VOL8 ISSUE36 WINTER 2018
M O D E L HOSP I CE: CHOICE AND DIGNITY EDINBURGH 2050 UR100 BRAND BUILDING
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I F TO AN ES
It’s a time of year to take stock of the past but also to look ahead to the future and in this issue we do just that as we bid farewell to 2018 with the return of the UR100 (pg 18), which delves behind the greatest practices and projects of the past 12 months. We also look ahead to Edinburgh 2050 (pg 52) having gathered together some of the city’s most authorative minds to establish their own individual city visions. Together they confirm the real problems faced by the present city but paint an array of optimistic potential futures. Another city looking to the future in a big way is Dundee, which has just received ambitious plans for Scotland’s tallest tower. Mark Chalmers assesses the physical and perceptional impact of a newly invigorated waterfront (pg 76). It is always the here and now which presents the most gratifying nourishment
for the senses and in that regard we tour no less than three significant new buildings which each transform their own respective typologies. At The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice (pg 61) Ryder Architecture presaged the wellness agenda before it became fashionable with their singular vision. Meanwhile the Collective Gallery (pg 12) sees Collective Architecture reinvigorate the city’s art scene by drawing in new audiences. Finally we take a look around the Bayes Centre (pg 68) with Bennetts Associates to see how Edinburgh is harnessing its historic legacy to build a hi-tech future. Amid all this we also find time to investigate the growing power of branding (pg 39). I hope it will be of interest. John Glenday, editor
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CONT ENTS QUARTERLY DIGEST 12 COLLECTIVE GALLERY 18 UR100 39 BRAND BUILDING 46 RIAS PRESIDENCY 52 EDINBURGH 2050 61 PRINCE & PRINCESS OF WALES HOSPICE 68 BAYES CENTRE 76 DUNDEE WATERFRONT 84 KIRKCALDY 90 BRADFORD 96 DIRECTORY 97 PRODUCTS 05
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Cover image: The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice by Keith Hunter
OUR EDITORIAL PANEL INCLUDES:
John Glenday
Mark Chalmers, architecture writer and photographer
Leslie Howson, director Urban Design
Paul Stallan, director, Stallan-Brand
Jonathan Reeve, architect, Voigt Partnership
Chris Stewart, director, Collective Architecture
Alistair Scott, director, Smith Scott Mullan
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Editor John Glenday Design & Production Amanda Dewar Advertising Manager Katarzyna Uliasz, Senior Media Account Manager John Hughes Web Manager Aleks Bochniak
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Q U A R T E R L Y D I G E S T O C T
SCREEN DEBUT Dualchas Architects have premiered their plans for a two-screen cinema in Fort William, taking the place of a disused retail unit on Cameron Square. Brainchild of local entrepreneur Angus MacDonald, who is largely self-
BRIEFS funding the venture, the cinema will bring screen magic back for the first time since 1975 when the original cinema burned down. An opening date of summer 2020 is targeted.
Robin Webster , founder of Cameronwebster Architects, is to succeed Stewart Henderson as president of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland on 11 October following a members vote. For a full report see pg 48. The City of Edinburgh Council is pushing forward plans to demolish low-rise sixties housing around Coatfield Lane in order to facilitate development of 32 homes for social rent arranged across five ‘colony’ inspired terraces. Designed by Collective Architecture these homes will nestle at the base of the A-listed Linkview House, the base of which will also be remodeled.
ISLAY DISTILLERY
SCHOOL WIN
Diageo with Simpson & Brown Architects have provided whisky afficianados with their first taste of a new Islay distillery and visitor experience at Caol Isla. Part of a larger £150m investment package encompassing distilleries at Glenkinchie, Cardhu and Clynelish, the distillery will plug into a wider Johnnie Walker tour of Scotland.
Collective Architecture have seen off Anderson Bell + Christie; Hoskins Architects; James F Stephen Architects; JM Architects and Scott Brownrigg. to win a £10m design contest for Camphill School Aberdeen. The competition to develop the school’s Murtle and Camphill estates was organised by the RIAS Consultancy.
URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
HFD Property Group, haa design, Graven and Mosaic Architecture + Design have completed work on a £110m campus for the University of the West of Scotland at Hamilton International Technology Park. Stretching to 235,000sq/ft the campus offers a range of laboratories, teaching facilities and social spaces as well as a gym along a shared ‘street’.
GALLERY SPACE
Scottish Borders Council have received a planning application from Aitken Turnbull Architects to erect a new business centre in Hawick. The plans call for demolition of the former Armstrong’s department store and two former church buildings at Oliver and Teviot Crescent’s to make way for the new build scheme, which would offer accommodation for small and start-up businesses.
Fresh impetus has been given to the regeneration of Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street with plans to develop co-working facilities above the McLellan Galleries. Bywater Properties and Stallan-Brand will facilitate a curated mix of shops and restaurants as part of the revamped building opens in autumn 2019, while also continuing to serve as the main entrance to the galleries.
Edinburgh councillors have agreed to reach a final decision on whether or not to proceed with a planned tram extension to Newhaven until March 2019. The concrete deadline follows an invitation for tenders in September for which evaluation is still ongoing after which best and final offers will be invited before a full business case is prepared.
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Q U A R T E R L Y O C T D I G E S T BRACED FOR CHANGE
WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY
Glasgow’s International Financial Services District is set for further growth with plans for a 283,000sq/ft development by Osborne & Co, part of Vanguard Real Estate, being brought forward by Cooper Cromar. The £95m scheme will provide grade A office space for up to 4,000 staff on the city’s Argyle Street, sacrificing a B-listed building in the process.
Velux has partnered with Sinclair Watt Architects to bring forward a £7m expansion of its head office at Woodside Way in Glenrothes, Fife. A custom 3,500m extension will showcase no less than 200 individual windows including modular skylights, flat roof windows and sun tunnels. Contractor ISG has already begun work on the extension which is expected to be delivered by autumn 2019.
BRIEFS Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park has proven to be a fertile hunting ground for linearchitecture with this week’s opening of a mountainside lodge. Overcoming complex planning challenges, a wet spring and heavy snow the team have delivered a Russwood Scotlarch clad nod to agricultural architecture, painted grey and positioned under a green roof to sit harmoniously within the natural landscape. Robertson have filed plans for a 90-bed hotel and 100-bed student accommodation proposal in St Andrews, Fife, set within 3,500sq/m of public parkland. The £23m Abbey Park development has been prepared by planning and design consultancy Barton Willmore to cater for burgeoning growth in the university town and should move on site next summer with a view to ensuring all elements are fully operational by autumn 2020.
LOCH NESS HUB SURFACES Morrison Construction and Loch Ness by Jacobite have begun the process of renovating and extending the former Dochgarroch village hall to form a £2.5m visitor destination on the banks of Loch
Ness. Scheduled to open in May 2019 the attraction will boast its own café, visitor centre, craft shop and external terrace with views overlooking the Caledonian Canal.
Cunninghame Housing Association are to deliver 45 new homes for social rent on the former Lockerbie Academy site on Glasgow Road, Lockerbie. Plans filed with Dumfries & Galloway Council by Collective Architecture detail formation of a shared surface crescent fronted by semi-detached homes, terraces and cottage flats intended to evoke the character of Locharbriggs sandstone and slate. NHS Highland have filed a planning application for a new community hospital at Broadford on the Isle of Skye, part of a wider reorganization of health and social care services. The £15m facility is a joint project by Oberlanders, Wardell Armstrong and Rural Design Architects through Hub North with a brief to help unify community health and care teams. The full business case for the hospital will be presented to ministers early next year.
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Q U A R T E R L Y D I G E S T N O V
CAIRNGORMS HQ
Moxon Architects have completed a significant reconfiguration and extension of the Cairngorms National Park Authority headquarters in the Grantownon-Spey conservation area. Delivered on behalf of the Reidhaven
Estate the additions centre on a new public entrance sandwiched between the original 19th century building and a contemporary wing providing additional open plan office space and meeting rooms.
STARTING GRID
STATION GATEWAY
George Capital and 3DReid Architects have filed plans to replace an unprepossessing two storey structure at the junction of West Nile Street and Bath Street in Glasgow city centre with a landmark hotel The proposed design seeks to work with adjacent listed buildings via a symmetrical frame with a solid structural grid used to lend solidity to a two storey base element. Vertical fins will help to articulate the facades with upper floors setback behind a simple glazed façade.
Aberdeen City Council is supporting a bid to demolish the Atholl House office block opposite the city’s railway station to enable construction of a 17-storey mixed use development comprising a 192-bed hotel, 413 student accommodation rooms and ground floor retail. At the heart of Halliday Fraser Munro’s approach will be a new public square, linking Guild Street to Bridge Street and better connecting the railway station with Union Street.
FRESH LINEN Jmarchitects have unveiled their conversion of two grade A listed mill buildings into a four star Hotel Indigo within what was once the world’s largest linen factory. Both the North and Bell Mill at Lower Dens Works now face each other across an internal courtyard which masks an 11m fall across the site by providing a level access. Historic features are particularly pronounced in guest rooms where brick jack arch soffits have been left exposed.
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BRIEFS The University of Glasgow has broken ground on a £113m Research Hub. Located on the site of the former Western Infirmary the hub will accommodate over 600 academics, researchers and students on its upper levels while the ground floor is given over to the university as a whole for exhibitions and events. Completion of the HOK designed building is expected by 2021. Glasgow City Council has thrown its weight behind a regeneration strategy for the historic High Street and Saltmarket corridor between the cathedral and the Clyde. Running from 2019-23 the High Street Area Strategy will deliver enhanced public realm and a rent freeze for tenants, bringing the route into line with other roads in the City Avenues programme, all overseen by Civic Engineers. Reiach & Hall Architects have won the prestigious RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award for 2018 courtesy of Nucleus, The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Caithness Archive in Wick. The industrial-scale intervention in a remote landscape won over the judging team which included Ryder Architecture partner Gordon Murray, Anna Lui, director of Tonkin Liu Architects and Murray Kerr, director of Denizen Works. Highland Council has given its approval to a £10m hotel and associated retail and food court off the Tomatin junction of the A9. Norr Architects propose delivery of a 99-bed hotel alongside a farm shop and 200 seat restaurant in addition to a drive through bakery, four shops and a petrol filling station. The mixed-use development is to be built by Tomatin Trading Company on the site of the former Freeburn Hotel, demolished in 2008.
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Q U A R T E R L Y N O V D I G E S T LIBERTON BARNS
STREET FIGHT
BRIEFS
LBA with Glencairn Properties have showcased a terrace of townhouses in Edinburgh’s Liberton district. Liberton Barns occupies the site of a derelict agricultural shed, delivering four-bedroom properties which evoke memories of the previous buildings in its massing, form and materials – including the re-use of original stone. Encased in slatted timber living areas are on the first floor to maximise views.
Edinburgh City Council and LDA Design have declared war on clutter and parking with the publication of draft concept design for a series of New Town public realm enhancements centred on George Street. The plans seek to enhance the pedestrian environment by providing new squares, planting and cycleways to boost active travel and accessibility.
The Scottish government has lent its approval toward the outline business case for the construction of a new ophthalmology unit integrated with the existing Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Clydebank. The £12m build has been designed by IBI Group and will be delivered by Kier Construction for completion in 2020.
MODULAR MOXY Vastint Hospitality, the property arm of IKEA, have completed work on a 181-bed hotel on Glasgow’s High Street, the latest element of the Collegelands masterplan. The modular Moxy Hotel has been built in-situ since Robertson moved on-site in 2016 and includes its own bar and gym.
STAGE PRESENCE Edinburgh’s King’s Theatre is to close its doors for a two-year hiatus to allow a £20m redevelopment following the appointment of Bennetts Associates by Capital Theatres. The A-listed Edwardian theatre will benefit from upgraded backstage, studio and hospitality areas including a new street level café and rooftop hospitality space with finalised plans to be presented in 2020.
