage conservation work as there’s not enough of it. You need to be able to drop into new build as well.

I have only heard of a few people in their 20’s who are doing this kind of thing, like a friend of a friend is a stone mason and he earns a bomb because there are not many people who are doing the same thing and he gets a lot of work.

Only round 40 new stone masons come out of a 4 year apprenticeship each year, in the whole of Scotland. There is a massive shortage of stone masons, in fact a massive shortage of tradesmen in Scotland at the moment just now. Bricklayers, joiners, plumbers, electricians, you name it, slaters, plasterers. Lots of work out there. They call it heritage and conservation but its really repair and maintenance as the buildings that they’re working on, they don’t see that as heritage but if they’re traditional buildings, that is our built heritage. So all the tenements in Glasgow, although they’re not listed, they’re all part of the built heritage. There are 450,000 traditionally constructed buildings in Scotland. Some of these will be multiple occupation, in terms of tenements, and there’s no way we can demolish all these and start again although some people would like to try because they see new build as the way forward but you lose everything then; the character of your cities.

There are places around the centre of Glasgow where you can see that has happened; complete demolition.

Yeah and the character is lost and nothings come back. House have been built and been demolished again and some will probably be demolished again… with a little more forethought and actually doing something with the buildings, they’d have been much better now. Giving people toilets would have helped. So, that’s the route for apprenticeships.

Are most apprentices those who have left school at 16/ after their Standards and not gone on to do Highers / A Levels?

People think that construction is a dumping ground for people out of school.

Not necessarily, I felt that when I was at school you get to 16 and your options are to carry on to A Levels and then university, or this might be your chance to go and get a job or an apprenticeship.

We are doing a project with one of the local high schools in Stirling. They come in to do Stone Masonry for example, and need the equivalent 100

of four equivalent O Grades (GCSEs / Standards) at a certain level. There are many out there who disengage with school and don’t achieve. We are looking for maths, English, a science subject and a technical subject. Some people leave school and don’t have that, but they would make really good tradespeople, so we are working with the school and Forth Valley College to develop a pre-apprenticeship course for people like that. It would be an 8 week course, not sure. WE will prepare these people who don’t have their academic qualifications and are not going to get them before they leave school. We are going to specifically target the skills that they need in terms of academia, to get them into the apprenticeship. So rather than broad brushing them, we would focus on the areas that they do at college. For stone masonry, they need to understand calculations and geometry to draw things out, so we would focus on the drawing so they have that. The English part can be got around. As long as they can use a computer! Even students who have real issues with reading and writing; we can try and get around that. They would do the pre-apprenticeship course instead of doing their qualifications at School. Its for the ones who are never going to achieve it, and we could guarantee them an apprenticeship.

We take on up to 10 apprentices a year, with 2 new stone masons this year in Stirling Castle. We would guarantee these students an interview if they got through the 8 week pre-apprenticeship course, have been good and reached a certain standard without playing ‘Jack the Lad’ (or Jack the Lady). I would take female apprentices every time over guys.

I met Megan (Crawford) at a hill race in Fife; I remember you saying that she used to go off on the weekends for big runs, and I recognised her face from the Blackness Castle HES video. She was very friendly.

Yes she has gone on to do her teacher training to be a tech teacher, so for us it’s a good result! So she will be enthused with the message of heritage when she comes out of her teacher training. We’ve had a great female apprentices, so much less trouble than the guys! Not all the guys but there’s sometimes a bit of nonsense with the guys… People found it strange when we had female stone masons years ago and now it’s fine, it works really well. We have one based here, Lara, who was an apprentice who left and we’ve brought her back as Historic Scotland Craft Fellow, so she will be doing stone carving here.

When you say here, do you mean in the Engine Shed? What are your facilities here?

The plan is that we are designing a separate pod to go in the big shed. It’s a little bit problematic with getting the building warrant etc. We are trying to build something outside, a temporary type structure.

Is extraction an issue?

Yeah, it is tricky. We can get over it but we need to get the consultants and engineers on board. I think this place lacks something like that, something physical. People come in and say ‘Oh we thought we would see a stone mason’ because it says ‘Conservation Hub’, but if we cant do it inside we’ll do something outside.

Cool, a permanent thing? Would you have someone in residence?

Yes it would be a crafts person in residence, exactly. So back to the apprenticeships, looking to engage with people who haven reached that academic level. That might be an area that you guys could look at as well.

I feel that is the exact aim for the workshop, to provide somewhere accessible for people to come and give things a try where they might not have been able to before.

With this qualification, we will pilot it and do it, and we will try and get SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority) to buy into it. I am meeting with them about it, and if they approve it, it means its an accredited unit. It means that even though we are piloting it, it can be picked up by the rest of the sector and will be a route for people to get in. I’m very fortunate that since January we have two new members of staff, who are solely engaged in qualification development for us. We’ve never had that luxury and so are developing that area.

We are also doing quite a few specific heritage skills, so are doing the SVQ Level 3 Heritage Skills. This is about six different courses; stone masonry, brick work, carpentry and joinery, painting and decorating, restoration etc. These are up skilling qualifications, very specific to each tradesperson. Someone who is already a stone mason or a joiner would do this as an upskill / masterclass.

So they would learn the standard trade for new builds and then go into this afterwards?

Yes, because many of them don’t have anything traditional left in them. Stone masonry does, joinery has nothing – its solely new build. Not using old tools are much. So there may be potential there, that you could do a qualification as an upskilling course. So there are various routes on that side of it.

The funding side of things is the tricky one, where do you secure your funding? Anything that’s there has to be an accredited qualification before you can secure funding from SDS or CITB. You have to be an approved centre to deliver these qualifications. How we do it it that we link up with a local college. We are working with Forth Valley college here, and in the North in Elgin, we do that with Inverness College. We provide the facilities and bodies and they do the ‘back room’ stuff. They do all the quality insurance stuff which is quite intensive from SQA. We let them do that part, and they charge us some money, not expensive.

So, maybe the Kilmardinny workshop could be seen as another base or outreach facility for this accredited course.

Yes, and local colleges and schools are really pushing construction training just now. You often hear about people from deprived areas trying to go to university; everyone wants to go to university. Its great that people have the opportunity, but there should also be more emphasis on putting people through the craft route. I’ll give you an example of my own life; I left school in Easter 1982, me and school didn’t get on. I was an apprentice by the next Monday. My dad knew somebody. I worked until I was about 30, on the tools. Then decided to do something else with my life. But it was so easy to go back to college, so I did that, got an HND In Architectural Conservation after two years. Then my route 101

of progression was very easy, and I ended up in here! Even now in 2018, you do a 4 year apprenticeship and in your 4th year you start to do an HNC unit at college. Employers are really good and will encourage people to go and do ‘on the job’ learning. They’ll continue to do an HNC / HND part time over 3 years. A night a week at college. Then they can go and do a degree in something; building surveying, site management, construction management, project management. So by the time you are 30, you can have a degree, zero debt, and they’ve been earning good money by that time.

When people ask how much an apprentice earns, there are different answers. My daughter was in childcare and it was slave labour to be honest; apprentice minimum wage was something like £2.90 an hour. Construction is different. A 16 Year old leaving school with get £135 a week.

Second year; up to over £210, Third year; £340. Fourth year, £450.

Is that standardised?

Yes, its controlled right through all the construction trades.

A good incentive for people to carry on and do the full four year course.

Exactly. Once their out of the four years, if they’ve done everything they were meant to, they’re a very good commodity for their employer. If they don’t like it though, they can walk out and go elsewhere.

So that’s the risk that the employer is taking; they could have invested in someone for four years who then leaves…

So there’s a pressure for the employer to make that [apprenticeship] a good experience, or that money that’s been invested is lost. So when that guy comes out they should be making £13.50 an hour, but believe me they are earning more than that. If they don’t like where they are they can move and at the moment you could leave on Friday morning and have another job on Friday afternoon. There’s that much work about if youre good. I know guys earning £21/ £22 per hour. So what we are saying is that there’s another route than going to university. If you want to go to university then fine, great, but remember the construction industry has changed a lot. The money is good. The prospects of doing further education and going into higher education are better and the routes are there.

So its just about a lack of awareness of these alternative routes…

Yes and that’s what we’re trying to do with the schools. So I’m going in in a couple of weeks to do a wee crat things and speak to 3rd and 4th year pupils in the school to show them where the routes are and what we can do t help them get in there. It’s about giving them the choice.

Parents, often who didn’t go to university themselves, often want their children to go to university, which is fin but sometimes we speak to students at university (Civil engineering students at Glasgow University) and they say only 25% of the class will go on to get a job in engineering.

So we are putting people through university and after four years they may go away and do something else. It happens a lot. Many people get pressurised to go t university.

It’s almost like a continuation of being at school for some people. A few more years of having your ow freedom whilst not having to face the real world and the work place!

When you work in our world, within heritage, there are a lot of people who have a degree and think they know everything. We have big issues with architects. I earn the same amount as some architects but they sometimes look down their nose at me. It happens with a lot of people because I don’t have a degree, particularly not in architecture. That’s the bit we have to get over. Everyone is an important part of the process!

So I think the route we’ve got now is a really good one. Another one; in 1910 in the UK a bricklayer or stone mason’s content of their final exam for their apprenticeship was more difficult than that in the exam done by a structural engineer now, in terms of calculations. Back then, civil engineers didn’t really exist. The bricklayers and stonemasons were having to do all of the calculations. The thing now that engineers have is a calculator…

I was going to ask about the application process for those school leavers who haven’t made their grades and are going to do the pre-apprenticeship program?

It breaks down into two areas. There’s an application for where we (HES) put down what we’re looking for and explain to them that we are trying to help those who won’t make their grades. The other 95% of the construction industry are private companies, and the vast majority of their apprentices are someone who knows someone who knows someone… They’re happy to take them on and that’s how it happens. Not many advertise apprentices. People say ‘how do you become an apprentice?’ and you have to go personally, knock on the door and go in and see them. Sometimes you’re lucky and they’ll say ‘come in son’ and give them a chance. If you’re happy to say ‘I’ve had no experience but I’ll come out and help for free for a couple of days or a week to show you what I can do’, the employer knows you’re interested. It they tell you to be there at 8 o’clock, be there at quarter to. That’s it, and they’ll do the rest for you. They want people who are keen and reliable.