Shawlands Bowling Club has been earmarked for new homes by Kelvin Properties with the submission of plans to erect a block of flats on the site of a disused green. Holmes Miller Architects have been appointed to lead the design of the proposal which will necessitate demolition of a portion of the current clubhouse, the remainder of which will be refurbished. Doolan prize-winning architects Reiach & Hall have been appointed to lead a refurbishment of The Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh, seeing off competition from 6A, Carmody Groarke and Page\Park. Proposed works include expansion into a neighbouring warehouse to provide a new space for artist-led installations, performance and collaboration with completion expected by 2020. Global real estate investor Patrizia and Halliday Fraser Munro have submitted a proposal of application notice to build an office led mixed-use development at Market Street. Indicative plans call for a granite and glass tower comprising 120,000sq/ft of office space with a mix of leisure uses on its lower floors as well as a penthouse restaurant.
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Q U A R T E R L Y D I G E S T D E C
MECANOO ALL SET Mecanoo have submitted detailed proposals to transform the B-listed Perth City Hall into a flexible museum, exhibition space and café. A central pavilion serves as a focus for the revamped hall, formed from ‘tall
panels finished with a woven bronze colour material contained within a glass panel.’ This materiality extends to new bronze coloured panels. North and south entrances will be connected via a ‘vennel’ lined by perforated steel panelled walls.
BRIEFS CALA Homes have broken ground on 388 flats, townhouses and colony-style properties at Leith Waterfront opposite Ocean Terminal. Prepared by EMA the scheme will include a square, green space and café fronting Victoria Dock and complemented by 11,500sq/m of flexible ‘workspace units’. It is expected that the first show homes could be ready by summer 2019. Edinburgh Gin is set for expansion after Ian Macleod Distillers unveiled plans to repurpose redundant arches on East Market Street to form a visitor friendly distillery. Staran Architects anticipate completion by 2020 when visitors will be able to combine a gin learning and history experience with make your own gin facilities and rooftop terrace tasting rooms.
SKY BRIDGE
EDINBURGH BIOMES
Glasgow City Council are to build a pedestrian and cycle link spanning the M8 to better connect Sighthill with the city centre. Dubbed a ‘Street in the Sky’ the Jacobs designed walkway will span 58m across the road below. Adopting a distinctive hourglass form the link will be built using a steel box girder with a reinforced concrete composite deck slab - a solution which will require minimal ongoing maintenance to be carried out.
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is to embark on a major transformation of its famous glasshouses to protect its globally important plant collection. Edinburgh Biomes will see the A-listed public glasshouses conserved and refurbished, standing alongside new glasshouses for the back-of-house research collections, horticultural buildings and a neducation centre. A public glasshouse, with concept designs by Nicoll Russell Studios, will also be added.
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Kinross Town Hall has resumed its place at the heart of the towns High Street following its £1.5m conversion to nine townhouses and apartments. Abandoned by Perth & Kinross Council in 2003 the local landmark has been brought back to life by Edinburgh MI following a 12-month refurbishment programme encompassing the clock tower, post office and library. Oliver Chapman Architects are pushing ahead with a new canal hub in Falkirk which will see a former factory reimagined as a workshop, offices and training facilities for Scottish Canals. Lock 16 Canalside Community Hub will take its place alongside other recent landmarks along the Forth & Clyde Canal such as The Falkirk Wheel and The Kelpies with the intention of establishing a common ‘front door’ for the network of waterside attractions.
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Q U A R T E R L Y D E C D I G E S T SYMPHONY HALL
HOUSE PROUD
Page\Park Architects, acting in concert with Performances Birmingham, have filed a planning application to refurbish and extend the city’s Symphony Hall with the aim of broadening its appeal. The charitable trust tasked the practice with creating a new foyer extension and main entrance to Centenary Square late last year as the lead partner in a design team which also includes Arup Structures and Max Fordham.
The Royal Institute of British Architects have named a West Highland home as its House of the Year 2018 following a nationwide competition. Lochside House, designed by Haysom Ward Millar Architects, won over the hearts and minds of judges in part thanks to being self-sufficient in solar energy and supported by its own water supply. Judges were also wowed by the homes relationship with nature through innovative use of timber.
BRIEFS Jmarchitects have firmed up their proposals for new waterfront housing at Dundee’s City Quay with the submission of detailed design proposals for the waterfront plot. Occupying a surface car park the scheme would deliver 122 flats spread across twin six storey apartment blocks, each bookending an expanse of surface level parking. Paisley-based Framed Estates have overseen a novel assisted-living complex on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. Fadhili Care at Greenpark Estate has been designed on behalf of Superior Homes Kenya to enable elderly residents to live closer to their families by providing 24-hour emergency care. Clyde Gateway have unveiled their latest Bridgeton intervention in the form of a two-storey office pavilion at Landressy Street. Design proposals by Keppie call for the creation of 6,450sq/ft of open plan office space in Glasgow’s east end together with associated reception space, meeting rooms and a research library. Aberdeen Music Hall has reopened its doors for the first time following a £9m makeover at the hands of Kier Construction and design team lead BDP, acting on behalf of Aberdeen Performing Arts. Described as Scotland’s oldest concert hall the A-listed venue benefits from new public areas and improved access all while retaining period features.
TORRY VIEWPOINT Greyhope Bay and architect Gokay Deveci have filed plans to erect a temporary viewing platform at Torry Battery, Aberdeen, as a precursor to a £10m permanent marine centre.
The charity is seeking to enhance the appeal of the area by delivering a range of new facilities to visitors as well as a space for dolphin and seascape viewing by June 2019.
Screen Scotland has invited developers to tender for a role in a major film and television production studio in Port of Leith. This would see the Forth Ports-owned Pelamis Building refurbished to house a fullyequipped production base.
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COLLECTIVE GALLERY JOHN GLENDAY
URBAN REALM ASCENDED CALTON HILL TO VIEW EDINBURGH’S HIGHEST ART GALLERY. PRODUCT OF THE HIGH AMBITION OF THE VISUAL ARTISTS WHO CALL IT HOME THIS IS ONE GALLERY THAT IS NOT AFRAID TO REACH FOR THE STARS. WE PREVIEWED THE GALLERY TO SEE IF THE HILLTOP DESTINATION WILL TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY AS MUCH AS THE CLIMB ITSELF WILL. PHOTOS BY TOM NOLAN
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COLLECTIVE GALLERY
Edinburgh’s City Observatory has embraced the high life with an unmissable hilltop arts venue following restoration of the A-listed William Playfair designed astronomy centre. Disused since 2009 the romantic hilltop complex has been transformed into a lofty exhibition space, offices, a restaurant and shop which weave together the best of art and architecture in a globally important setting. Visual arts organisation Collective have spent the past five years fundraising to make the £4.5m hilltop gallery a reality. by Collective Architecture (no relation) and Harrison Stevens landscape architects, providing a suitably dramatic backdrop for a series of exhibitions. Offering free entry to the passing public and access to a new landscaped terrace, maximising the 360-degree views of the city below, the facility even includes its own restaurant which is partially cantilevered out from the hillside below and referred to as the ‘fourth plinth’. Appropriately named ‘The Lookout’ it was here in URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
where Urban Realm caught up with project architect Emma Fairhurst to find out more about the challenges and opportunities presented by building on a volcanic plug of solid basalt some 40m above street level in a World Heritage site. Fairhurst said: “The historic plan by Robert Adam advised building an enclosure, fortifying each corner. This was the only corner that wasn’t built. There was an opportunity to create something of its time to fortify this corner, it’s taken 200 years for the original design intent to happen but we got there in the end!” Georgian architect James Craig was the first to get the ball rolling with Observatory House on the south corner. The Transit House and City Observatory followed soon after before Playfair built the monument to his uncle, The Playfair Monument, as the next corner, preceding the City Dome which followed in 1819 to designs by Robert Morham, city architect of the time. These structures found themselves in a sorry state by
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Previous page - Observatory buildings have been sensitively repurposed
Above - Captivating city views prove to be the real showstopper
the time Collective got their hands on the site, with extensive rot and water penetration casting doubt on the sites future. Where many saw only a burden Collective alone spied an opportunity, as Susanna Beaumont, curator of Design Exhibition Scotland, recalled: “Collective has always been about artists on the fringes and outreach. It’s progressive and tends to attract younger emerging artists with a sense of exploration, not of the stars but of social practice and engagement. “Collective used to have a gallery on Coburn Street halfway up the hill when two artists; Kim Coleman and Jenny Hogarth, first looked at the observatory when it was inaccessible to the public. When the council served notice on their Coburn premises. Kate (Collective director Kate Gray) thought ‘If it’s for the public good why can’t we do something? In a sense it was artists who found the site and came for it.” Fairhurst added: “The whole history of the site was
observation. It was observation of the stars, a very forward-looking discipline as is contemporary art. It’s just a different medium you’re looking at. We really needed to find a sustainable new use which would get the site up and running again. That helped in discussions with planning to find a new use for the site because it was in such a desperate way. Everyone wanted to find a use for the listed buildings that were up here.” Centrepiece of the 21st century Calton Hill is The Hillside, an exhibition and office space embedded within the ground in front of the City Observatory. Fairhurst commented: “The Hillside Gallery, as the name suggests, is dug into the hill. As part of the historical research we identified that Playfair, when he built the original observatory, wanted it to sit on a perfect mount on a north/south/east west axis so this corner of the site had been infilled to get the landscape exactly as he wanted. Half the excavation was basalt and half was fill material which was a lot cheaper than excavating >
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COLLECTIVE GALLERY
rock.” The Hillside is joined by a refurbished City Dome gallery space and a learning and education hall within The Transit House. Fairhurst remarked: “It’s really just been restored to its original layout, we had access to all the Playfair drawings stored in the university library. Those held really detailed information on what his intention was with that building. That helped to bring it back to how it was. The telescopes are still in there and its being used for retail and exhibition space, it’s not been converted in any way. “Collective Architecture did The City Dome in phase one of the project and that was really just to strip back the space to exhibit artwork because it doesn’t have any telescopes in it. The little Transit House building is used as a gathering space for small school groups. Again that’s been restored back to how it was.” This light touch approach extends to preserving slots in the Observatory roof once used to manually track the telescope across the night sky. Fairhurst said: “Originally they would have had timber shutters, not great for keeping the rain out so we’ve glazed them in and the shutters have been reinstated. It is still a working telescope but will only be used by astronomy groups who know what they’re doing. The other telescope in the main space has been restored but it is not in working order.” One omission is the placement of binoculars or small telescopes for people to scan the horizon below as well as above but even without any visual assistance clear views toward the Forth Bridge and Fife are still afforded while a restaurant boasting the finest views in the city gives Collective some welcome extra income. To the casual observer not much has changed then but this belies the extent of the labour and cost poured in behind the scenes. Fairhurst continued: “There is road access but because the last building to be put up here was the dome 120 years ago there were no modern services. To open a commercial kitchen required a new substation to be dug into the bottom of the hill. Then we needed to bring a gas supply up the roadway and that was basalt right the way up. It was a challenge and a cost risk to get all these new services in.” Throughout the site level ground is at a premium, prompting the architects to build up as well as down with a cantilever restaurant reaching precariously out above the cityscape below. Fairhurst continued: “The cantilever was very practical because underneath here you’ve got all the toilets, plant space and kitchen. We use the upper level to take in the views. There is nowhere to hide on this site, that’s why there’s a combined heat & power (CHP) system just so we didn’t have to use a boiler and a flue on each building.” Key to the project was the landscape work to the spaces between each pavilion, which now double as an outdoor sculpture park and outdoor gallery in its own right. This URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
Above - Sadly no working telescopes have been installed for the public to immerse themselves fully in the urban landscape Right - Collective thrives on a successful marriage of intimate spaces set amidst a vast expanse
aspect of the build has been overseen by Harrison Stevens who’ve work hard to overcome changes in level to create a fully accessible environment which allows the unfolding drama of the surrounding cityscape to play out as a diorama from the Old Town and Castle through to the New Town and down to Leith. Beaumont added: “It’s all about viewing on a 360-degree viewing platform. You can see the water and Pentlands. It’s a place that lends itself perfectly to looking and thinking and it sets you thinking whether you’re looking down to the Parliament or Princes Street or hearing the one o’clock gun. There is so much history here, it is the seat of the enlightenment. It’s a perfect bringing together of the past and the present to exploring ideas.” Where art has tended to elevate work to the exclusion of all else, to the extent of whitewashed walls and hushed reverence, the Collective Gallery are embracing the full cacophony of their host city by reaching far beyond their hilltop redoubt. Like mountaineers many visitors drawn to this pinnacle of the city’s cultural are now likely to do so ‘because it’s there’ in a pilgrimage few would have made for the galleries previous home. In doing so they are as likely to be captivated by the views within as without.
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UR100
OUR NEW YEAR HONOURS ROLL CALL OFFERS A SNAPSHOT OF THE PAST 12 MONTHS IN ARCHITECTURE BY DETAILING THE PRACTICES AND PROJECTS WHICH HAVE DONE MOST TO MAKE 2018 SUCH A PIVOTAL YEAR AMID THE GEOPOLITICAL TURMOIL OF BREXIT. FROM OFFICE EXPANSION TO NEW WAYS OF WORKING AND AWARD WINNING PROJECTS, WE’VE GOT IT ALL. ONLY HERE WILL YOU FIND THE MOST CURRENT SNAPSHOT OF A RAPIDLY EVOLVING INDUSTRY.
Keppie are working with the Scottish Events Campus on the creation of new and upgraded facilities at Finnieston, Glasgow
RAD I ANT REVEAL URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
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01
Reiach and Hall Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 20 Staff Total (Scotland): 33 02
Keppie Design Ltd
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 35 Staff Total (Scotland): 93 David Ross Director Are you optimistic about the future? Optimism is something of a default-setting for architects and, based on the strength of our projects and relationships, we
remain so. But the potential impact of Brexit is something we are extremely aware of. Anticipating political and economic shifts is notoriously difficult but all our practice can do is focus on becoming more efficient with lower overheads and that has underpinned our business strategy for the last two years. How will you achieve further growth? Growth for the sake of it, or in the pursuit of higher turnover isn’t something that interests us. We are far more focused on our core objectives of remaining a financially secure, profitable, design-led business of talented, committed people working in an inspiring, creative environment. Growing the design reputation of the practice is of far more interest to us. >
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UR100
Left - Caption Gorbals HealthinCentre here inby here jmarchitects in here in here is defined Right by-aCaption large open in here stairinwhich here inenhances here wayfinding
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The star attraction at The Gleneagles Club on St Andrew Square , Edinburgh, is this dramatic rooftop terrace
What is the best work you’ve seen by another practice this year? Reiach & Hall’s NDA Archive in Wick is a beautiful, shimmering building. It fully deserves the accolades being awarded to it. The Qatar National Archive Building by Allies & Morrison is also a great design by a practice much admired by us. 03
Comprehensive Design Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 41 Staff Total (Scotland): 62 04
jmarchitects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 42 Staff Total (Scotland): 63 Henry McKeown Design Director Can architecture change the World? Architecture was once a noble and highly respected cultural art form. Historic cities across the world are a physical testament to the importance of architecture as an expression of civic pride, cultural status and historical identity. The answer to the question “Can architecture change the world?” works two ways, in that change can be either positive, or negative. So in today’s context, is contemporary architecture changing the world? I believe that architecture at its finest can still be produced but only when there is genuine patronage and appreciation from clients who are aware of the value that good architecture can add to our collective
lives. Closer to home, I am not that sure that enough patronage and appreciation of what constitutes good architecture that can change the world exists. Are you optimistic for the future? By the time this answer goes to print the outcome of the Brexit debate will be known, maybe after that result has settled we will all have a clearer picture of what lies behind the endless Brexit rhetoric, and the implications the outcomes will have on the economy and for the construction industry nationwide. Either way I think that Architects as a breed are born optimists which is probably why we all joined this wonderful profession in the first place: so I think this must mean that I am optimistic for the future. What distinguishes your practice from others? I think that all architectural practices want to stand out in the crowd and be respected by both peers and clients, for the quality of their work. At jmarchitects we try year on year to learn more from our most recent experiences and to strive to get better and better at what we do and in the way we do it. Deep down, I would like to think that our clients and peer group quietly appreciate our endeavour, our enthusiasm and our commitment to making their project the best it can be. And I hope that, that respect from them (even if left unsaid) is what distinguishes our practice from the rest. 05
LDN Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 27 Staff Total (Scotland): 40
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Collective Architecture
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 19 Staff Total (Scotland): 45 07
Cooper Cromar
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 27 Staff Total (Scotland): 60 08
NORR Consultants Limited
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 30 Staff Total (Scotland): 64 09
3DReid
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 28 Staff Total (Scotland): 53 Neil de Prez Director Are you optimistic for the future? 2018 has been a busy year for 3DReid Scotland. Some of our staff have spent it researching and understanding key client objectives, some have worked out ingenious solutions to labyrinthine planning constraints and obscure technical standards while others have done their best to ensure our design intent can be realised within the cost and procurement constraints imposed by the contractor. Our team has given 100% in 2018 and we are committed to support them 110% in 2019. Provided our efforts are not undermined by political, economic or environmental factors outside of our control, we remain optimistic that 3DReid’s recent success will continue over the year ahead. What distinguishes your practice from others? Our collaborative approach enables us to produce buildings we can all be proud of. 3DReid has embraced the workshop system – our best buildings have emerged from a culture of open discussion with our clients and evaluation by sector heads and specialist consultants. In a workshop all ideas should be tested against technical constraints and opportunities, everyone’s opinion counts. It is our staff’s commitment and their willingness to go the extra mile, combined with the guidance provided by our more senior staff that allows us to generate innovative ideas that lead to an end-product that is deliverable, commercially astute and has architectural integrity. How will you achieve further growth? Our focus is not on increasing quantity but growing in quality and integrity over the coming year. Having delivered award-winning developments throughout the UK and secured major planning consents in Edinburgh and URBAN REALM WINTER 2017 URBANREALM.COM
Page\Park sounded out Birmingham with a new Symphony Hall foyer extension
Glasgow, we are realising planned growth in both residential and commercial sectors. Our recent success includes realising planning consent for Scottish Enterprise’s Inovo2 development in Glasgow, Gleneagles St Andrew Square in Edinburgh and the first phase of our mixed-use canal-side development for Vastint in Fountainbridge which will commence on site, in the New Year. We have been reviewing the structure of the practice with a view to giving more autonomy to the staff within 3DReid Scotland whilst maintaining a support network of expertise and experience provided by our offices across the UK. We will continue to work closely with our clients, fellow consultants, contractors and developers, to design and deliver high quality, innovative and award-winning architecture and enjoyable places to live. 10
Holmes Miller Ltd
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 32 Staff Total (Scotland): 55 11
Page \ Park
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 33 Staff Total (Scotland): 40 Eilidh Henderson Director What would you like to see change in 2018? We would really like to see Glasgow’s City Council initiative to make a better city for its citizens as pedestrians and bus users succeed. We are missing a trick shaping the movement around
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Stallan-Brand, acting on behalf of Drum Property Group, are rejuvenating a swathe of Glasgow’s Tradeston area
the city in terms only of cars. Shutting down the streets for events shows what the city can be like – let’s make it all year round. What is the best work you’ve seen produced by another practice this year? The best work is not a building but a project, the transformation of the river frontage of Dundee into a civic quarter is second to none. Building off the foundation of years of improvements to the city centre pedestrian environment, this mega project is a model of civic vision within which a variety of architectural contributions are being absorbed. Are you optimistic for the future? With what is happening on the waterfront in Dundee, and what Glasgow is carrying out in terms of creating a better connected pedestrian city, then there are certainly grounds for optimism. This sort of initiative takes investment together with vision. Within each project there will be significant opportunities for individual architectural contributions. It’s hard not to be optimistic about that. 12
Stallan-Brand
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 21 Staff Total (Scotland): 30 Paul Stallan Design Director What would you like to see change in 2018? Scotland’s backward approach to departmentally designed
secondary school design. Our ‘departmentally’ designed schools are preventing our teachers from delivering new learning in the manner that Scottish Government and Education Scotland intend. Scotland’s school buildings are compromising the delivery of the Scottish Governments progressive ‘3-18 Curriculum for Excellence’. This matter is one of the very serious obstacles that requires to be addressed to realise improved learner outcomes and most importantly tackle the mental health crisis our young people are experiencing. What is the best work you’ve seen produced by another practice this year? McGinlay Bell’s sublime refurbishment of the Glasgow Film Theatre. McGinlay Bell are the best architectural practice in Scotland. Can architecture change the world? The absence of architecture and reason can destroy the world... The nature (and scale) of urban change experienced within Glasgow in the post-war period (1945-1980) is testament to this. One of the key contributing factors to what is known as the ‘Glasgow Effect’ was the imposition of a ‘debased architecture’ and wholesale removal of what went before. The destruction of community and the dismantling of the City has left a legacy of poverty and ill health which has impacted and continues to impact on generations. Sir Harry Burns, Scotland’s ex chief medical officer advises us to prioritise our efforts in repairing a ‘fragmented society’. Burns encourages us to rebuild places where many people feel they do not have >
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Hypostyle have given new purpose to a B-listed Pump House in Glasgow by transforming it into The Clydeside Distillery
control of their lives and build social capital so individuals can offer each other friendship and mutual support. Yes architecture can change the world. 13
Michael Laird Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 27 Staff Total (Scotland): 54 14
MAST Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 26 Staff Total (Scotland): 54 15
Hypostyle Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 24 Staff Total (Scotland): 40 Gerry Henaughen Director What is the best work you’ve seen produced by another practice this year? I find it hard to look past the V&A Dundee by Kengo Kuma. I don’t think another building has had such a positive impact in the last year. For what it has done for Dundee, even before it was opened. It is well designed as a building and well designed as part of the urban environment. Unlike many of Glasgow’s pieces of big ‘A’ Architecture along the Clyde which are nothing more than a pretty silhouette surrounded by tarmac, the V&A is well connected to the city and contributes to the cityscape.
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Can architecture change the world? Architecture HAS to change the world. Everything we design has an impact on the world around it, for better or for worse, large or small. Our buildings can impact climate change. Can make homes affordable or unreachable. Can improve the lift of the individual, both physically and mentally. As a profession we can cumulatively make a huge impact and change the world one building at a time. But the decision on how to change it lies with each client and each designer. Are you optimistic for the future? There is massive uncertainty given the current Political situation in relation to Brexit and other worldwide Geo Politics such as the IPCC announcements. This uncertainty engenders a pessimistic outlook, no matter your political view. In the Architectural profession, clients are finding it difficult to plan for the future with any certainty and are reluctant to invest in building and construction. However, this may change over the next year. Also, uncertainty often brings opportunities and as architects we should strive to make changes and produce a future we can be optimistic about. 16
John Kinsley Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 1 Staff Total (Scotland): 1
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Left - ICA have built on their hotels expertise with Curio in London’s Olympic Park Right - A curvilinear form contrasts with a restrained gridded masterplan
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ICA
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 16 Staff Total (Scotland): 48 Susannah Macneill Associate Director Are you optimistic for the future? The future is uncertain, but then it always has been. It’s often very easy to fear for what the future might hold but I’d rather look for the opportunities instead and there are plenty of those. Our client base continues to grow and develop and so does the scale and typology of our work. The projects we have at present are some of the most ambitious that we’ve ever had, and our Clients keep coming back to us because they know that we can deliver creative collaborative design married with expertise, all within a framework of commercial viability. I genuinely believe that whatever happens, the year ahead will be exciting, challenging and ultimately rewarding.
understanding of the sectors we work in. We also have a track record of unlocking the potential of complex city centre locations many of which had a history of unsuccessful development attempts. Our balanced approach of design and commerciality ensures that every project we work on is delivered realising the full potential of the site for all parties and stakeholders. How will you achieve further growth? I think that for us growth is more than how many designers we have in our team or the monetary value of our projects. It’s something that we discuss often, and we view it more in the context of what type of projects we want to be involved in and who we want to work with, how we continue to develop and how to challenge ourselves further. It always comes back to the same answer, investing in our staff and making sure that they have the support to achieve their goals. 18
What distinguishes your practice from others? Our reason for being is simple – to do good work and to have fun doing it. Things can get more complicated after that! Our studio is a blend of architecture and interior design and this is often the key to the realisation of our projects. We believe for our work to be successful then our focus should be on creating spaces as well as placemaking and we can often work from the inside out to achieve this, rather than considering architecture as the creation of an object. An open collaborative working environment is crucial for us, as is a deeply ingrained
Kettle Collective
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 15 Staff Total (Scotland): 40 19
Anderson Bell Christie
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 24 Staff Total (Scotland): 38 20
Elder and Cannon
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 9 Staff Total (Scotland): 15
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McGinlay Bell
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 2 Staff Total (Scotland): 6 22
HLM Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 11 Staff Total (Scotland): 26 23
Threesixty Architecture
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 17 Staff Total (Scotland): 44 24
Oberlanders Architects LLP
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 17 Staff Total (Scotland): 32 25
Ryder Architecture
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 10 Staff Total (Scotland): 16 26
EMA Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 10 Staff Total (Scotland): 22 27
Ewan McIntyre Managing Director
BARTON WILLMORE
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 7 Staff Total (Scotland): 21 28
Simpson & Brown
What would you like to see change in 2018? A bit less haste and a bit more thought going into just about everything, from architecture to Brexit and beyond.