CITB do stuff in terms of helping people. CITB Scotland is different and are trying to change things. They are trying to reduce the four year apprenticeship. In England it’s only two years but the employers in Scotland are adamant that it will stay at four years. That’s great, seeing as they have to pay the apprentices for two more years. Yes, they can see the benefit from it and believe me you can’t teach anyone anything in two years.

Say an employer gets an apprentice and after two years they realise that the apprentice is great, and decide they will take them on, can they stop the apprenticeship and begin working for them properly or do they need to complete the four years of the apprenticeship?

They’re employed on a four year fixed term contract with one employer. The vast majority will stay after that but there are always some who realise its not for them or want to move. We’ve had some like that as well, it’s not uncommon. That’s just the way the world works. People move.

How many apprentices do you have at HES? 102

Right now we have about 34. We are recruiting 6 this year; four stone masons, a joiner and a painter and decorator. They are scattered everywhere around Scotland. Lots of stonemasons, two joiners, a couple of gardeners. One gardener is in Holyrood Palace, one at Dirleton Castle.

That’s in construction. We also have apprentices in Visitor Services Operation. They’re doing a two year SVQ Level 3 in visitor attraction or something. They do that on the job.

Are these jobs to do necessarily with conservation?

The gardeners are yeah, even the electricians are working with scheduled ancient monuments, such as Stirling Castle. You can’t treat that building as you would if you were re-wiring someone’s house. Its completely different. There are things that they can’t do, like drilling holes willy-nilly. There has to be some thought about running a cable. The electricians are doing a lot of wireless IT as the castle. Because it has such thick walls it needs a lot of boosters. We had really poor IT at the castle as we couldn’t get a big enough cable up the road. We couldn’t get broadband. When this place opened up (the Engine Shed) we got really quick broadband, I meant he quickest I’ve ever come across. The IT said ‘I think I can improve the IT at the castle’, so there’s a dish installed on a drainpipe (to boost Wi-Fi from Engine Shed to Castle, visible on the hill). The castle’s IT has improved tenfold. So as technology moves on, the electricians have to adapt. We are bringing the castle up to modern day needs. Free Wi-Fi is being rolled out for visitors. We’re doing a trial at the moment. When you see electricians now they’re doing so much stuff like IT as well. Same with the gardeners at Dirleton, they’re working on the biggest herbaceous garden in Britain. In Holyrood Palace, they’re working on gardens that were designed by Prince Albert for queen Victoria in the 1800’s/ All these things have historical value.

In Stirling Castle, the joiners have taken all the window out. Some of them were over 200 years old. None of that window refurbishment is taught at college.

Have they already done an apprenticeship, and have come to HES to do their SVQ Level 3?

They’ve done their SVQ Level 3 in Joinery at college, probably modern joinery. They have block release; a couple of weeks at college, then back on site picking up for the tradesmen. So gradually as they go their time they get more and more responsibilities and more and more jobs to do.

So, you are facilitating the block release placements?

Yes as an employer.

Do they have another employer for the rest of the time?

We are the employer all of the time, even when they are being hosted by the college. The funding for that come from either SDS, and there’s a complex funding package which is a mixture of managing agents and, this is going to get really complicated; you can have a contract directly with SDS yourself, or you can have a manging agent. We use a managing agent, which is a college; either Forth Valley College of Inverness and they pick it up for us and charge us a fee for it. Rather than me having to battle through it. So for your place, having a chat with a college is a way forward.

So we did a workshop, just before Christmas with two schools, Kirkintilloch High and Bearsden Academy. Quite different schools, and around 20 pupils altogether. We did a stone carving workshop with Thom Simmons from the Mackintosh Restoration Team, and he brought Michael Goodger from the Glasgow City Heritage Trust. They did the stone carving which was great. The pupils carved their initials and loved it. They got so into it! WE did another separate workshop where they had a scale model of the framework of the workshop, and gave them loads of cut out textures and machines and tools and they made college models. We did a little review where they explained their design decisions; we’ve got these windows for this etc… It was like a miniature version of the reviews that we have at university.

That’s good, that’s the way to get people to engaged and aware. That’s what we’re doing, getting pupils engaged.

So you’re talking about getting a ‘pod’ in the engine shed; that’s what the workshop will be. A little space where you can say ‘Okay we’re having this stone carving morning this weekend’.

So if you try and get apprentices on directly you may struggle a bit.

I don’t think it will facilitate that, but instead will be a stepping stone for those who don’t know about the possibilities of apprenticeships.

What we would be happy to do, once we have this pilot pre-apprenticeship scheme kicked off, is to share that with you guys. Once we get approval if we do go down the SQA route, which we will, it sits on the shelf so it’s open for anyone to use and I think there’ll be a fair bit of uptake from the school on that.

The pre-apprenticeship is more aimed at people who are 15-16 years old, who are not going to achieve the academic standards needed for their apprenticeship. Those older will get an interview anyway. It’s a good alternative for those who may end up on the scrap heap. And that’s where a lot of the social problems happen. It’s been proved time and time again; If you give people a job and it’s something that they enjoy, they will see prospects, rather than going into a dead-end job with no room for development.

Great to know! Have you spoken to Esmee?

Yes, via Dorothy. It’s been busy though; so much going on this half term. If there’s anything else drop me an email!

Thanks etc!

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3 INTERVIEW

JOHNNIE WALKER, BANKER’S YARD AT GLASGOW CATHEDRAL

Tom, Beth and Louisa met with Johnnie from HES Bankers Yard at Glasgow Cathedral, Glasgow 27th Feb 2018 How did you get into stone masonry?

Well, to be fair I didn’t really set out to be a stonemason. My father, he was a roofer-slater-plasterer so I have always wanted an apprenticeship and by chance I just seen it in Springburn Job centre, and then I applied for it and I was successful.

Was that with a private company?

That was with Historic Scotland, I have worked with this agency for seventeen years. I was an apprentice at Glasgow Cathedral. I have worked on this building for seventeen years as a stonemason, and now as a Works Manager.

Do you take on apprentices?

Every year Historic Scotland employ apprentices of various trades, in stonemasonry we do take them on but it really depends on where the need is, so we’re not guaranteed an apprentice stonemason every year at Glasgow Cathedral. We have got one that we just got last year, Kieran. He’ll do his four year apprenticeship here and then maybe after that in another four years we may well get another one, because it’s a mammoth task, conserving this cathedral.

What ages are your apprentices generally? Are they school leavers?

They used to be between sixteen and twenty-five, and then there was no age but I think now there’s not a limit, so you can get mature apprentices.

Kieran is in his thirties, so there’s not an age limit no.

Is the only route to becoming a Stone Mason through an apprenticeship, or is there another way?

No. You would. It’s a Modern Apprenticeship so it’s a four year apprenticeship just like an electrician, like a joiner, like a plumber. So three years is between your site, being your depot, and the college where you learn the textbook stuff. Then the fourth year of your apprenticeship you’ll sit a skills test, hopefully you’ll pass that and then you’ll get your papers. There’s no other way of getting it, you need to do these levels to gain your qualification. There’s a building aspect to that and then there’s a cutting aspect, its all practical. Throughout your college there are drawings which you need to submit, you also need to submit crew forms which they call, which is basically a criteria to tick, so there could be a job where maybe you’re cutting an arch stone, so what you’ll do is you’ll do a crew form. This is on site based so there will be a mentor i.e the Works Manager, and they will take photos and document the apprentices work and then it will be marked and that will go to his lecturer, and that’s a part of his whole apprenticeship.

You know the CSCS card, the safety training, is that part of it as well?

Aye you’ve got to have that just to make you aware of heath and safety really. So there’s various, I mean it’s a multiple choice, its pretty much like if you go for your provisional, its that sort of on screen test. We all sit our CSCS cards, depending on your level of management, you’ll do a management card, but the apprentices will do one. If I can remember, I got the banker, the banker-fixer / banker-masons CSCS card. It tells you what it is on the back of it. It’s a gold card and isn’t basically heritage.

How do you learn the skills to work on the cathedral? Are you carving stone from the beginning?

Its different, you’re not carving stone, you’re cutting stone, you’re hewing the stone. There’s rules to stone masonry. There’s more discipline to cutting stone as in a stone mason than there is carving. The carving aspect, that’s something which can follow on, but you need to get the basics right. So your apprenticeship is you’re a stonemason, you’ve got rules to follow, and if you stick to these rules you will succeed. But listen, a lot of people think you’ve got to be good at drawing and things like that but its not really like that. There’s rules, I’m not going to give you the rules because I would be giving away my craft but there is, there is rules that you stick by and swear by and you will succeed. We brought all our apprentices, myself, and we’ve moved onto bigger things as well. When I first started and I went for my interview, there’s a masons mallet, which is just, I’ll show you the tools, which is just a masons mallet. Now that was sat upside down with the handle, and I actually picked it up and thought it was a crushing device, until they said turn it the other way and then of course it’s a hammer isn’t it? So I mean you don’t need to be intelligent either. But again, you just learn it, you’ve got to have a passion for it as well, because its attention to detail.

Do you think you develop passion by doing the job?

Oh aye. Because you think, well you’ve got to have an appreciation of these buildings. I mean I was born and bread in Glasgow, and there would be no Glasgow without Glasgow Cathedral. It’s the only bit of the medieval city left apart form the Lord Provostship. Its not only Glasgow we look after, we look after other monuments, nearby. Its just a passion for me.

Do you find it challenging to recruit apprentices?

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Good ones? Aye. No again its just, the recruitment process with Historic Environment Scotland, well I don’t entirely agree with the questions.

The questions are the same questions that they ask over the full board, these questions basically its just a tick box thing. These questions could be asked to somebody working in a library for Historic Scotland, but the process is that it will go through social media, or it will go into local newspapers, things like that, and then they get all these applicants. So then its sifting, from there I won’t be involved in the sifting which is a bit difficult, if I’m going to be training an apprentice for four year, you would like to know what’s coming on your doorstep. So its not until I usually see them at the interview when its down to the last ten for an interview, that’s when I become involved with another mason who will do the practical aspect. So we split it into two, we do just like a normal conversation application tick box and then they’ll do the practical thing, because they’ve got to have capabilities with working with the tools.

So the apprentices have to have some kind of prior experience with stone masonry?

No, not prior experience. I didn’t have prior experience, although I did work with my Dad, but not on stone masonry. But again its like if they pick up a chisel and a mallet and then just to cut the stone, just to see them, to see how they work it. It gives you and idea about whether they’re picking it up right.

Do you think that young people know that stone masonry is a viable career path?

Well I don’t know. The good thing about Historic Scotland is there doing a lot, and well I’m doing a lot of outreach. So I’m making young people aware that there is an opportunity to become a stone mason or any kind of modern apprentice throughout Historic Environment Scotland. It’s getting a bit better, a lot of people still when you go and have a conversation they think it’s a dying trade or there aren’t enough of you out there, but no there is.

The project that we’re working on with East Dunbartonshire Council is for a small workshop space in Bearsden. Do you think that this space could help generate interest in stone masonry amongst young people?

What are you going to do in the workshops?

They want it to be flexible, but I guess some things are specific to stone masonry, the extraction for your machines and that sort of thing.

There’s a lot of health and safety with this, that’s a must. But there is other types of stone you can use, there’s lime stone that you can use. With the sandstone that we use there’s a high content of silica dust, hence the reason why we use the dust extraction systems and the paper suits, and the airstream helmets. But with the limestone its 2% silica, so you can use that, and you can also dampen it to control the dust. Its dependent on what kind of stone you’re using, that will dictate where you go with your extraction systems and things like that.

Do you think that this space could help generate interest?

Bringing the workshop and doing a bit of outreach?

Yes. If there was provision for people to try it out?

Aye it could do. When we get the kids along at the Buchanan Street they’re always… you’re giving a kid a hammer and a chisel, and they’re getting to smash stone, so, you know what I mean, they’re enjoying it, you know what I mean. It’s a bit of vandalism isn’t it?

Have you ever had someone come for a taster workshop and really enjoy it, and want to pursue an apprenticeship?

You do get some folk that have done maybe just a wee taster session of it, and they feel, but again, these taster sessions they can give them a bit of wrong direction as well because these taster sessions they can have a lot of emphasis on carving, and stone masonry is a big scope of works, its not carving. Stone masonry, its not just carving stone, I mean I could be cutting out a chimney in the middle of winter, I could be pointing a chimney, well not in the middle of winter but in the middle of summer. Then I could be removing vegetation, so all these important factors, they’ll need to be made aware of because a lot of them think, well they like the romantic side of stone masonry. You know the carving, gravestones and things like that, that’s what we usually get, but its not like that at all. As I say I could be up a scaffold in the middle of winter, conserving a cathedral, and its, its removing vegetation and things, I’ve got to put as much effort into doing that as cutting stone, that’s what it is, because at the end of the day there’s a bigger picture. So aye, these taster sessions are great to give them a wee insight, but its important for them to see, I don’t know if there was a pamphlet or some sort of leaflet or some other interpretation, to say look this is the other side of stone masonry that you need to be made aware of, because it is, a lot of our work is outside.

[TOM] On site at the moment, its not stone masonry, but we’ve had a plastering apprentice start and she had done a couple of taster workshops, actually she did a stone cutting thing with HES over in Stirling, I’m not sure what it was but it was something with Fourth Valley College. That’s basically why she was chosen, because she had shown interest, she had done a college course in plastering but not an apprenticeship, and she hasn’t been able to get herself a job as an apprentice, so this was like an opportunity basically. She had shown interest through the other stuff so HES were keen to fund it.

It does help, doing these wee taster sessions, I’m sure, with our outreach and things, it can work, but you’ve got to be aware of the other side of it.

Another thing we have talked about it some kind of pre apprenticeship programme to prepare apprentices ahead of time.

When I was in college, and that was what, 2001, so my apprenticeship was solely stonemasonry, but you had other folk doing maybe a six week course in brick laying, or a six week course in plastering, six week course in tiling throughout the year, so you’ve got that as well. So if you could have had that, a six week course in stonemasonry, I dare say that gives them a good, it gives them a start.

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Would that impress you as a potential employer?

Aye it would, aye. Taster sessions are for about a day or so but I mean a six week programme would be ideal because they could get to learn a wee bit, and hopefully they would stick at it.

Are stone masonry workshops in college outdoors as well?

No. They’re all indoor. My one was in Bridgeton, and that was indoor and they had the, pretty much the same kind of set up with the bankers and the dust extraction system, its mostly all indoor. We’ve not got the weather for outdoor really.

This is partly outdoor though?

It is partly outdoor, it is, but its pretty sheltered. When you get a driving rain it will not really, it will not really drive right in. Aye we have got a facility in Lesmahagow, they’ve got a workshop and that’s all indoor, its pretty much like Forth Valley College.

We were wondering more generally about the relationship between craftsperson and designer. Are you involved in the design process of the stones which you’re going to cut?

Yeah well, I take it it the designer would be the architect aye? I’ve got a great working relationship with the architect Ian Lambie. He’s the district work architect for this depot and other monuments which I look after as well. It’s important that you’ve got this relationship with them. It will be the case that myself and Ian will go up and inspect the stonework, we’ve got the use of the scaffolding, we’ll do a visual inspection. As in the design process, I’ve got to make sure that its fitting for the building, so that’s again its just template making which I will be involved in, that’s my job. I’ll pass it by the architect and he’ll say yeah or nae. Unusually its yes. To be fair you can get some stubborn architects, I hope you aren’t architects are you no? You can get some stubborn ones but again ours, Ian Lambie, he is a source of knowledge as well.

What kind of architect is he?

He’s worked with Historic Scotland, maybe 18 years, but he’s done the conservation side of it.

[TOM] Architects get a conservation accreditation after they’ve done either three or five conservation projects, which you’ve then got to write up, and you submit that to RIAS and they put you on a list. I think there’s about three hundred conservation accredited architects in Scotland at the moment.

And that’s how you can get work on something like the Glasgow Cathedral?

Well he’s employed by us, and he’s got to have that accreditation because most of our property are monuments.

[TOM] If its not a monument like this which is managed by HES because its owned by the Scottish Government, and then HES manage and run it. But say you’ve got like a cottage, any chump can turn up and be an architect for that building, but whether they are going to do the right thing for the building is a different matter.

As I say Ian Lambie is a really good architect.

Does he stick to the original designs for the cathedral? Or would he ever mix something up?

No we’re not here to change the aesthetic of the building or anything, we’ll conserve it as it is. We only really intervene when necessary. It’s a minimalistic approach to conservation. Sometimes you feel as though you would like to go and cut the gargoyles, there’s just nothing left of it but again you can’t do that.

So are you applying the same techniques as you would have done a hundred years ago?

Aye. As I said, with stonemasonry, if I was to lay out my tools and a medieval mason was to come on to site he would recognise these tools, they’ve not changed. Although the masons mallet is nylon, it would have been made of hard wood, maybe oak, various chisels, it’s the way we approach it and cut it, its not changed since the Egyptian times really. Although we’ve got other benefits where we’ve got electric hoists and things like that.

[TOM] Less slaves.

Scaffolding, things like that.

Less slaves more scaffolding.

Aye, again but the techniques have not changed.

What’s your approach to sustainability? I suppose we’re thinking about this in terms of longevity of the building.

Aye ours is all done by stone isn’t it? So it’s a natural material. I’m hoping that when we intervene that I’m not going to visit again in my lifetime, because if I have to visit again that means I’ve done it wrong. You know so, if we intervene we’re just protecting the local heritage for future generations. We have to get it right, but again we will only intervene when necessary, but it’s a mammoth task conserving a cathedral.

[TOM] But I mean you were saying earlier that there’s work done here in 1840.

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That was a period of restoration aye. Sadly, the two towers at the front of the cathedral, they were demolished because they didn’t feel it had significance or the historic significance. But again, some of these textbooks tell you that the bell tower at the front of the cathedral, Arch-Bishop Blackadder worked on it, he’s from thirteenth to fourteenth century, and the master mason John Moral he actually worked on the corbels, and sadly we’ve lost all that kind of history there.

[TOM] You were also saying that you were going back to look at the stone survey.

We are revisiting that, and we’re having to go back and repair.

Stuff that they did then?

Aye stuff that they did then.

No way!

[TOM] But you’re basically saying that’s not necessarily the best repair because the stone selection wasn’t that good. Now when you put that into perspective, that’s what like nearly two hundred years worth of time out of that incorrect fix.

But then you look at the medieval masonry and that’s still, we’ll we’ve not even visited that area.

Are you getting the stone from the same places as it was in the beginning?

The stone, I mean its locally sourced just because they didn’t have the logistics. They reckon that George Square would have been a source, would have been a quarry at some point. Or you’ve got quarries throughout here, we had an abundance of sandstone, you’ve got Bishopbriggs, there’s a quarry there. But the stone that we use, we’ve done the geological match, and the closest geological match to that is from Burntisland, Fife. That’s a really, that’s a really nice sandstone that is, very robust, and the great thing about it is it weathers well as well. As you can see when you go up the West elevation its starting to weather.

Is that where you source the stone from now?

Aye that comes from, it comes from Burntisland, I think its in Fife aye. So that’s where the stone comes from.

Do you get the opportunity to work on contemporary buildings?

Me and another stone mason, we’ve got our own wee business we do outwith Historic Scotland, again its all conservation practices that we do you know what I mean? I could be working on someone’s property which is only a hundred years old where I could be repairing the gable.