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 14 Staff Total (Scotland): 37
What is the best work you’ve seen produced by another practice this year? Wilkinson Eyre’s gasholders at Kings Cross set in the wider Gasholders regeneration project.
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 17 Staff Total (Scotland): 29
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Are you optimistic for the future? There is quite a lot to achieve before the Sun melts the Earth in 2 billion years or so (along with all the buildings in this year’s Top 100). Our contribution in that time will be to build on the first 20 years of the practice by constantly improving what we do, learning from our vast experience of residential development and masterplanning, passing our skills on, and equipping the next generation to develop the practice on to the next level. There are many challenges facing us, from ever-diminishing fees in a profit focussed society to the immediate uncertainties of a precarious political and economic environment. We are optimistic though that we can make sure that we enjoy our work in the practice, that our clients enjoy working with us and that we continue to create places and buildings that we can be proud of.
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Hoskins Architects Atkins
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 16 Staff Total (Scotland): 27 31
AHR Architects Ltd
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 8 Staff Total (Scotland): 13 Stuart Bryson Regional Director Can architecture change the world? Yes. Architecture connects so many life strands together - our personal and social well-being, our communities and natural resources, our recreation and transportation. Good design has the ability to make positive impacts on our environment, whether through the buildings themselves, our actions toward people and places, or the processes involved. Having said that,
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Left - Waterfront Plaza by EMA will establish a new neighbourhood of 400 homes at Victoria Dock, Leith Right - Greenlaw Business Centre by AHR provides open plan co-working spaces and social areas for new and start-up businesses
we still have to learn from the successes and failures of the past in order to shape a credible future. When this is carefully considered and done well, architecture can drive political, economic and cultural change.
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Are you optimistic for the future? As a business, yes. We are diversifying into different sectors and seeing increased opportunities with both public and private sector clients. The fallout from our retreat from Europe is the great unknown but this will ultimately be just another limiting or liberating factor to be reconciled. We will continually develop the skills and knowledge to tackle the challenges we face but globally and holistically it is a paradox to reconcile that although growth, expansion and wealth maybe good for business, in some ways it may not be best for society, the environment and our climate. What distinguishes your practice from others? AHR offer a unique and distinctive model as a practice that provides exceptional benefits to our clients. Through our multi-service, multi-sector and multi-geographical nature, we are able to provide value that goes beyond what is typically delivered in the industry, supplying a service that draws from our comprehensive and inclusive knowledge and experience base running throughout our practice. As one AHR and our multifaceted business structure, organisation and operation, we harness a powerful capability and a strong capacity to surpass our clients’ expectations through a creative, practical and sustainable approach.
Bracewell Stirling Consulting
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 7 Staff Total (Scotland): 25
susan stephen architects ltd
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 11 Staff Total (Scotland): 17 34
Scott Brownrigg
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 7 Staff Total (Scotland): 13 Alex Donaldson Director Can architecture change the world? We believe that the architectural industry has a moral responsibility to make a positive, lasting contribution to the environment. Great architecture responds to culture, beliefs and behaviour. Whilst we may choose how to express form, ultimately we create in direct response to these influences. However as we face new challenges in the world and explore new ways of inhabiting environments and buildings, the role of architecture and the architect is evolving. We look to harness these challenges to create added value, to find more effective ways of designing, to create more rewarding experiences for those that occupy our environments and our buildings. >
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What distinguishes your practice from others? Our Vision is to be a ‘global design leader recognised for transforming the industry. We believe that every designer aspires to exceed client expectations. To create something fit for purpose but also beautiful, surprising, timeless. And of course to put people at the heart of their process. What we feel makes us different is our sense of responsibility to the world and to the industry. We hold ourselves to a higher standard. We are sociable: It’s part of why we love what we do. It makes our creative journey enjoyable. We fight for the creative: We have a relentless desire to make things better. We listen and explore: We think about every angle and ensure we make the right decisions together. We live for opportunities: To push ourselves, creatively, in business and as a team. How will you achieve further growth? The three core strategies of our current five year plan are building a global design agency, diversifying into new markets and further developing Scott Brownrigg as a great place to work. The only thing constant is change and the role of the architect is evolving dramatically. Our future is dependent on our willingness to adapt and embrace new technologies. Agile thinking and a curiosity to continually learn new skills are going to be vital going forward. Investing in vertical and horizontal expansion of the services we offer continues to be a key element of our future strategy. 35
Fletcher Joseph Associates
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 8 Staff Total (Scotland): 20 36
Smith Scott Mullan Associates
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 14 Staff Total (Scotland): 28 37
Bennetts Associates
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 9 Staff Total (Scotland): 13 38
Morgan McDonnell Architecture Ltd.
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 8 Staff Total (Scotland): 15 39
Mosaic Architecture and Design
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 10 Staff Total (Scotland): 20 Neil Haining Director What would you like to see change in 2019? URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
In common with many in the business community, we would like 2019 to usher in an era of constitutional stability more conducive to economic growth. While the Brexit debate has proved to be a distraction throughout 2018 and has served to delay investment decisions, we are confident that, come next Spring, there will be a resurgence in investment as the uncertainty surrounding Brexit starts to clear, enabling investment decisions to be made. Are you optimistic for the future? We are confident that the year ahead will provide an economic environment more conducive to business investment and growth. Our confidence is reflected in our decision to open a London office to place us in a position where we are able to exploit fully the opportunities for expansion we believe will be made manifest in 2019. How will you achieve further growth? Having operated in London over several years, on a variety of exciting projects, we recently opened a studio in the Clerkenwell area of London. The opening of our London office follows our acquisition in 2017 of Burnet Bell, Glasgow’s second oldest architectural practice (dating back to 1896), and marks the latest stage in our ambitious growth strategy. That strategy is to strive continually to achieve further growth through a combination of merger and acquisition activity and organic growth achieved via the generation of new projects across the various sectors within which we operate. 40
Nicoll Russell Studios
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 14 Staff Total (Scotland): 31
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Stoneywood Primary School by Scott Brownrigg is one of the largest cross laminated timber education buildings to be built in Scotland
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GLM
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 5 Staff Total (Scotland): 16 42
Hackland + Dore Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 7 Staff Total (Scotland): 9 43
Moxon Architects Ltd
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 4 Staff Total (Scotland): 5 44
Axis Mason
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 2 Staff Total (Scotland): 8 45
Covell Matthews Architects Ltd.
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 9 Staff Total (Scotland): 23 46
IDP Architects LLP
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 5 Staff Total (Scotland): 11 47
Richard Murphy Murphy Architects Ltd
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 9 Staff Total (Scotland): 13 48
Austin-Smith:Lord LLP
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 11 Staff Total (Scotland): 18
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Hurd Rolland Partnership
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 11 Staff Total (Scotland): 17 50
ISA Architecture & Design Ltd
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 12 Staff Total (Scotland): 25 51
Helen Lucas Architects Ltd
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 11 Staff Total (Scotland): 14 52
ASSIST Design
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 5 Staff Total (Scotland): 13 53
Denizen Works
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 1 Staff Total (Scotland): 1 54
DO-Architecture
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 4 Staff Total (Scotland): 5 55
LBA
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 3 Staff Total (Scotland): 13 56
Jon Frullani Architect Ltd
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 3 Staff Total (Scotland): 12
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Jewitt & Wilkie Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 7 Staff Total (Scotland): 11 58
LMA
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 5 Staff Total (Scotland): 15 59
Trail Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 3 Staff Total (Scotland): 9 60
Roxburgh McEwan Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 7 Staff Total (Scotland): 8 61
Arc Architects Ltd
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 3 Staff Total (Scotland): 4 62
Fearn Macpherson Chartered Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 2 Staff Total (Scotland): 6 63
Rural Design
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 7 Staff Total (Scotland): 16 64
ZM ARCHITECTURE
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 5 Staff Total (Scotland): 10 65
ARPL Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 4 Staff Total (Scotland): 11 Gordon Fleming Director What would you like to see change in 2018? I think procurement is continuing to be a major block on the development of architectural practice in Scotland and it is having a debilitating impact on construction as well. The continuing consolidation of work in the hands of established companies to the detriment of smaller more committed organisations is leading to serious problems with producing high quality buildings. There needs to be a re-think of how we procure new projects if we are not to lead to a long term decline in design and construction quality.
Mosaic have conceived this 300-bed student housing development in Glasgow, developed by The Soller Group for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
What is the best work you’ve seen produced by another practice this year? The Audain Museum in Whistler, British Columbia by Patkau Architects was an opportunity for me to see at first hand the work of architects I have admired for decades. Since the publication of the Barnes House in the early 90’s Patkau have regularly produced building of great delight and the Audain Museum is no exception. Marrying a limited pallette of black zinc and timber with its woodland setting it was easily the best building I visited this year. How will you achieve further growth? Growth is not a major ambition for us. We are a practice of 11 people working on a great range of projects. We currently have schools, a museum, a gallery, several community centres, a music venue, social housing, churches and serious conservation work. Who could wish for more. We are more interested in producing as high quality work as we can in a financially sustainable way than pursuing growth for it own sake. 66
Reynolds Architecture Ltd
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 2 Staff Total (Scotland): 4 67
DTA Chartered Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 3 Staff Total (Scotland): 10 URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
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:thatstudio
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 1 Staff Total (Scotland): 3 69
Stewart Associates
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 4 Staff Total (Scotland): 7 70
Somner Macdonald Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 3 Staff Total (Scotland): 5 71
Kearney Donald Partnership
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 2 Staff Total (Scotland): 6 72
Voigt Architects Limited
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 1 Staff Total (Scotland): 7 73
Bell Ingram Design
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 4 Staff Total (Scotland): 10 74
Denholm Partnership LLP
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 3 Staff Total (Scotland): 12
The Kirkcudbright Galleries by ARPL provide a suitable new home for Dumfries & Galloway’s collection of the Kirkcudbright school of artists
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Fergus Purdie Architect
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 2 Staff Total (Scotland): 4 76
MAFA - Mary Arnold-Forster Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 2 Staff Total (Scotland): 4 77
Camerons Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 6 Staff Total (Scotland): 15 78
Brown + Brown Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 1 Staff Total (Scotland): 4 79
Dallman Johnstone Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 2 Staff Total (Scotland): 2 80
John Gilbert Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 7 Staff Total (Scotland): 12
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Stuart Davidson Architecture
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 1 Staff Total (Scotland): 3 82
ann nisbet studio
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 1 Staff Total (Scotland): 2 83
Capital A Architecture
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 1 Staff Total (Scotland): 1 84
McGregor Bowes
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 1 Staff Total (Scotland): 1 85
David Blaikie Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 3 Staff Total (Scotland): 5 86
George Buchanan Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 3 Staff Total (Scotland): 5 87
Allan Corfield Architects Ltd
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 4 Staff Total (Scotland): 12 88
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Craig Amy Architect
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 1 Staff Total (Scotland): 1
Kerry Smith Architects
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No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 3 Staff Total (Scotland): 6 96
Organic Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 3 Staff Total (Scotland): 5
O’Donnell Brown
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No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 3 Staff Total (Scotland): 4 98
Loader & Monteith Architects Ltd
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 3 Staff Total (Scotland): 3 99
Urban Creatures
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 2 Staff Total (Scotland): 4 100
Calum Duncan Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 2 Staff Total (Scotland): 3
Sutherland Hussey Harris
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 2 Staff Total (Scotland): 6 89
A10 Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 2 Staff Total (Scotland): 5 90
block 9 Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 5 Staff Total (Scotland): 8 91
icecream architecture
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 0 Staff Total (Scotland): 8 92
Brunton Design Studio
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 4 Staff Total (Scotland): 7 93
Ewan Cameron Architects
No. of qualified architects (in Scotland): 1 Staff Total (Scotland): 2
URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
Methodology 1. Efficiency points weight: <40 000 GBP fees income/head
10
<50 000 GBP fees income/head
20
<60 000 GBP fees income/head
30
<70 000 GBP fees income/head
40
>70 000 GBP fees income/head
50
2. Staff points: Staff points have weight 1:1 3. Qualified architects points Qualified architects points have weight 1:2 4 Awards points including the following schemes: RIAS awards RBA awards SDA awards Awards weight 1:10
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YOUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;VE SEEN WHAT OUR BEST PRACTICES CAN DO, HERE YOU CAN REACH OUT AND CONTACT THEM DIRECTLY. WHETHER YOU SEEK HELP TO REALISE YOUR OWN GOALS OR JUST FANCY A CHAT, A WEALTH OF EXPERTISE LIES BEFORE YOU.