So you don’t ever find that you’re doing work on a new building?

No. I’ve never really. Its more so properties dating from around the 1900’s. I use the same techniques that I use here.

Its all down to money at the end of the day, it depends on the design of the building. I’m trying to think if there’s anything new.

Do you think stonemasonry is solely a traditional skill or could it also be contemporary?

There’s other aspects, there’s bits of stonemasonry where they’ll do cladding. You know the likes of on Buchanan Galleries, I know a lot of stone masons worked on that, and that’s pretty modern isn’t it? You’ll just adapt to it.

So do you think the only thing that stops people from using stone is the cost?

Cost as well aye, because it is phenomenal. I mean there is other products out there that looks like stone, you can get precast stone, but for stone to come, sawn six sides I mean I’ll show you the stone out there, but I bought three palettes of stone and it was fifteen thousand pounds.

[TOM] Yeah I mean that limestone for the workshops that’s worth £300. For the ten blocks that’s about £300 worth of limestone.

So its just not worth the cost to put it into a contemporary building.

Its alright I mean if they’re doing a contemporary building, if they’re using sandstone they’re going to need proper materials as well so ideally they’re going to have to use lime mortar.

[TOM] Because with the cladding, the cladding sections now are down to less than 50mm, some of them are really thin.

Its like a trade in itself, it keeps changing. We use to do it as an aspect of our apprenticeship in college but they took that out.

Thanks etc!

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4 INTERVIEW

THOM SIMMONS, GSA

Thom Simmons studied at the GSA’s Mackintosh School of Architecture before working as a cabinetmaker and joiner. He has over 10 years of experience in construction working on a number of listed and historic buildings.

Before joining the Mackintosh Restoration Team Thom worked for the Glasgow City Heritage trust as Traditional Skills & Materials Officer. In this role he worked to provide training for best practice in the upkeep of traditional building stock and to promote apprenticeship opportunities for craft building skills. As Chair of the Glasgow Traditional Buildings Forum Thom works with a wide network of government bodies, academic and further education institutions and contractors to protect and enhance the historic built environment.

Thom’s role within the Mackintosh Restoration Team is to ensure that maximum use is made of the many learning opportunities available through the restoration project. He will be delivering a wide program of training and outreach engaging students within the GSA, professionals, school children and the general public. The role will create a legacy for the restoration project by increasing available craft skills within Scotland and by building capacity for conservation craft training.

1. Thom, what is your role within the Mackintosh restoration?

So I work on the client team and the client team is four individuals. There’s senior project manager, a project manager and a project assistant who helps them and me. And then there’s my role on site, to the side of the actual running of the project. The title is Conservation Skills Coordinator and it’s really about promoting training opportunities through the restoration project.

2. Why types of tradesman and craftsman are restoring the mac and where do they come from?

- Are they local or national?

We have quite a range of trade’s people working on site. Everybody from general builders and demolition contractors who were involved in the takedowns before the restoration work started. And then we have a quite diverse joinery team, there are four joinery contractors on site, working on everything from rebuilding the roof to reinstalling the library which is a highly specialised piece of joinery work, more like cabinet making.

We’ve got heritage led work and slater’s on site; internal lime plasterers who are quite a unique company. In terms that lime plastering is quite a rare skill to have. They have actually come up from Leeds. There are other contractors in Scotland that can do lime plastering but they’re not on the scale required for a project of this size.

Are these all traditional tradesman or is there a mixture of both contemporary and traditional tradesman working on the restoration?

The joiners who are working for JCG who are doing a lot of the duking work, that’s putting the wooden pegs into the walls that are sort of used as a raw plug. I guess that’s a traditional skill but those joiners will probably work on modern construction projects as well. So I know that quite a few of them have worked on modern construction contracts like Caller Homes, so they’ve worked on both modern and traditional jobs. And you find that with certain building crafts, joinery is a really good example of a building craft that retains its capacity for a certain element of traditional work. Not all joiners these day could do all aspects of a traditional joinery job but they’ll still be able to turn their hand if not some but all most all of it. I guess things like the library are really highly specialised and that’s why we’ve gone to a joiner contractor like Laurence Mackintosh.

3. Why was it decided to restore the Mac exactly as Mackintosh intended and not a modern renovation?

There are a couple answers to that… One answer is that the chair of the board [Muriel Gray] very shortly after the fire said that’s what we’re going to do, within a day or to of the fire that we were going to put it back. But the other reason is that it tied more to the theory of the place. The building is designed as a cohesive piece and to have a element that jarred against the way in which the entire building was designed to function would undermine the building as a whole. So it makes sense that where you have the documentation necessary to do so, which we have, we can put back the library as it was and it honours the original design. In some respects its not as if Mackintosh’s hand as such was in the construction of the library, it was in the design of the library. So in some way you’re rebuilding his design but your building it to his design and that’s the Mackintosh, it’s the design not the fabric its self, I suppose.

4. How do traditional crafts meet with contemporary construction in the restoration?

- Is the building solely restored using traditional building skills or are some parts of the restoration?

Certain elements are being built in modern building technologies. A really good example is the skylights in studio 58 and the roof of the hen run are really good examples of that and on the roof of the museum as well. So the museum and the studio 58, the roof, there’s no historical records of the original glazing system. The glazing system that was there was installed in the 70’s and we don’t know what was put on that roof originally.

So in that situation we wouldn’t want to create a pastiche of what might have been there. We wanted to do something that honours the intent of space but is clearly not old. So we’re not sort of faking an element of the building, we’re being honest about how we put it back.

How have innovations in technology and contemporary construction been utilised in the restoration of the Mack?

I guess an innovation in technology is the glazing in the hen run. The original pitch of the hen run roof was quite shallow and Victorian glazing couldn’t quite handle the Scottish whether, it leaked quite a lot. Not long after the hen run roof was rebuilt at a much steeper pitch. Aesthetically that changes the space. We are now able to return the pitch of the roof to the original angle and we can do that because we’re using a modern glazing system, which is, much more robust and that means the roof will handle the water and there will be no water ingress. But we can put the roof back to its original angle and creates that sense of perspective that the space was designed to have originally. So yes, we’ve been able to honour the original design but using a modern material.

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Did you use digital scanning? Was technology used in to aid techniques of surveying and in the design process of the restoration?

Yes, there’s really highly detailed BIM model of the building, which we based on series of scans that were done shortly after the fire. I think the architects have found that really useful to help them in the design process.

There are certain challenges in terms of modelling something from a digital scan, because what you get is a surface image. In a BIM model from a modern constructed building, the building doesn’t exist and you model every element of that building, so you understand what’s inside your wall section. Where as if you scan a building you don’t what’s behind the surface of the scan. So to some degree, there’s still an element of risk there in that when you start taking surfaces there you don’t know what’s going to be behind them. So you’re constantly updating and adapting your BIM model as you go.

So that’s one of the key differences between working on a contemporary new build, to restoring an existing building, but you have these implications that you can’t foresee before you go to site.

I guess with a modern construction all the risk is in the ground. In terms of a finance model for a modern building.

It will be the spec list of investors that will put the money into the foundations and then you’ll be able to persuade a bank to finance then restore the building because its pretty much a full gone conclusion that the thing will go up as you expect but with a heritage building there’s risk in every element of that building. You don’t know what you’re going to find… you might have dry rot in all your lintels or whatever, but you don’t know until you take your plasterwork down. There’s much greater element of risk in a traditional building.

On a slightly broader topic, if it is so difficult to restore these buildings why is it important that we restore buildings of heritage and not perhaps demolish and build a new?

I guess buildings are a sought of symbol of culture that enables them to be. A building is quite a political thing in that… building a building goes way beyond the architect that designs it, its about the funding and the cultural movement that allows that thing to be created, especially like The Glasgow School of Art. The reason that it exists is because at that point in time Glasgow was one of the greatest ship building centres of the world and it required draughtsman and draughtswomen of a certain standard. And the government at that period was willing to invest in a learning program for that.

I guess the built heritage reflects the cultural heritage of the place in which it’s created and having an understanding of your cultural heritage is a key part of being able to move forward, both as a sought of nation of peoples but also more locally as well. It helps people understand where they are and where they’ve come from and what they are going on to achieve.

And I guess it’s also used to educate people as well, thats kind of what your role is?

5. How is the building and renovation being used to educate? Are there apprentices on site? How are you working with the Glasgow School of Art? During the restoration we have lots of training programs on the go, we have various training opportunities both in traditional building crafts and also in other more modern construction related skills happening.

We’re engaging school children, we’re working with the local community to engage them through various community build projects and we’re working with a population of students to engage them both in terms of their creative practise and also in terms of architecture students so that they are aware that conservation is as an avenue of their career that they could potentially go down.

LMc: Could you elaborate on your community related work?

I guess you guys fall in to one of the community related works [laughs]. There’s a bread oven project in garnet hill that we’re supporting and there’s a local green space garden that’s being developed on garden hill. And in slightly wider sense, we are also looking to work with a local charity called Gallgayle who are initially a boat building charity but we’re trying to draw them in to some of the contracts that we’re working on to rebuild some of the furniture.

It’s my role to facilitate and make stuff happen.

LMc: And so what does that practically involve?

Practically it involves moving bricks and rescuing materials off site. I guess if I weren’t there then opportunities would probably just go unnoticed I suppose. It’s a slightly unusual role in that you’re simply making the most of what comes up I guess.

I am now the chair! I have risen! [Laughs] It’s a forum for people who have got some interest in the historic built environment. And that’s quite wide ranging. That’s local colleges, higher education institutes, its government bodies like historic environments Scotland, charities that are working both with employment and the heritage sector, contractors, trade federations, national federation of roofing contractors, stone federation GB are members, the led contractors association are members and really it pulls all of these separated groups together and allows them to promote an understanding of the built environment and get across to people that its important that they do the right thing to historic buildings. Either because they’re going to fall down and hurt people or because they’re of value culturally.