AHR 3DReid 45 West Nile Street, Glasgow G1 2PT Tel: 0345 271 6350 Email: glasgow@3DReid.com 36 North Castle Street, Edinburgh EH2 3BN Tel: 0345 271 6300 Email: edinburgh@3DReid.com Web: www.3DReid.com Twitter: @3_D_Reid Principal Contacts: Mark Bedey, Alastair Cook, Neil de Prez, Gordon Ferrier, David Llewellyn, Calum MacDonald, Gordon McGhie, Barry Paton, Barrie Turnbull Number of Architects (in Scotland): 28 Number of Staff (in Scotland): 54 Practice Statement: 3DReid is a creative architecture and interior design studio specialising in the design and delivery of complex new build and refurbishment projects. Our cross sector experience includes Airports, Culture & Community, Education, Hotels, Industrial, Leisure, Offices, Residential, Retail and Urban Regeneration. Our team of over 130 people is located across five UK studios, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and London. By sharing our knowledge across disciplines we provide a robust and versatile service bringing national and international expertise on a local scale, enabling us to deliver innovative design solutions in any sector we work in. We are great collaborators, internally within our studios and externally with clients, consultants, contractors, developers and investors. We enjoy working with ambitious partners and engaging with stakeholders and the wider community. Services Provided: Architectural Design, Interior Design, Masterplanning and Urban Regeneration.
Tel: 0141 225 0555 Email: stuart.bryson@ahr.co.uk Web: www.ahr.co.uk Twitter: @weareAHR Principal Contact: Stuart Bryson Practice Statement: AHR is a multi-award winning architecture and building consultancy practice, with a legacy dating back to 1835. Our multi-service nature offers architecture, building consultancy, masterplanning, geomatic consultancy, interior design, landscape design, BIM consultancy and principal designer services. With experience across a range of sectors including residential, education, infrastructure, civic, offices, healthcare, technology, leisure, hospitality and retail, our geographical spread allows us to draw upon regional strengths and international experience. Together, this creates an expansive knowledge pool that is available to every subdivision of the business, allowing us to surpass our clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; expectations through a creative, practical and sustainable approach. Services Provided: Architecture, Building Consultancy, Masterplanning, Geomatic Consultancy, Interior Design, Landscape Design, BIM Consultancy, Principal Designer Services
ARPL Architects
11 Wellington Square, Ayr, KA7 1EN Tel: 01292 289777 Fax: 01292 288896 Web: www.arpl.co.uk Email: gfleming@arpl.co.uk Number of Architects: 5 Number of Staff: 11 Practice Statement: The ARPL philosophy is to work closely with each client to produce buildings which are sympathetic to both the immediate and broader environment. We are committed to helping communities in Scotland grow and enhance a sustainable future. Services Provided: Architectural design, community based design, specialist conservation and low energy sustainable work, masterplanning. Principal Designer Services.
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elder & cannon architects
George Buchanan Architects Ltd
ICA
Email: mail@elder-cannon.co.uk Web: www.elder-cannon.co.uk Tel: 0141 204 1833
Maryhill Burgh Halls, 10-24 Gairbraid Avenue, Glasgow, G20 8YE
Email: info@weareica.com Tel: 0141 552 2194 Web: www.weareica.com Twitter: @weareica
Number of architects: 9 (Scotland) Number of staff: 15 (Scotland) Practice Statement: Elder and Cannon are a leading architectural practice with a portfolio of high profile projects and a reputation for innovation and high quality work within a wide range of building types. We specialise in a number of sectors including Conservation, Housing, Education, Commercial and Masterplanning, winning national awards in each category. Services Provided: Full Architectural Services including Conservation Accreditation.
Tel: 0141 946 2433 Email: studio@georgebuchananarchitects.com Web: www.georgebuchananarchitects.com Twitter: @GBArchitectsLtd Principal Contact: George Buchanan, Director No. of Architects: 4 No. of Staff: 5 Practice Statement: George Buchanan Architects is a dynamic, design-driven architectural practice, based in Glasgow. We have extensive experience in various sectors, including Residential, Affordable Housing, Commercial, Education and Domestic. Passionate about design, we love producing practical solutions, exceeding expectations and maximising value. A thorough, professional service, delivered by a creative, friendly team.
Practice Statement: We are ICA. We are a 50 strong, award winning architecture and interior design studio, dedicated to hotel project design and delivery. With our head office in Glasgow and an additional base in London we work throughout the UK and internationally. Our work is design led. Our team produce innovative, high quality solutions within budget and on time. We have a strong delivery record for large mixed use and city centre projects, successfully translating our concept designs through close collaboration, creative solutions and effective communication of ideas; all within a framework of commercial viability. Services Provided: Architecture, Interior Design and Hotel Consultancy.
EMA Architecture + Design Limited
42 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, EH2 4HQ Tel: 0131 247 1450 Email: info@ema-architects.co.uk Web: www.ema-architects.co.uk Twitter: @EMA_Architects No. of Architects: 10 No. of Staff: 22 Practice Statement: EMA Architecture + Design is an architectural practice based in Edinburgh specialising in mixed use masterplanning, neighbourhood design and architecture. Our core values are on delivering designs that will reinforce the urban fabric of the surrounding area. We aim to create places with character and identity, with high quality positive street frontages and maximum permeability to encourage social interaction. We pride ourselves on delivering practical and commercial solutions whilst making a positive contribution to Scotlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s architecture and urban design. Services Provided: Architecture, Masterplanning, Placemaking, Conservation, Commercial, Hotel & Leisure.
URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
Hypostyle Architects
jmarchitects
49 St Vincent Crescent, Glasgow, G3 8NG
Head Office: 64 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4NA Tel: 0131 464 6100 Email: edinburgh@jmarchitects.net
Email: glasgow@hypostyle.co.uk Web: www.hypostyle.co.uk Tel: 0141 204 4441 Practice Statement: Hypostyle Architects is a UK practice that works in all fields of Architectural Design. Specialising in Residential, Health, Education, Commercial Master planning, Industrial and Urban Designs, the practice understands the boundaries and process of creating visually dynamic and functional buildings. During 30 years in practice, Hypostyle have established a broad and expanding client base throughout Scotland, the UK, the Middle East and Europe. We believe in design excellence and innovation in architecture and deliver functional, creative, sustainable, energy efficient and economic design solutions to our clients. To achieve this we use the latest technology, project evaluation and option analysis combined with 3D visualisation to enable high quality and creative delivery of the clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aspirations.
Glasgow Office: 50 Bell Street, Glasgow, G1 1LQ Tel: 0141 333 3920 Email: glasgow@jmarchitects.net Web: www.jmarchitects.net Twitter: @_jmarchitects Instagram: @jmarchitects Practice Statement: jmarchitects is an award winning design practice, portraying a broad range of expertise in a variety of sectors with a network of studios in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and London. We champion design excellence and innovation, always striving to deliver creative, functional, sustainable and considered design solutions which satisfy, delight and inspire. Our talented staff are our strength, collaborating and evolving design approaches that respect the context and create economic and social value for our clients and the wider community.
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Keppie 160 West Regent Street, Glasgow, G2 4RL Email: dross@keppiedesign.co.uk Web: www.keppiedesign.co.uk Tel: 0141 204 0066 Twitter: @Keppie_Design Practice Statement: Keppie are one of the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading independent architectural practices. The company employs around 100 people in their Glasgow headquarters and Inverness studio. Keppie count some of the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top public and private sector companies amongst their Clients, and operate across the UK and internationally. Services Provided: Architecture, Interior Design, Town Planning.
Mosaic 226 West George Street, Glasgow, G2 2PQ Tel: 0141 554 6977 Email: neil.haining@mosaic-ad.com Web: www.mosaic-ad.com Principal Contact: Neil Haining, Director Practice Statement: Mosaic Architecture is an international architectural practice located in Glasgow, Scotland. The Practice is led by three directors and provides clients with a comprehensive architectural and property consultancy service. These services include architecture, urban design, interior design, graphics, cad visualisation, masterplanning and construction management services. Over the years since its establishment in 2003 the Practice has developed a strong reputation for innovative and creative architectural design together with astute commercial awareness and pro-active project management thus ensuring the cost effective and timeous delivery of major construction projects. Services Provided: Located in Glasgow, the practice provides architectural and interior design services and works with clients across a wide sector of the property industry including workplace, masterplanning, hotel and leisure, interior design, education, community, retail, industrial, residential and private clients.
Page \ Park Architects
Stallan-Brand
20 James Morrison Street, Glasgow, G1 5PE Tel: 0141 553 5440
Email: Info@stallanbrand.com Web: www.stallanbrand.com Tel: +44 (0)141 258 5015
The Leeming Building, Ludgate Hill, Leeds, LS2 7HZ Tel: 0113 322 7540 Web: www.pagepark.co.uk Twitter: @pagepark Instagram: @pageparkarchitects Practice Statement: Page\Park is an award-winning architectural practice undertaking work across the UK from our studios in Glasgow and Leeds. We are an Employee Owned Business reflecting our culture of sharing ownership and responsibility across all that we do. Services Provided: Architecture, Interior Design, Masterplanning, Conservation, Briefing.
Scott Brownrigg 3rd Floor, 7 Castle Street, Edinburgh EH2 3AH Tel: + 44 (0) 131 202 3133 Email: a.donaldson@scottbrownrigg.com Web: www.scottbrownrigg.com Twitter: @ScottBrownrigg Principal Contact: Alex Donaldson, Director Practice Statement: We are a global design leader ranked in the UK Top 10 and within the Global Top 100 architectural practices. We have a Vision to transform the industry and enrich lives through the built environment to create a better world. We undertake projects across all major sectors from business space, education, residential and mixed use through to advanced technologies, hospitality, civic and cultural, transport and defence. We have studios across the UK in London, Edinburgh, Guildford and Cardiff and international studios in New York, Singapore and Amsterdam. These together with strategic alliances in the Middle East and Hong Kong enable us to serve our growing international client and project base. We live for opportunities to push ourselves, creatively, in business and as a team. Services Provided: Architecture, Masterplan + Urbanism, Interior Design, Design Strategy, Heritage Conservation, Technical Advice.