So is this a platform or a website or do you meet up together in a built space?

There’s a national level website which has some events and things like that on it. But actually it’s a Glasgow based meeting of people and we meet probably every three months or so and we run various events through out the year. We have a pretty active run of CPD’s where we go into professional practises and talk about different aspects of traditional building. We run a number of public facing events, engaging homeowners, we run apprenticeship events and its through the Glasgow Traditional Building Forum that we’re pulling together a lot of the expertise for the schools programme that we are developing, the Art School and national as well.

Engagement 1. From our engagement group at Kilmardinny House, it became clear many of the school kids were unaware of heritage skills and careers within the sector. The engagement proved to be a successful with informing the consultation group through a model making and stone cutting workshop.

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Do you have previous experience with engagement in architecture?

It’s not my speciality but I’ve definitely done other consultation works. I think engagement in terms of traditional building skills is what I do.

Its not surprising to me that’s what you found. Its pretty normal to demonstrate or have kids to do a taster in stone cutting or other traditional building skills like led dressing or something like that and go away completely amazed that that’s even an option available to them. And that its an opportunity available to them that the standard of living attached to its is even more surprising to them.

Do you have any other ideas relating to methods of engagement?

At the moment I’m developing a program with HES and CITB that will hopefully outlive my role at the art school. It’s a program of engagement that will culminate in a standard level of the built environment. The idea is that it will work both for students that might down a more vocational path and for students that will go into professions in say engineering or surveying or architecture. And it will start at S2, S3 and there will be some activity that is there to have kids thinking about and learning about the built environment. An element of that will be traditional building both because its is a really useful way of engaging people in the built environment but some of it will be modern construction techniques as well. This will be really useful for people going into architecture because they will have a better understanding of the building industry and construction but it will also be useful for people going into an apprenticeship because it gives them a bit of a head start.

LMc: Will that be a qualification?

Ultimately it will become a standard grade. After that there are standard Highers that would take on from that already. If you weren’t going into Highers at that point you would go into a vocational qualification anyway.

Kilmardinny House Workshop 1. How do you see you’re work being utilised at Kilmardinny if the workshop proposal go’s ahead?

- What types of skills and crafts should be put into the workshop?

Yeah I think elements of this course would definitely be useful for Kilmardinny.

Besides your work how do you think the workshop will be utilised?

A lot of schools probably wont have the resource or the expertise to deliver elements of these courses, having a centre for tools equipment and materials and skilled knowledge to deliver those workshops is probably essential in the way that its delivered. I think links with colleges will be really important to the success of that whole programme. But somewhere like Kilmardinny House there’s certainly an area there for them to look at working in. I know for instance down at Dumfries house they’re also looking at kind of taking in elements of this programme and running that them selves as well. And they’re very similar in nature to Kilmardinny house.

What types of crafts and skills would you put into the workshop? After speaking to Ian Walker at The Engine Shed (HES) he told us that there is a massive shortage of skilled apprentices and tradesman in Scotland, especially a lack of stone mason and a shortage of joiners and carpenters…

If you were to pick a certain set of trades and crafts to house in the workshop what would they be?

There’s a resent bit of research that’s been released by CITB, which is an area sector analysis of schools gaps that’s tied to the geographic deficit of skills. I would probably look to base my program on the deficit that’s associated within the local area. Because if you know that your filling a skills deficit you are essentially ensuring that the people that come out of what you are doing will get some form of employment. But as a rough example of the top of my head it would include stone masonry and perhaps some lime work, some joinery, slating, roofing, led work. I think exposure to all of these things is really positive.

There’s obviously practical limitations to the site, its not a huge area. Could you have a flexible workshop? Could it be stone cutting one day and lime rendering the next?

I think you probably could, you would have to think about storage but I think it would be possible to create a flexible workshop space. You might have to get a little create about how you store rigs and this certain things but I don’t see an issue with it. The other things bout theses construction skills is that they happen out side and running workshops outside is not necessarily a bad thing because as a practitioner your going to be expected to work on a scaffold in the various weathers Scotland throws at you. It’s important that kids have an understanding of what they’re getting into.

Its not a bad thing if they come and experience something and its not for them because actually if they had taken it further and gone half way through an apprenticeship that’s a huge amount of resource that’s been wasted on a student that perhaps is destined for something else.

Johnny said something similar about stone masonry… people are largely attracted to it because of the romantic idea of carving stone, in actual fact a lot of the job is dealing with heavy stone, cutting stone and generally maintaining an old buildings, removing plants and foliage.

Ian walker said a similar thing too, that working on heritage buildings isn’t wholly about traditional craft its about the maintenance and upkeep of these buildings. And that these disciplines have a broader job role than first imagined.

And I think helping people understand that from a fairly early point is not a bad thing. You know you have to kind if hook them in somehow [laughs] …But it is a job at the end of the day.

And actually one of the really interesting things about the people who go on to do that job is that they do become hugely passionate about the whole spectrum of they’re role. …And I guess you can relate this to the architectural profession as well. Its not all final drawings and nice models or working on proposals for museums and art galleries.

Yeah I guess most of you guys are going to go on to design car parks for travel lodges! It’s going to take a few years before you move beyond that!”

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5 FEASIBILITY STUDY MAST ARCHITECTS

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5 FEASIBILITY STUDY MAST ARCHITECTS

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5 FEASIBILITY STUDY MAST ARCHITECTS

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6 MINUTES

MEETINGS WITH ESMEE AND FIONA, EDLC

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7 MACKINTOSH RESTORATION LIST OF SUB-CONTRACTORS

The following is the spreadsheet of Sub-contractors who are currently working on the Mackintosh Restoration project. It was given to us by Thom Simmons in April 2018, and is has been curated by Kier Construction Ltd who are the appointed contractor for the project.

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M M M MATERIALS

METHODS

MAKERS

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Participation - ‘The act of taking part in something’

Participation in Architecture - ‘generally describes ‘the nature of systems that are designed for user contribution. Architecture of Participation is a concept in which a community of users contributes to the content or to the design and development.’

Heterogeneity - ‘the quality or state of being diverse in character or content.’

Self-build - is the practice of creating an individual home for oneself through a variety of different methods. The self-builder’s input into this process varies from doing the actual building work to contracting out all the work to an architect or building package company.

Materials Methods & Makers: Participation & Self Build 3

Can Kilmardinny Craft Hub be Self-Built by the people it aims to facilitate?

Tom Deacon Stage 4 Mackintosh School of Architecture Glasgow School of Art April 2018

Preface

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The context of the essay has been informed by my special project: Materials, Methods and Makers.

‘Material Methods and Makers’ is a Stage 4 Research group from the Mackintosh school of architecture, researching into sustainable building materials and the application of traditional heritage techniques into modern architecture.

and an archive of information to support local research & use of traditional building materials.

Ultimately, the buildings aims to hold workshops to develop an interest amongst young people into their local heritage and stimulate alternative career directions and internships relating to Traditional Building Skills and Craft.

The project has been run in conjunction with Kilmardinny Arts Centre, Trails & Tails, Mast Architects and HES (Historic Environments Scotland) to aid research in the design of a ‘Kilmardinny Craft’ Hub workshop for traditional building skills and heritage crafts in East Dunbartonshire.

The project seeks to build a traditional building skills and craft workshop to enable East Dunbartonshire to actively explore it heritage. This centre would be a hub for all industrial skills and crafts learning, including hands on sessions, workshops, talks and exhibitions

The Mackintosh School of Architecture students are involved through a supervised learning project, ensuring the building is genuinely a result of community consultation, using a mix of traditional materials, methods and aiming for an energy neutral build.

I’d like to thank my group members Beth Dutson and Lousisa McG of which it has been a pleasure to work and collaborate with through out the project; Kathy Li (GSA) who has been an excellent supporter and tutor and all the partners who have kindly participated.

Contents

1 Introduction 2 Participation 3 Tranformative Participation Methods of Participation in Self-Build & Padagogy

4 Le Meme, Lucian Kroll Participation & Heterogeneity

5 Bauhausle. Peter Sulzer Participation & Pedagogy

6 The Boathouse, TOG Studio Participation & Innovation

7 Synthesis 8 Conclusion

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Fig 1 : Map of Scotland taken from the MMM documnet highlighting the locations of tradesman working on the Mackintosh Restortion.

Introduction The context of my individual research essay lies within the practice of the participatory moment.

‘During the 1970s the failures of the Modern movement were becoming increasingly apparent to many architects who looked for ways to redress the balance of power between the architect and the user. A number of different approaches were developed including methods to involve future users in the design process, using workshops, consultations and through establishing neighbourhood offices.

Others chose to self-build so that users could be involved not only in the design of their dwellings but also in their construction, and finally there was a move towards flexible layouts that could adapt to users needs. Whilst their methods differed the architects shared a common aim of empowering users to take control of their dwellings in a manner that allowed for their creative input whilst not reducing the role of the architect to that of a mere technical facilitator.’1 At present day participation through public consultation has become the common protocol in the bid and procurement for pubic buildings and housing projects. However, where participation has become widely utilised in the design process, participation become much scarcer in the actual build.

Kilmardinny Arts Centre aims to create a craft hub for Traditional building skills and crafts to represent the marginalised traditional crafts of East Dunbartonshire. The building aims are to hold workshops to develop an interest amongst young people into their local heritage and stimulate alternative career directions and internships relating to Traditional Building Skills and Craft.

As part of our joint research project, Materials Methods & Makers (MMM), conducted a series of consultation workshops to engage local school children (potential users of the building) what the building was about and what it was intended for. Our initial idea is that if the users of the building were engaged in the research and design of the project it would be more likely that the building would succeed as a useful asset and resource to the community.

1. Spatial Agency. 2018. Participation. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.spatialagency.net/ database/participation.1970s. [Accessed 11 April 2018].

Consultation is widely used in the procurement of architecture public buildings. Could we push participation one step further and include the local community and potential users of the building in the live build?

As the building is related to traditional buildings skills and crafts, this could become an opportunity for education and social cohesion for the community of East Dunbartonshire. Consequently this had led me to my research question.