Practice statement: Stallan-Brand Architecture + Design is an architectural practice based in Glasgow, owned by Paul Stallan and Alistair Brand. Since our inception in 2012, our studio has rapidly developed, delivering a diverse range of architectural and design projects. We champion transformational design; an architectural approach that embraces dialogue and creative exchange. We have a strong belief in the need for flexible and innovative design, supportive of ever changing social and urban needs. Services Provided: Architecture, Masterplanning & Urban Design, Public Realm, Physical Model Making, Sustainability, Interior Design, Wayfinding & Graphics
E: mail@russwood.co.uk T: 01540 673648 www.russwood.co.uk
MOUNTAIN SIGHTS Perched on a steep mountaintop in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, Monachyle Beag hunting lodge proves that a challenging site doesn’t have to mean a compromised design. The project was fraught with planning complexities, the site difficult to access and the construction hampered by a wet spring and heavy snow. Despite this, Linearchitecture has triumphed, with a design that is sensitive to its setting yet celebrates the tranquillity, panoramic mountain views and beautiful textures of the natural landscape. The design form is a nod to agricultural buildings, helping the lodge to integrate into the wider landscape. An outer layer with an exposed galvanised frame provides the visual effect of a barn, whilst tucked underneath is a ‘building within a building’ featuring large areas of glazing that is unobtrusive to its surroundings. Russwood cladding was key in achieving this, with SiOO:X coated Scotlarch® providing a natural, durable finish with uniform weathering, and the inner ‘skin’ of Siberian Larch (SILA®) timber painted in a flat grey RAL colour to lessen the visual impact.
Linearchitecture said: “The materiality of the project was key to its visual integration into the landscape. Russwood were very knowledgeable about their products and patiently assisted us in varying our specification until it was balanced with what we were trying to achieve.”
BRAND BUILDING
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JOHN GLENDAY
I MAG E CONSC I OUS TAKING A BREAK FROM PHYSICAL CONSTRUCTION WE DELVE INTO THE DIGITAL REALM TO SEE WHAT PRACTICES CAN DO TO BUILD IDENTITY AND PERCEPTIONS IN AN INCREASINGLY IMAGE CONSCIOUS WORLD, BLURRING THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE IN THE PROCESS.
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BRAND BUILDING
Left - Page\Park ventured down the Rabbit Hole for their own web redesign Right - Freytag Anderson have imbued a new Haus website with the practice’s minimalist ethos
Instruct your web browser to load any architect’s website and chances are your display will not thank you for the trouble, with clunky interfaces, low res images and stale content still the order of the day for most where the download limitations of the past still curtail ambitions for the future. In an effort to establish where most are going wrong and what the pioneering few are doing right Urban Realm spoke with a number of design agencies and architects to see what is required to produce a digital shop window that serves as an asset, not a liability. Having just embarked on a web refreesh of their own Page\Park director Eilidh Henderson said: “We worked with digital designers Rabbit Hole to develop a new practice website this year. We sought to build a platform that recognises that our projects are not about the few, they’re about us all. Each of the voices and contributions of our team are recognised through our work and our new practice website seeks to offer a window into our world. “There is a tendency to promote the person rather than the idea. If we focussed on ideas rather than personalities, a richer dialogue would emerge.” Greig Anderson, co-founder and creative director at Freytag Anderson, is the first to state that ideas are king on the frontiers of this new world, with the onus resting firmly URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
on the shoulders of practices to prepare a steady stream of compelling material. Anderson said: “A big learning curve for the client is to understand that there is a job for them to do in terms of managing the website content. Previously it would just be a static website where you just put something up and update it whenever you complete a new project. People’s expectations are different now with social media and everything else, so having the resource internally to manage that is a new concept for a lot of clients.” Anderson added: “What a lot of architectural firms have done is look around at what they like and what they aspire to be. That’s quite unique as other clients require more workshop sessions to find that positioning.” The agency has just completed work on a new website for Haus, a process which led project director Sophie Brown to establish a clear need to modify language to be appropriate for the target audience. “A lot of people don’t understand the architectural process and want to make it less opaque and more accessible,” said Brown: “Just having things laid out clearly and organising things step by step had actually won them (Haus) a new client recently. I think there’s a role for providing the basics to people.” Do Freytag Anderson find that architects can be reticent to promote themselves by leaving it to their work to
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do the talking? Anderson responded: “There are not many architects who are shy in promoting themselves. It’s part of being creative that you have an ego attached to your output. They do want to do it, but it’s how you do it. If you get it wrong you will send out the wrong message or put yourself on a pedestal. “The first thing we do is try to understand what makes a client tick. Haus for example were quite brutalist in their output but that’s tempered by their personality and that was important for us to understand. The essence of what sets you apart from the next practice is what you are like as a person. You need to make sure that your individual profile is somehow encapsulated by the brand by making sure your voice, personality and quirks come through.” Asked why digital presence can so often be found wanting Chris Lord, creative director at Big Blue Dog said: “There is a bit of a common theme with architects not keeping up with their own branding, websites and marketing in general. For such a design conscious group of people that’s always been quite surprising for me. A big stumbling block with creatives is there are often a lot of strong opinions within each practice, it can be difficult to achieve a consensus. Being designers themselves they’ll want to be involved in the process. Without external influence from an agency you can start to go around in circles.” Picking up on the idea of communication Henderson continued: “Completed architecture is a form of communication. Our buildings communicate to their context ideas that emerge from working with a client. The legacy we see as the best form of that communication. You never know how good something can be. No matter the project or issue, you can always find something interesting and particular – just find the ‘magic dust’.” For his part Anderson said: “That’s tied up with the longevity of an architectural project, it’s much longer than anything we would do. That lifespan is really hard to capture. Pretty much all out architectural experience has been based on lots of content and trying to edit that down to the essence of the practice.” It’s very easy to be pigeon holed and punch out to other sectors a divide between the design and commercial led practices. What can designers do to help break down those perceptions and have a practice be seen as being broader than its library to date? Lord commented: “It’s got to be creative and in budget utilising the left and right sides of the brain. You may lean more toward one side than the other and as a client you want to relate to whoever is right for you based on your personality. The problem is a lot of architecture firms have good projects which photograph well. If you’ve got five tabs open when you’re searching online, how do you set them apart? Part of the decision making will be the branding and how you relate to them as >
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BRAND BUILDING
a company, not just the quality of the work.” Brown ventured: “There’s a strong role for copy there, it doesn’t have to be reams of text but a few judicious lines can definitely tip that balance. It’s important to give a sense of the people behind the project. The human face certainly helps breakdown the impression of a faceless conglomerate.” A lot of architects can be prone to discard plain English in order to reach for the thesaurus but is this aloof use of language contributing to the perception of ivory towers? Brown answered: “One of my bugbears is pretentious waffle. Nobody cares. Six concise words would be so much better. There’s a tendency to put theoretical rationalisation and flower it up with academic language and while it’s interesting to read it’s not going to resonate with the audience. Anderson elaborated: “If you’re talking to your peers then its relevant but if you’re talking to the public and clients then you need to be more open. When you’re writing you almost slip into an automatic professional mode, but I don’t speak like this so why am I using these words that are not natural? I feel that they’re required but they’re not. Explaining how to break down barriers between author and audience by bringing personality into play Lord carried on: “One of the benefits of us working with architects is we’re pretty similar. We design websites and branding and they design buildings but what drives you down those career paths is pretty similar, just with different outputs. They all deal with the same client issues that we do. When we come to the table and present ideas with design thinking behind it they appreciate it. You still have to deal with strong design opinions but when you meet them with reason and logic you can take them down the route that you think is professionally best for them. “Beyond the design of the website and the branding architects do fall guilty of choosing a nice clean layout to stick their projects on. It looks fine but it doesn’t give you an idea of what they’re like as a practice. Obviously the work is important but you’re going to be sitting down with these architects day in, day out. You want to make sure that you get on.” “What’s also important is process,” remarked Anderson. “You have an end product in a website or a building but people like the inbetween stuff when you get your hands dirty and go on-site. The website is almost becoming secondary to those moments which are most at home on social media. People are hungry for it. Ultimately the aim of any work is to start a conversation which might lead to a new project or introduction. A beautiful finished project is impregnable, there’s no in.” A naming convention so common it has its own three letter acronym (TLA) has swept many practices up in its thrall, although Freytag Anderson themselves have
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More than a mere shop window a properly crafted website and digital presence can unlock opportunities which would otherwise be missed
understandably chosen not to abbreviate. Outlining his own views Anderson said: “Sometimes the name is the best thing, especially if they are distinct but to create an acronym does the opposite. It takes meaning away and your back to three or four letters. The only thing that matters is the personality of the business. The work is personal, the people you work with are personal. To remove that and try and make it sterile gets informed by processes but takes away meaning.” Brown continued: “There’s a temptation for smaller businesses to try and make themselves sound larger. The public is starting to have much more appreciation of the boutique but many businesses are still catching up with that mindset and want to sound corporate.” The battle to make your voice heard in a binary world can seem daunting but for those willing and able to pull all the levers available to them there are near limitless opportunities for promoting analogue achievements to a digital audience. In doing so many are belatedly coming to realise that the surest way to propagate success doesn’t solely lie in the message but also the messaging itself.
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SERVICE GRAPHICS ll
SERVICE GRAPHICS HELPING ARCHITECTS AND SURVEYORS TO STAY ONE STEP AHEAD IN GRAPHICS AND SIGNAGE WITH A NEW CPD PROGRAMME As Scotland’s leading producer of large format graphics and signage, the team at Service Graphics work closely with customers to understand every aspect of the graphics project. We aim to set the gold standard in service levels and add real value at every point of contact in a project’s lifecycle. We have developed a free CPD learning programme to support architects and surveyors and help to expand their knowledge and understanding of large format graphics. Through one-on-one or in a group session we provide an overview of materials and technical considerations for a variety of project scenarios and provide continued ongoing advice, support and consultation for graphics projects. Local expertise with a world of experience Glasgow-based Service Graphics is firmly established as a leader in the design, production and installation of large format graphics for signage, exhibition and interior graphics. Working with many of today’s best-known brands our work is almost everywhere you look installed and displayed in venues and events across Scotland, the United Kingdom and internationally. We are particularly proud of our Glasgow heritage with decades of experience working with many of Scotland’s museums, heritage sites, visitor experiences and monuments. Our signage, wayfinding, interpretation panels and custom-printed wallpapers are all helping Service Graphics Ltd City Link Central 145 Helen Street Glasgow G51 3HD Tel: 01414252300 Web: enquiries@servicegraphics.co.uk URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
bring Scotland’s rich history to life for tourists and locals alike. “With such deep roots in Scotland we have become more than simply a supplier of visual solutions and materials, we are our clients’ commercial partner, helping them achieve their creative vision, business goals as well as their professional development targets.” Donald Gillanders, Business Development Director, Service Graphics Asking the right questions, making the right choices We work in a dynamic industry driven by new technologies, environmental considerations and legislation. Supporting architects and surveyors by keeping them up to speed with the latest sustainable practices and innovations helps them to ask the right questions when sourcing materials and suppliers. Our learning programme is designed for professionals seeking a greater understanding of large format processes, tools and techniques. We work with an enormous range of products and materials our learning programme provides an overview, includes technical notes, a tour of our site and machinery. This clear view of Service Graphics in action provides a real understanding of the many technical choices and decisions involved in any project. And getting it right in the early planning stages can make a big difference as the project proceeds.