Research Question If participation through a live build would to take place: What would be the significance of Kilmardinny Craft Hun being built through participation? Could the process of selfbuild be utilised as a tool of pedagogy? And largely is participation in architecture an idealistic vision or essential element to a buildings success?

The objectives of the essay is to understand the self-build and participatory process in the building industry at present, the feasibility of self-build and participation in community projects and the type of skills, methods and procurement of the process.

And ultimately understand the significance of public participation in live builds and why it is important that this movement continues to practice.

My methods of research have involved written research and reading around the subject. I have analysed texts from key participatory forerunners such as Lucien Kroll and Peter Sulzer to understand their methods of participation against present day advocates such as Jeremy Till, Architype and TOG. The context of my essay lies within the application of this line of study to the procurement of Kilmardinny Craft Centre. I frequently refer back to the joint research document written in conjunction with my research partners for qualitative and quantitative data. I will analyse the process and application of our consultation workshop against other method of engagement.

I will refer back to meetings and discussions held at the Engine Shed (HES) to understand the building and procurement process in Scotland and the types of skills and training routed in this sector.

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Participation

What is participation and why is there a need for it in Architecture?

Participation is the discourse between the users and the architect within the design process, through methods of engagement, starting from the initial briefing through to live construction. Once seen as a threat to normative architectural values and the professional position of the architect. Participation has become a statutory part of the design process, incorporated into almost every public or private scheme.

But what determines the success of participation? How much of the process has become statutory within Architectural practice?

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The political theorist Carole Pateman states, ‘participation serves as a part of an educative process through which ‘the individual will eventually come to feel little or no conflict between the demands of the public and private spheres’.1 Pateman’s writing is an analysis of participation within the workplace but is suitably applicable to participation within Architecture. In her book Participation and Democratic Theory, Pateman coins the term ‘full participation’, ‘where each individual member of the decision making body has equal power to determine the outcome of decision’.2 Suggesting there must be a balance between the user and the architect, that they both have equal control and opinion within the project. For Pateman the authenticity and success of the participatory process regards the share of power and control between each individual member, resulting in democratic stability. ‘Full participation’ describes the ideal practice of participation; can it really be achieved within architectural practice today?

Perhaps not, as Jeremy Till states in response to Pateman’s term, ‘full participation is an ideal and almost an impossible one to achieve in Architecture’.3 A concern is that architects (whether intentionally or unintentionally)

employ engagement methods to create a ‘feeling’ of participation to the user. Pateman labels such types of participation as ‘pseudo participation’, [this] covers techniques used to persuade employees to accept decisions that have already been made’.4 The user is allowed to contribute their view under the illicit control of the senior professional or in this case the architect.

Later In Participation and Democratic Theory, Pateman contrasts ‘full participation’ and ‘pseudo participation with ‘partial participation’. ‘Partial participation’ is when there is not equal power in how the decision is made: ‘the final power to decide rests with one party only’.5 In practice architects fall easily in to the category of ‘partial participation’. This is commonly acted through the evening consultation in the church hall, a tick off the checklist to add in to the Design and Access Statement. The pubic are included within the design process but the power and decision-making is ultimately in the hands of the architect.

This is a realistic analysis of architectural practice but not one to aspire too.

In practice its difficult to warrant the credibility of public participation as more than and idealised concept. The architect or ‘expert’ falls easily into the practice of both ‘pseudo’ and ‘partial participation’ through the way they communicate and work. Architects initiate communication on our their own terms; they use their own language and share information unreadable to the everyday user or citizen. Communication hinders this dialogue, reinforcing the power in the hands of the architect. Practically participation requires a huge amount of time and effort from both parties, more than most are willing to invest and engage in.

1.T Pateman, Carole. Participation and Democratic Theory. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970.

2. T Pateman, Carole. Participation and Democratic Theory. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970.

4. Till, Jeremey. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

3. Till, Jeremey. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

5. Till, Jeremey. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

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Participation in Architecture - ‘generally describes ‘the nature of systems that are designed for user contribution. Architecture of Participation is a concept in which a community of users contributes to the content or to the design and development.’ 6

Fig 2 : Thom Simmons leading a stone carving workshop to participanting students from Glasgow School of Art. This was taken from our second engagement workshop setup via MMM.

Transformative Participation ‘...an active signal of its opposition to the passive nature of placatory participation’.

However, if time is invested, how can both parties benefit from the process, can a balance be made?

In Architecture and Participation, Jeremy Till goes one step further and coins the term ‘transformative participation’,1 as ‘an active signal of its opposition to the passive nature of placatory participation’.2 By ‘placatory’ Till references the tokenism aspect of both ‘pseudo’ and ‘partial participation’ methods, used for deception or without intent. Till explains that ‘transformative participation’ is when both sides engage in a process that is both expansive to each other’s learning through participation.’3 He suggests a balance is made between both parties through a process that is both beneficial to each other’s learning and education. Where time and energy may be perceived as a loss through participation, Till suggest the reward is found within the dialogue and sharing of knowledge between user and architect.

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For this to happen ‘transformative participation demands a reformation of expert knowledge and the way it may be enacted’. The architect must be come ‘expert citizen, citizen expert’. Its quite easy for architects to isolate themselves form the design process and forget that he/she too is a user and embodied citizen. Architects need the ‘ability to move between the world of expert and user, with the set of knowledge and experience informing the other’.4 (Billig, cited in Till 2005) Till explains, ‘Participation through bringing in the users knowledge into the design process at an early stage, far from presenting a threat to architectural production actually presents an opportunity to reinvigorate it through challenging the very limits and constraints of specialist knowledge.’5 Participation through learning from the citizen challenges the role of expert and architectural practise. This resonates with Antonio Gramsci’s notion of the ‘organic intellectual’.

1. Till, Jeremey. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

2. Till, Jeremey. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

3.Till, Jeremey. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

4. Blundell, Peter, Doina Petrescu, and Jeremey Till. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed.

Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

5.Till, Jeremey. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

As Antonio Gramsci writes in his Selections from the Prison Notebooks 6 (cited in Till 2005) ‘Intellectuals should not remain as eloquent outsiders but as active participants themselves.’ The ‘intellectual’ or architect moving between worlds denotes an organic professional, practising between the spheres of both the user and architect.

Billig reaffirms that ‘new knowledge neither grows out of a special method, nor the special mind of a genius nor from new theoretical monologues…but from the voices of ordinary people in conversation.’7 (cited in Till 2005).

New spatial possibilities do not arise from the readings of professional knowledge; they come from conversations of ordinary people. Participation is the practice for which architects can learn new spatial possibilities and practise not from within themselves but through conversation and exchange with the user.

However, if a reciprocated understanding of exchange between user and architect are realised. Till discloses that the term ‘transformative participation’ is still ‘too cosy’.8 Transformative participation still suggests ‘idealised conditions of mutual cooperation, uncontested knowledge basis, open communication and eventual consensus’.9 It’s perhaps best to understand ‘that no participatory process, no matter how intentioned is going to be completely dissolve of the power structures and inequalities of the various parties.’10 If we accept that both ‘full participation and ‘transformative participation’ are still idealist ideologies what we should take from the participation is its challenge to normative architectural practise through the reciprocal exchange of knowledge, power and context between user and Architect. Participation therefore is essential to the progression of architectural knowledge and practice. In relation to Billig, architects cannot just learn from themselves but from the ‘voices of ordinary people in conversation’11 of which a ‘transformative participation’ can practise.

6. Blundell, Peter, Doina Petrescu, and Jeremey Till. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed.

Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

7. Blundell, Peter, Doina Petrescu, and Jeremey Till. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed.

Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

8.Blundell, Peter, Doina Petrescu, and Jeremey Till. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed.

Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

9.Blundell, Peter, Doina Petrescu, and Jeremey Till. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed.

Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

10.Blundell, Peter, Doina Petrescu, and Jeremey Till. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed.

Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

11. Blundell, Peter, Doina Petrescu, and Jeremey Till. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed.

Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

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Fig 3 : Thom Simmons leading a stone carving workshop to particating students. This workshop was a method engaging with the school kids to ask them what they new about traditional build skills and inform them about the programme of the Kilmardinny Craft Hub.

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Methods of Participation in Self-Build & Pedagogy Now that the theory and ideals of participation have been laid out. We can begin to analyse methods of participation in practise. The chosen case studies relate to non-traditional practises of architecture incorporating participation through self-build and pedagogy. These are just a small selection of examples of participation in architecture and do not demonstrate the full field of the practice. However they have been selected for their ideals and principles relevant to the self-build of Kilmardinny Craft Hub. The objective of the studies is to understand the methods of engagement that could be implemented in to a hypothetical self-build of Kilmardinny Craft Hub. I will then analyse the methods and practice of participation within these examples against the ideals of ‘transformative participation’.

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La MeMe – Lucien Kroll

Participation and Heterogeneity When writing about participation its fundamental to start with the work of Lucien Kroll and his pioneering work on the Maison Médical student accommodation at the University of Louvain, Brussels (1970-1976) or La Meme in short.

Students approached Kroll for an alternative to the monotonous design proposed by the university and conducted a successful campaign for its adoption. Developed in intense consultation with students and others who would use the building, an evolving physical model became a record of the design process. The resulting building has a fragmented look, as it was split into sections with each part handed over to a separate team of architects within the office.1

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Kroll’s architecture had been a reaction to the modernist orthodox before him and instead called for architecture of complexity and heterogeneity.

‘The object being to avoid a predictable, imposed outcome and to produce maximum variety and complexity, reflecting a range of individual choice within the community served by the building.’2 The significance of La Meme is not in its heterogeneous appearance but how it enabled residents to participate successfully in the design and build of their own apartments. Kroll achieved this by adopting the SAR method from John Habraken, which incorporates the setting out of a supporting frame leaving the design of the infill in the hands of the participating occupant.

Habraken compared the system with the principle of the bookcase, ‘which accommodates the disparate contents within its separate shelves’.3 The supporting frame is left bare ready to be filled by a variety of different materials, methods and makers. As Kroll explains, ‘The primary structure the concern of the industry, the infill could be left to the builders, or in the case, to the dexterity of the individual resident.’4

1.“Participation.“ Spatial Agency. Accessed April 11, 2018. www.spatialagency.net/database/ walter.segal 2. Blundell Jones, P., 1986. The Architecture of Complexity. 2nd ed. London: Batsford.)

3. Lucien Kroll. Lucien Kroll, Buildings and Projects. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, 1987.

4. Lucien Kroll. Lucien Kroll, Buildings and Projects. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, 1987.

Kroll’s structure is designed with precision with the aid of advance of building technology of the time. The infill however, is built by its residents: low tech, fragmented, and organic. The ordered structure houses the infill and bricolage of its inhabitants.

This method was best practised in ‘the lofts’ of La Meme, which were devised as empty houses for the students to infill and build their own rooms and home. Kroll states that students were at first reluctant to start building. Feeling uncomfortable with the process and the thought of ‘messing with university property’.5 The students were reluctant to engage perhaps to the unorthodox system of building and their lack of design and building knowledge.

Freedom and flexibility in design had been laid before them but it still required Kroll the ‘expert’ ‘to sit down and help design what they had envisioned’.6 The role of the architect as ‘expert’ is still essential to bringing out the potential of the users needs even when control and choice is laid before them.

As the build developed over time the lodgings ‘achieved an exceptional agglomeration… groups would develop their own territory for their activities’.7 Indeterminacy and flexibility had developed a hybrid cluster of different living habitations that had not been envisioned.

The change and evolution of La Meme through time is the success of the project for Kroll, that ‘the spirit of participation lives on for a generation.’8 Despite later generations not being involved in the original design and build, the sense of ownership and managing passes on from resident to resident.

The balance of power between architect and users can be equated if the schemes vision transcends its first incarnation from one generation to the next. A ‘transformative’ exchange of knowledge passing between not just the architect and user, but user to user.

5. Lucien Kroll. Lucien Kroll, Buildings and Projects. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, 1987.

6. Lucien Kroll. Lucien Kroll, Buildings and Projects. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, 1987.

7. Lucien Kroll. Lucien Kroll, Buildings and Projects. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, 1987.

8. Lucien Kroll. Lucien Kroll, Buildings and Projects. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, 1987.

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Fig 4 : La MeMe, Brussels 1976

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Fig 6 : La MeMe, Brussels 1976. Four views of the ‘Loft spaces which were personally designed and built by the medical student with assistance from Kroll Atelier.

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Fig 5 : La MeMe, Brussels 1976. Fire escapes were added after the completion in order to adapt to building regulations that had changed while in construction. The adaption blends in to the complexity of the facade.

Bauhäusle - Peter Sulzer Participation and Pedagogy Bauhäusle is a self-build student housing scheme at the Technical University of Stuttgart. It was designed and built by students, between 1981 and 1983, under the supervision of Peter Sulzer and Peter Hübner. A number of factors came together allowing the project to occur, including strong support from the University and an existing long running first year project where students designed their own rooms. The lack of accommodation in Stuttgart that year prompted the students to ask whether they could build their designs.1 With strong support and backing from the university Sulzer and Hubner were able to implement participatory methods for pedagogy purpose. Here the architects or tutors took on a ‘supervisory role’ overseeing the full participation of students in the design and build of the building.

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Sulzer explains the design process was initiated through adopting a military method of imagining ‘scenarios’ when designing asking the students, ‘what happens when your mother arrives on a Sunday morning at 8 o clock?’2 These pragmatic questions drew in the student’s personal experience of spatial encounters, which were then materialised into models and drawings by the students.

The Tutors themselves made models of the communal spaces of the project to see how the student’s proposals related to one another. Students are very much the catalyst of design decisions; the tutors become enablers, reminding the students of practical matters.

However as Sulzer explains, ‘whether dealing with clients or students you can make models or drawings, but they never really understand the building until they can step inside’.3 Despite an enhanced amount of participation by the students, Sulzer believes the architect still has the greatest amount of expertise in practising architecture, foreseeing what the student or user can’t initially imagine.

build its self, decisions can be made and altered as the building is constructed. The informal practise of the operation allows flexibility and space for reflection.

The students learnt and engaged through ‘doing’ gaining a practical knowledge rather than ‘professional or academic’.

Like Kroll, Sulzer had incorporated a building framework based on the Segal method, which devises a set of lightweight building components that with the use of a set grid, are adaptable to the requirements of the self-builder.

The ‘Segal Method ‘ ‘Designed in consultation with Jon Broome, the system makes use of materials that are readily available and simple to work with and removes the need for any wet trades. Once the positioning of the timber frame and a services and circulation core are set, the standard size panels can be positioned according to user needs. Each self-builder was provided with basic plans, sections and a specification that described the sequence of construction. Within a set grid, they were able to make adaptations to the lightweight, dry and demountable construction system, which was screwed or bolted together.’ 4 The beauty of self-build is that it welcomes aspects of indeterminacy. As the students built they began to veer away from the Segal Method and the instruction of their tutor Sulzer. The normative architect would have discouraged a move from the set system. But as a pedagogical process Sulzer welcomed the student decisions, as their actions would develop them further as designers. Student learnt through ‘doing… and making their mistakes’.5 Besides a process of learning through design, the Bauhausle project ‘revealed how participation and self build gives the users a sense of owner ship’.6 The camaraderie of students resulted in the project having a ‘communal atmosphere persisting long after the original students left’.

Like La Meme, the success of the Bauhausle is not just the reciprocal exchange between the students and tutors but that the ‘spirit of participation and self build lives on for a generation’. The ‘spirit’ of the project, being ownership and community.

The greatest benefit of the self-build process is that it immerses the user beyond the design process and in to the

1. “Bauhäusle Building – Stuttgart, Germany 1981 – 1983.” Spatial Agency. Accessed April 11, 2018. http://www.spatialagency.net/database/bauhausle.

2. Peter Sulzer. ‘Notes on participation’ in Architecture and Participation. Abingdon: Routledge, 2015.

3. Peter Sulzer. ‘Notes on participation’ in Architecture and Participation. Abingdon: Routledge, 2015.

4. “Walter Segal.“ Spatial Agency. Accessed April 11, 2018. www.spatialagency.net/database/ walter.segal 5. Peter Sulzer. ‘Notes on participation’ in Architecture and Participation. Abingdon: Routledge, 2015.

6. Nishat Awan, Tatjana Schneider, Jeremy Till . Spatial Agency, Other Ways Of Doing Architecture . Abingdon: Routledge, 2011.

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Fig 7 : Top - Bauhausle, 1883.

The building to the right shows the completed four bedroom flat built and designed by students in their 5th year. The students utilised the ‘Segal method’ subsequently adapting it to their personal preferences.

Fig 8 : Bottom - Bauhausle, 1883.

Students from TUS mid construction of their own student accommodation.

Tog Studio - Boathouse

Participation and Innovation In the words of Tog, ‘Tog Studio help people build. [They] are a team of architects and engineers who design built projects that can be constructed by anyone regardless of prior experience or skill. This empowers self-builders, students and marginalised members of society by providing a unique on-site learning experience and results in the delivery of projects which might not otherwise be viable in today’s economic climate.’1

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‘Tog Studio was conceived by a team of Scottish architects and engineers to address the gaps they believe are missing from conventional education in the construction sector.

Tog Studio believe in the value of teaching practical aspects of building through active collaboration on real construction projects in beautiful locations.’2 Their project ‘The Noust’; a community boathouse for Tiree Maritime Trust involved architecture and engineering students to participate in the build of the project.

Like the Bauhausle, Tog Studio have utilized participation through pedagogy, involving architecture and engineering students into the live build.

Unlike the Bauhausle the student’s participation lies only with the build of the project rather than the design. Michael Holliday the lead architect on the project states the process is ‘not to turn students into builders, but to understand how drawing turns into the built object. [Encouraging] ‘students to get their hands dirty and turn drawings and ideas into real buildings’3 through understanding construction. Here the students labour is exchanged for the architects knowledge and building experience.

Comparing La Meme and the Bauhausle, a trait with selfbuild is that it requires a method or framework to help enable and govern the participant builder.

Here the building method lies within the prefabrication of the Boathouses structural element, which were shipped to site ready to assemble like a puzzle.

It could be argued that for the students the construction played out like an advance piece of Ikea furniture.

This is meant as no discredit, as like Ikea furniture, the assembly is always more complex than first imagined. However, there is a comparable lack of participation to La Meme and the Bauhausle and the project deems no measurable indeterminacy but as Tog architect Michael Holliday explains the project isn’t about ‘delivering good architecture… or about architects, designs or materials, its about people… getting people to work together’.4 Conveying the message that the self-build process is less about architecture and more about the social engagement of people through working with one another.

The scope of the Boathouse is very much a prototype for the architects and participants to learn construction skills and test new technology.

If the project were to expand to perhaps the scale of La Meme, the Boathouse could set the precedent for an innovative engagement and learning tool before embarking on much larger projects. Or perhaps expand on how a pre-fabricated system could set the framework for a new self-build method.

Looking back at La Meme and the Bauhausle, a trait with 1. Tog. 2013. Bio. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.togstudio.co.uk/. [Accessed 11 April 2018].

2. Tog. 2013. Bio. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.togstudio.co.uk/. [Accessed 11 April 2018].

3. Tiree Boathouse. Performed by Michael Holliday. Tiree Boathouse. 2013. Accessed April 11, 2018. http://www.edinburghfilmcompany.com/work/.

4 Tiree Boathouse. Performed by Michael Holliday. Tiree Boathouse. 2013.

Accessed April 11, 2018. http://www.edinburghfilmcompany.com/work/.

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Fig 10 : Top - The Tog team on site featuring participating students of architecture and engineering.