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Investing in the best for the brightest future While our industry is reliant on cutting-edge technology, we believe that investing in our people and adding value for our clients is equally essential. Our commitment to Continued Professional Development is just one way in which we can offer an exceptional service. We are strengthening our internal training and development programmes and expanding our plant capacity throughout the country. By drawing together the latest technology with a highly skilled workforce and gold standard service, our reputation for delivering firstclass results is built on solid foundations. “We are well known as much for the quality and attention to detail of our often bespoke deliveries, as well as for the massive responsive firepower with which we can deliver to client needs at scale. This year we have been investing in the latest print technology including the Vutek 5r, Vutek Fabrivu, Kongsberg C64, and two SwissQ Nyalas.” Alex Penner, Managing Director, Service Graphics Service Graphics’ learning programme offers a comprehensive introduction to the wide range of materials and processes we use to bring our clients’ vision to life with maximum impact. From transforming interiors to installing larger than life projects, we have the tools and technology to deliver exceptional visual projects. Continued professional development participants will learn how we: Change space with exceptional interior graphics Walls, staircases, floors and ceilings provide platforms for endless creativity and stunning makeovers. RAFA wallpaper, tension fabric graphics, brick wrap vinyl and manifestations across glazing are just some of the products we use to transform interior space and deliver our clients’ vision. Find the right direction with signage and wayfinding Signage solutions, advertising and hoardings produced by Service Graphics are present throughout the United Kingdom and at some of the most high profile venues and events. From flex face signs, monoliths and totems to point of sale, hoarding graphics and building wraps, our specialist technical teams are on hand to ensure a professional installation of any size and style. Operate to the highest health and safety standards All our work is underpinned by an unwavering commitment to health, safety, quality and the environment. As members of many of the industry’s
key associations, our credibility and calibre are unquestionable. We work only with contractors whose professionalism is assured. Our operational procedures and quality management system are independently audited. Learning with a winning team Service Graphics Glasgow team can call upon the firepower of the broader group for projects of any scale. The Glasgow site extends to 19,000 square feet of production and storage with a team of more than 40 staff working on every aspect of a large format graphics project. From artwork, administration and customer service to project management, installation, mounting and finishing, no detail is too small no project is too large. We work with the very latest technology from Vutek, Kongsberg, SwissQ & Durst. We print direct to substrates such as glass, acrylic, wood, PVC, dibond and aluminium and use digital cutters to shape and form. Our scope is extensive and our experience invaluable. Why not join us on our learning programme as we share our technical knowledge and shine a light on our innovative thinking? For further information contact donald.gillanders@ servicegraphics.co.uk
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RIAS
JOHN GLENDAY
UN I T Y CAND I DAT E A PERIOD OF TURMOIL WITHIN ARCHITECTURE’S PROFESSIONAL BODY HAS ENDED IN REPRIEVE WITH THE ELEVATION OF ROBIN WEBSTER AS PRESIDENT. A SAFE PAIR OF HANDS, WEBSTER FACES THE ARDUOUS TASK OF UNITING WARRING FACTIONS IN COMMON PURPOSE BUT WHERE EXACTLY IS THE ORGANISATION HEADED AND HOW QUICKLY CAN IT GET THERE?
On 11 October Robin Webster, founder of Cameronwebster Architects, became president of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland following election, succeeding Stewart Henderson in the post. The move comes at a time of unprecedented turmoil but might this disorder be a catalyst for change or is continued decline of a once august institution inevitable? Having steadied the ship during hsi first days in charge Urban Realm caught up with Webster to establish what lies ahead for the institution. During his fleeting 19-month term Webster will prioritise stability as a platform for healing divisions within a fractured profession, winning over members with a rallying cry to bring greater transparency to the opaque machinations of Rutland Square. As figurehead Webster is in an unrivalled position to help shape the organisation for the years ahead but is mindful of the need to keep a still-powerful old guard on side with evolutionary change, amidst more excitable calls for a revolution. Pressed as to whether this term offered a sufficient window to bring about real change in an organisation which has so far displayed all the nimbleness of an oil tanker Webster said: “We should be able to initiate change but we want continuity. The important thing is to get the grassroots involved and the GIA and EAA have both been having workshops on strategy. At the next council meeting URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
every chapter is going to come up with the main points that they think need to be addressed and then the strategy committee will sieve those and prioritise them for a follow up meeting in February. The point is that the RIAS has just four council meetings a year, which is really not enough.” Quizzed as to whether a live investigation by the charity regulator was still casting a pall over the organisation Webster continued: “We’re still getting criticism for not sorting it. I don’t want to defend procrastination but on the other hand Rome wasn’t built in a day. We have to do it calmly but because there have been so few council meetings it hasn’t gone as fast as I’d wanted. By the March council meeting we should be able to say we’ve got a governance strategy and procedures in place so I hope by the Spring we will have it sorted. “The dysfunction can be overplayed, I hope we’re on the road to sorting it. Some people want to dig back into history to find out what went wrong. I understand that because in order to move forward confidently you have to be building on solid ground, but equally I’m against any personal reactions. I’m not interested in blame. I believe people operated with the best intentions but as Dr Johnston said, ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Recognising the changed economic realities of today’s >
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Webster faces the arduous challenge of reinvigorating a body which has lost its way
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RIAS
cash-strapped times Webster is keenly aware that his organisation must do much more with far less, saying: “There are some bloody good architects in Scotland but 85% of practices have four people or less. They can’t afford to do a lot for the RIAS when fees have dropped to 30% of what they were ten years ago. It’s absolutely ridiculous.” At present the RIAS membership fee does not include practice services, something Webster would like to change so that all practices can benefit. Webster added: “I would like to see if it’s at all possible to reorganise that, so every practice is able to benefit. People like Maryse Richardson are incredibly knowledgeable and are on the phone to everybody. I’d also like to see pop-ups where we could URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
show recent schemes which have won planning permission so that architecture becomes more of a talking point amongst the general public. I always get very disappointed with sites where planning applications have been made but nothing is posted until work has started. I believe local authorities have a duty to put a photograph of what’s going to happen on-site so people have an idea of what’s going to happen there.” Webster placed transparency at the centre of his campaign, with one of his first actions being the production of written procedures. He observed: “One of the things we need to clarify is that committee chairs should serve limited terms. We have one excellent chair but he’s been on it for
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A new generation of activist architects are taking matters into their own hands with Architecture Fringe
30 years, it’s ridiculous. It’s not a job for life, you need a turnover, you need to give people a break and bring new blood in.” Amidst endless talk of governance, probity and transparency it is bread and butter issues of procurement, fees and planning which truly fire Webster who is an ardent champion of competitions as a means of fostering architectural talent. He said: “A lot of people express doubts about competitions, but I think a well-organised two-stage competition doesn’t need to cost the profession a lot of time.” Webster will also push for reform of much maligned Pre-Qualification Questionnaires (PQQs) by enshrining a
minimum as well as a maximum fee so that ‘if people bid too low they are automatically discounted because a race to the bottom isn’t helping anybody’. Part of this approach sees Webster vow to adopt a more combative stance in the defence of member interests at a national and local level, declaring: “The government and local authorities need to understand that if you pay peanuts, you’ll get monkeys. You just cannot do a good job on one or 2%. One of the solutions is for local authorities and governments to be advised by architects, people on procurement panels don’t include architects. What we can’t do is criticise other members of our profession, but we can have workshops amongst ourselves where we promote >
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RIAS
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Above - Amid the turmoil life goes on with Reiach & Hall winning Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Gallery competition Below - Collective have likewise triumphed in a tandem competition for Camphill School in Aberdeen, both of which have been organised by the RIAS Consultancy
best practice.” An absence of leadership has opened up a vacuum readily filled by a phalanx of new organisations seeking to fill the void, not least A New Chapter which has become a rallying point for the disaffected. The ceding of ground by the RIAS has fueled an explosion of architectural activism with groups like the Architecture Fringe emerging, does Webster see such groups as a help or a hindrance to the RIAS? Are they a sign of grassroots vitality? “It is, although it may also be that some people are desperate! We’re supporting them. We’re big enough to have people on the Fringe and outside criticising us, that’s healthy. We want to hear all voices and raise the profile of how much architecture matters. “A New Chapter had a base camp page which was really good because people who weren’t members were invited to contribute to that. I’m proposing that we do something similar. Some people have said if it’s anything to do with the RIAS then they’ll have nothing to do with it well they’ve got the option to work outside. What I’m suggesting is a platform which we won’t censor. We want community involvement, but we’ve got to look hard at what that means, sometimes it’s just a loud voice. It’s not always necessary.” In seeking inspiration Webster is casting his net across the North Sea to Denmark in the hope that some Nordic discipline might rub off at home. Webster said: “I was in Copenhagen several months ago and architects have a much higher profile there. I’m not saying they’re perfect but they’re respected. Unfortunately architects here are seen as adding expense and are not relied on to deliver a project, losing out to project managers. It’s not just architects but other professions too are seen as no longer being respected or impartial. There’s a perception that the discipline of architecture doesn’t exist and anyone can do it. I have my own opinion of how successful the Festival of Architecture was but it did raise the issue of architecture.”
Webster admits that winning a total percentage of votes cast of around 20% ‘wasn’t very good’ but points out that the figure has been as low as 5% in the past but how does he explain this lack of enthusiasm? “I dare say some people aren’t involved and are just too busy”, remarked Webster. “We’re keen to reach out to people.” As an illustration of the challenges which await Webster recalled an early tussle over the apparently simple matter of rearranging pictures on the wall. “I suggested we relocate portraits in the council room of Rutland Square and some people shouted me down. I still believe that room should be about architecture, not people. We’re not about people we’re about architecture. Why not have images of the Doolan Prize? People using that room should see architecture not an old gentleman’s club.” If this early battle is any indicator the RIAS is in for more fireworks in the months and years to come as it seeks to reassert its authority over a fractious membership, but as fatigue sets in fatigued after a year of turmoil many will ask whether such dramas are worth their time.
EDINBURGH 2050
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© THIS IS EDINBURGH
LESLIE HOWSON
C I TY
V I S I ON
WITH EDINBURGH CITY COUNCIL IN THE PROCESS OF PREPARING THEIR VISION 2050 FOR EDINBURGH ARCHITECT AND URBAN DESIGNER LESLIE HOWSON HAS GATHERED THE VIEWS FROM VARIOUS PROMINENT ARCHITECTS, MASTER PLANNERS, CONSERVATION BODIES AND COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS, ASKING HOW THEY THINK THE QUALITY OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT CAN BE IMPROVED TOGETHER WITH THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ITS CITIZENS, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON COMMUNITY.
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In 2016, the City of Edinburgh began a conversation about its future to create a vision for 2050 alongside their City Development Plan 2030. According to the Lord Provost, the City Vision 2050 is to be a unifying force and the council invites all citizens and organizations to be involved. Concentration is to be on the people of Edinburgh rather than its buildings ` the greater part of the legacy of Edinburgh is not its building but its people`. The themes under which the vision is being constructed are Edinburgh as an inspired city, as a thriving city, as a connected city and as a fair city. The vision is open for public consultation (now one year on) online and through several council managed events. The built aspect of the city’s future is seemingly being dealt within under the new Edinburgh Local Development Plan (City Plan 2030). It is the LDP `s which dictate planning policy that guides development in Edinburgh for the next 10 years, on a site-specific basis, the LDP being otherwise in accordance with the Scottish Government`s 2018 Strategic Development Plan (for SE Scotland) which sets the long terms spatial planning strategy, `indicating in broad terms` where future development should be located. The process of producing an LDP seeks to include community consultation,
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though to what degree of success and relevance is debatable. What in essence defines a city is its physical presence and its citizens. These two aspects of urban life are inextricably intertwined. The condition of the places people live in and the built environment they experience, are both relevant to `wellbeing,` which is recognized by the World Health Organization as essential to physical and mental health. Urban Realm invited professionals from various disciplines to further stimulate the debate about what the city councils’ priorities should be over the next 50+ years. These `informed voices` are working professionals experienced in their own particular field, all of whom either have the task of designing the built environment, or of working closely with communities in the city. Such a `cross fertilisation` of ideas in wider conversation is needed now more than ever. It is just over 250 years since the first New Town plan and 50 years since the formation of the conservation movement which saved much of Edinburgh from demolition. Coupled with this, we live in a time of significant national political unrest over social and community issues, no more so than in Edinburgh.