Fig 9 : Bottom - Inside view of the completed boathouse. Total construction took just one week with the help of participants.

The majority of the structure and components were prefabricated

by MAK Lab in Glasgow, then assembled on site in Tyree, cutting construction time on site.

Synthesis The three case studies show the successful participation of engagement into the self-build process, challenging the norm of architectural practice.

La Meme is perhaps the most extreme of the three highlighting the extents to which user participation can achieve with the right architect and structure in place.

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The Bauhausle furthers the ideas of Kroll and Segal utilizing self-build for the purpose of both housing and pedagogy.

Finally, Tog represents the contemporary application of participation and self build incorporating methods for pedagogy and contemporary construction.

The success of the three case studies cannot of course be achieved without the strong backing and support from their funding institutions. Without the backing of money and approval of superlative figures this practice of architecture is very hard to initiate.

Backing provided, participation can create astounding and visionary pieces of architecture that on the surface challenge the very norms of architectural image.

Kroll and Sulzer’s schemes best represent the image of heterogeneity in their architecture. But the success of these schemes is not down to the image of the architecture but the systems and methods that designed and built them.

The marriage between these projects is there incorporation of a building system devised by the architect. The system whether it be the; SAR method, Segal method or pre-fab-

rication, is the tool for which the architect can formulate a plan to enable and harness the ideas and ideals of the user.

You could argue that self-build doesn’t require the use of an architect, and depending on the scale it doesn’t. But the participatory system is what allows for unconventional practice of architecture and building to fit within the real world of planning and building code. The architect is the facilitator and mediator between radical practice and statutory building authority.

Participation enables exchange between the public and authority of which radical practice can occur.

It’s essential that as we listen and communicate with the user so that their voice is heard. We must, as architects understand that we too are ‘citizens’ or users and we must act as both for a reciprocal dialogue to proceed.

The overall link between the case studies is that through participation a strong sense of community arises. Participating through conversation, building or pedagogy brings people together through a shared experience. A sense of ownership of their surroundings ensues.

The success of these methods is that spirit of participation transcends the projects first users or inhabitants on to the next generation. Conveying a sense of ownership and responsibility for their surroundings from one generation to the next.

Conclusion What we can learn from participation is that it is an essential tool to question the very practise of architecture.

If we accept that both ‘full participation and ‘transformative participation’ are still idealist ideologies what we should take from the participation is its challenge to normative architectural practise through the reciprocal exchange of knowledge, power and context between user and architect. Participation therefore is essential to the progression of architectural knowledge and practise. In relation to Billig, architects cannot just learn from themselves but from the ‘voices of ordinary people in conversation’1 of which a ‘transformative participation’ can practise.

What next? The scope of this essay has touched upon the theoretical thinking of participation and analysed a few of its key advocates. Continuing on from my analysis of Tog studio it would interesting to see how the application of new building technology can aid the process of participation and self-build further. It would also relevant to analyse the practises’ of ‘Assemble’ and ‘Muf ’ who utilise participation between the practise of both art and architecture.

Carrying on from my research in ‘Materials Methods and Makers’ I’d also like to organise a self build workshop with students of architecture to test my own principles of participation.

Self-build is just one example that equates the ideals of transformative participation.

In response to my initial research question The viability of Kilmardinny Craft Hub to be built through participation would be ultimately down to the financial backing and support of its superlative figures.

Its is now my intention to carry forward what I have learnt from MMM and my essay and ensure that architecture through participation isn’t used as a statutory process but a as a transformative mechanism.

However, from my investigation it is clear that the viability of Kilmardinny Craft Hub to be built by the people its aims to facilitate can be successfully delivered. But it requires the total service of the right architect and support of its funding body.

Through participation and pedagogy I hope Kilmardinny house can see that the self-build process would be more than a hindrance or statuary procedure. But lead to the development of an established community for the building that would transcend future generations.

1. Blundell, Peter, Doina Petrescu, and Jeremey Till. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed.

Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

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Bibliography Introduction 1. Spatial Agency. 2018. Participation. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.spatialagency.net/database/participation.1970s. [Accessed 11 April 2018].

Participation 1. Oxford Dictionaries. 2018. Definition. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/participation. [Accessed 8 April 2018].

2. Tim O'Reilly. 2018. architecture of participation. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/architecture_of_ participation.html. [Accessed 11 April 2018].

3. T Pateman, Carole. Participation and Democratic Theory. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970.

4. T Pateman, Carole. Participation and Democratic Theory. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970.

5. Till, Jeremey. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

6. Till, Jeremey. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

7. Till, Jeremey. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

8. Till, Jeremey. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

Transformative Participation 1. Till, Jeremey. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

2. Till, Jeremey. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

3. Till, Jeremey. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

4. Blundell, Peter, Doina Petrescu, and Jeremey Till. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

5. Till, Jeremey. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

Blundell, Peter, Doina Petrescu, and Jeremey Till. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

6. Blundell, Peter, Doina Petrescu, and Jeremey Till. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

7. Blundell, Peter, Doina Petrescu, and Jeremey Till. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005. ¬8. Blundell, Peter, Doina Petrescu, and Jeremey Till. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

9. Blundell, Peter, Doina Petrescu, and Jeremey Till. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

10. Blundell, Peter, Doina Petrescu, and Jeremey Till. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005 La MeMe - Lucien Kroll 1. Participation.“ Spatial Agency. Accessed April 11, 2018. www.spatialagency.net/database/walter.segal 2. Blundell Jones, P., 1986. The Architecture of Complexity. 2nd ed. London: Batsford.)

3. Lucien Kroll. Lucien Kroll, Buildings and Projects. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, 1987.

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4. Lucien Kroll. Lucien Kroll, Buildings and Projects. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, 1987.

5. Lucien Kroll. Lucien Kroll, Buildings and Projects. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, 1987.

6. Lucien Kroll. Lucien Kroll, Buildings and Projects. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, 1987.

Bauhausle - Peter Sulzer 1. "Bauhäusle Building – Stuttgart, Germany 1981 – 1983." Spatial Agency. Accessed April 11, 2018. http://www.spatialagency.net/ database/bauhausle.

2. Peter Sulzer. ‘Notes on participation’ in Architecture and Participation. Abingdon: Routledge, 2015.

3. Peter Sulzer. ‘Notes on participation’ in Architecture and Participation. Abingdon: Routledge, 2015.

4. “Walter Segal.“ Spatial Agency. Accessed April 11, 2018. www.spatialagency.net/database/walter.segal 5. Peter Sulzer. ‘Notes on participation’ in Architecture and Participation. Abingdon: Routledge, 2015.

6. Nishat Awan, Tatjana Schneider, Jeremy Till . Spatial Agency, Other Ways Of Doing Architecture . Abingdon: Routledge, 2011.

Tog - Boathouse 1. Tog. 2013. Bio. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.togstudio.co.uk/. [Accessed 11 April 2018].

2. Tog. 2013. Bio. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.togstudio.co.uk/. [Accessed 11 April 2018].

26 3. Tiree Boathouse. Performed by Michael Holliday. Tiree Boathouse. 2013. Accessed April 11, 2018. http://www.edinburghfilmcom-

pany.com/work/.

4. Tiree Boathouse. Performed by Michael Holliday. Tiree Boathouse. 2013. Accessed April 11, 2018. http://www.edinburghfilmcom Conclusion Blundell, Peter, Doina Petrescu, and Jeremey Till. Architecture and Participation. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

Images Fig 1 : Map of Scotland taken from the MMM documnet Fig 2 : Thom Simmons leading a stone carving workshop to students from Glasgow School of Art. This was taken from our second engagement workshop setup via MMM. Fig 3 : Thom Simmons leading a stone carving workshop to students. This workshop was a method engaging with the school kids to ask them how much they new about traditional build skills.

Fig 4 : La MeMe, Brussels 1976 Lucien Kroll. La MeMe, 1979. Domus Magazine, Brussels. https://www.domusweb.it/en/architecture/2010/06/30/lucien-kroll-utopia-interrupted.html (accessed April 12, 1979)

Fig 5 : La MeMe, Brussels 1976. Fire escapes were added after the comletion in order to adapt to building regulations that had changed while in construction. The adaption blends in to the complexity of the facade.

Lucien Kroll. La MeMe, 1979. Domus Magazine, Brussels. https://www.domusweb.it/en/architecture/2010/06/30/lucien-kroll-utopia-interrupted.html (accessed April 12, 1979)

Fig 6 : La MeMe, Brussels 1976. Four views of the ‘Loft spaces which were personally design by the medical student with assistance from Kroll Atelier.

Lucien Kroll. La MeMe, 1979. Domus Magazine, Brussels. https://www.domusweb.it/en/architecture/2010/06/30/lucien-kroll-utopia-interrupted.html (accessed April 12, 1979)

Fig 7 : Top - Bauhausle, 1883.The building to the right shows the completed four bedroom flat built and designed by students in their 5th year. The students utilised the ‘Segal method’ subsequently adapting it to their personal preferences.

Bauhausle. Bauhausle, 1983. Bauhausle, Oxford. www.bauhaeusle.de/about.html (accessed April 12, 1983)

Fig 8 : Bottom - Bauhausle, 1883. Students from TUS mid construction of their own student accommodation.

Bauhausle. Bauhausle, 1983. Bauhausle, Oxford. www.bauhaeusle.de/about.html (accessed April 12, 1983)

Fig 10 : The Tog team on site featuring participating students of architecture and engineering.

Tog. The Boathouse, 2014. Tog website, Tiree, Scotland. www.togstudio.co.uk/portfolio/2014-boathouse/ (accessed April 12, 2014)

Fig 9 : Inside view of the complted boathouse. Total construction took time took one with the majority of the structure and components prefabricated

by MAK lab in Glasgow and assembled on site in Tyree.

Tog. The Boathouse, 2014. Tog website, Tiree, Scotland. www.togstudio.co.uk/portfolio/2014-boathouse/ (accessed April 12, 2014)

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M M M MATERIALS

METHODS

MAKERS