Questions we asked about the physical city include: • What value should we put on the special urban characteristics of Edinburgh going forward? • How to get the balance right between economic development and maintaining environmental quality? • How should the city grow and what will the next stage of its overall development? • What are the future challenges for the city and how should architects, planners, developers and the council respond? • What effect has the last 50 years of development had on the city’s character and quality of life? • Is the current planning system fully fit for purpose and if not how should it be rehoned? Questions we asked about communities, inclusiveness and the consultation process; • What are the main issues facing the citiy’s established communities? • What issues should the city council be concentrating on and how can it best connect with its citizens and communities. • What should the city councils priorities be for the next 50+ years? >
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EDINBURGH 2050
Malcolm Fraser, architect Edinburgh is a three-dimensional dynamo of a place, formed by time and violent geology, with its volcanic outcrops scoured by ice sheets and then built on, up, down, through and across with extraordinary vigour and to a set of enlightened and contrasting masterplans whose intellectual clarity and effectiveness still shine. The culture and vigour of its people is intricately linked to this physical place and a clear vision for the city of 2050 requires a new, enlightened masterplan that weaves together place, people and their lives – a new paradigm to deliver the “connected, inspired, fair and thriving city” the City has called-for, that will suit the wellbeing (the health, wealth and happiness) of all future Edinburgh residents, as well as contributing to the enhancement of the local, national and global environment. The city has outstanding values, which we need to define and respect, springing from that history and the density-with-interwoven-landscape which goes with it. It needs to develop these to build on its strengths by tackling the scourge of inequality that sees some of its citizens cut-off from its riches, recovering the virtues of good social housing and improving the benefits and wealth-spreading capabilities of transport links, whether extended tram, cycle or digital. As with all Scotland a wee bit more local democracy would help, with reinvigorated community councils, as well as support for the good community empowerment initiatives that are the fruit of the Scottish Government’s new legislation, and bold use of the new levers that should come to Local Authorities from the work of the Land Commission and others. Above all, in this city of clear urban paradigms, from the mediaeval mercat of the Old Town through the rigid rational of the New, it needs to define a future as a city of wellbeing for its citizens.
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Robert Huxford, director, Urban Design Group The late historian John Julius Norwich, chairman of the Venice in Peril Fund, once said that when one considers Venice one must remember that it is not just the individual buildings, the architecture, the monuments; it is the whole thing. It is the sum of its parts. This is true of any town, and particularly true of Edinburgh: a resounding symphony of geology, history, architecture, science, art and enterprise. Today, the growth of a town or city is very much dependent on private sector developers focussed on maximising the profitable potential of individual sites. But the things that make cities great are ideas and forces that are far bigger that the red-lined site boundary. Edinburgh today is a record of the history and energy of a nation. The Old Town is a fine example of medieval planning and design with its burgage plots, High Street and Mercat Cross, but it is trade and the need for defence of the whole town that were the driving forces. Also evident in Edinburgh is the influence of French culture and architecture following the Auld Alliance and the periodic exiling of Scottish nobility to France returning, when affairs cooled, with fancy French ways. The New Town is an expression of the ambitions of the Scottish Enlightenment and a desire and need to compete with London. It is a small step from this to Scottish inter-disciplinary generalism, and Sir Patrick Geddes, who was always keen to obtain a broad perspective of how urban societies and economies operated. Part of the legacy he has left in Edinburgh is the Outlook Tower, which provided a camera obscura vista of the city at the top, with descending floors devoted to an understanding (at ever increasing scale) of Scotland, Europe, and finally, the world. Today, cities across the globe look increasingly like clones: expressions of a bland international corporatist style. These forces threaten Edinburgh’s unique character. Geddes wrote that local character is attained only in course of adequate grasp and treatment of the whole environment, and in active sympathy with the essential and characteristic life of the place concerned.” A great future for Edinburgh will not arise from a vision that goes no further than the profitability of individual development sites. It requires a vision that embraces an understanding of the profitability and welfare of the entire city and the nation which it leads and serves. Richard Murphy, architect I empathised with David Chipperfield’s remark at the 2017 Metzstein Discourse that “in Germany they plan; in the UK planning is now called development control, a bit like pest control! It was an observation about how re-active council planning has become instead of pro-active. My experience in Edinburgh is that curiously on the one hand the planning department seems to be very coy about thinking big thoughts; on the other, >
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» We must go beyond listening
predominantly to the loudest and most frequent voices if we are to create places that reflect who we are as a society and respond effectively to our changing needs. «
planners cannot get their fingers out of the fine detail of smaller planning applications. Its long been my belief that to get a good building you need to get a good architect. Design guides and other leaflets written the much vaunted Architecture Unit and others are a waste of time. And planners have a rotten job taking poor architecture and trying to make it a little bit more palatable. To my mind we should take a leaf out of both the German, and Dutch systems of planning, both of which I’ve had URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
Petra Biberbach, chief executive, PAS The Scottish planning system is currently going through a period of reform, with the Planning (Scotland) Bill undergoing scrutiny in the Scottish Parliament. For PAS and our partner organisations, the Bill is an opportunity to encourage a system that is more open, accessible and transparent for everyone. In particular, I’m pleased to see the Bill putting greater focus on inclusion, enabling greater participation of children and young people, gypsy/travellers and other seldom-heard voices in our communities. We must go beyond listening predominantly to the loudest and most frequent voices if we are to create places that reflect who we are as a society and respond effectively to our changing needs. We need a more holistic and collaborative system rooted in place. Recent initiatives such as the Place Standard tool (which brings the physical, social and environmental together) have been very useful in changing the way we talk about place. The challenge is now to weave that holistic approach into decision-making across local and national government. Issues such as social isolation and poor health are just some of many issues that cannot be tackled by individual interventions from individual actors. Planning can play a lead role as facilitator in all the issues that impact on place. If we are serious about place-based approaches, then we need a system that empowers planners (and their counterparts in other services) to work more collaboratively towards common outcomes. A place-based approach can also help local authorities like Edinburgh engage more effectively with their citizens in conversations about the management and future development of their places. This is particularly important given Scotland’s demographic outlook and rapidly ageing population – the needs of our communities are ever changing. One of the challenges for the planning system is to address the changing housing needs of older people in our communities and explore alternative models to deliver the homes and facilities that we need.
personal experience. In Germany every building, (and indeed urban masterplan), in receipt of public money by law must be the subject of an architectural competition By contrast, the current hubco system bundling up public buildings into lots which are then sold to a contractor who chooses the architect is a catastrophe. I doubt very much if it ends up being value for money either. Important privately owned sites should also be subject to compulsory competitions. And our two pest control agencies need to have their wings clipped. Historic
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Environment Scotland should be removed from the planning process entirely and should exist as an information resource about historic buildings giving us a history lesson when we ask for one. They are singularly ill-equipped to pronounce on planning applications. Similarly I think our planning authorities should physically plan as they do in the Netherlands. Aesthetic decisions there are left to the (literally translated) “Beauty committees,” made up of local architects. Turning to the particularly Edinburgh issues, at the macro scale we should first of all be pleased that Edinburgh is a success story in terms of attracting both jobs and inhabitants (cf Glasgow: I read in the Scotsman once that Edinburgh grows by 10,000 inhabitants per year, exactly the same number by which Glasgow shrinks). Our problems are the problems of success and we need bold physical planning initiatives principally regarding how we can create a denser city, how living and working can be desegregated and how the city can shift much more dramatically towards a public transport system basis and a significant Copenhagen style city centre pedestrianisation. Sadly the proliferation of recent “out-of-town” developments whether they be shopping centres, peripheral low density monocultural housing estates or indeed our main hospital have been counterproductive to these aims. Edinburgh’s success has also had an unfortunate architectural effect of promoting total complacency. The chief concern, particularly in the City centre and World Heritage Site seems to be to avoid change and discourage development rather than to strive for the very best of 21st century architecture to balance that of the 18th and 19th. Is it a wholly unrealistic idea to imagine that in years to come planes from Barcelona, Copenhagen, Berlin or Paris will be full of tourists coming to hereto see our NEW architecture alongside the historic just as we head to those cities today to do the same? Steven Malone, architect, ADS There is an increasing policy focus on ageing in Scotland. This is becoming clear in locality plans and the design of services. Ageing is also becoming more important when we decide on the use of our assets or in developing new places. Addressing ageing is complex. This includes re-thinking how we deliver services and community support and how we can enhance self-directed care. From our perspective it means we need to consider place-based work to shape outcomes that support our ageing population – through sharing resources and supporting action. Caring Places is such a placed-based approach. Through it we explore the different needs and models of care for older people and communities with the changing opportunities of ‘place’. By placing the needs of the user at the heart of decision making about the provision and investment in services we can create a more caring city.
Alexander Burton, masters student in landscape architecture Edinburgh is growing quickly as people choose to live in what is an historic compact city. Edinburgh has been built over hundreds of years and we are sitting pretty on the fruits of past generations labour. Planners, architects, landscape architects and developers need to work together in a more holistic way and understand that we all need each other to make a successful project. The city needs a strong and robust strategic growth plan, especially for transport. Edinburgh has the advantage of being a relatively small and compact city however far too much space is given over to the private car. The car is the least efficient way of moving around a busy compact city and so should be lower down on the list when it comes to decisions on how the city should grow. I don’t think the city is doing anything like enough to protect against air pollution, the ongoing threat of climate change and unstainable urban growth. Edinburgh has a unique and special character which attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world. However this special character is slowly deteriorating due to poor maintenance and weak planning decisions. Many older parts of Edinburgh are crumbling and the modern buildings that take their place are very uninspiring. There are many contemporary buildings in Edinburgh that are so mundane that they seem to be designed to do the minimum just to get though planning. The public realm and streets in Edinburgh are also generally in a very poor state. The streets are where we spend a lot of our time but they feel neglected, which substantially detracts from the special character of the city. The planning system needs to put far more emphasis on the quality of the design and the materials used. I think the council need to stand up more to big commercial developers and contractors that build cheap and nasty buildings to make a quick buck. We are leaving a very poor legacy for the future with many new buildings being of such poor quality that they almost seem disposable and will be torn down in 20 years. We need to be brave and design modern but high-quality buildings for the future. The council needs to start saying no to big developers and understand the people will still want to invest in the city event if planning permission is refused. I have noticed for a while now that the city is slowly deteriorating due to a lack of maintenance and neglect. There are some really special places in Edinburgh but, these are slowly falling apart. Rose Street is a prime example. It is a historic and small-scale street lined with many beautiful historic buildings and is in the heart of the city; however the road surface is appalling. The street could really be something special with lots of small independent retailers, cafes and restaurants. In my opinion the council put far too little emphasis on streets and public spaces and there seems to be very little appreciation of how good quality design can produce that all important sense of wellbeing which is vital if the city wants to remain a vibrant and lively place to live. >
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Adam Wilkinson, director, Edinburgh World Heritage The Old and New Town of Edinburgh World Heritage Site will face many challenges in the years to 2050, fundamentally because it is the living heart of a growing capital city. Thought will be needed about how to sensitively adapt our buildings and spaces to support and not exclude. A great deal more work, building on the experience of the last ten years, will be needed to ensure our existing building stock is thoughtfully adapted to the impacts of climate change. Increasing pressure on the city centre will increase land values with the danger of not only excluding swathes of the population, but also increasing the pressure to redevelop, and in the process potentially lose much of what is special about the Old and New Towns. We must avoid the route that London has taken in this respect. Increasing tourism is a global trend that shows no sign of abating, and we must as a matter of urgency learn how to surf that wave while supporting the communities and cultural authenticity of the city, which are already showing signs of stress. How we value the city centre World Heritage Site will almost certainly change too, reflecting these changes in society. The physical infrastructure of the city centre will, by and large, remain – the opportunity is for Edinburgh to lead the way in showing how to reconcile the immense societal changes that can happen across a generation with an extraordinary past.
Conclusion We need to be sure that those who manage the city truly listen not just to what its citizens need and want, but what their aspirations are. We must also improve community consultation processes within the planning system, in particular by seeking to re-empower its 45 community councils and ensuring that they have the resources, by way of funding and in-built mechanisms, for citizens to exercise that power. Professionals who design the city environment, the city council who manage it and developers who have the opportunity to build, each have a huge responsibility to create a worthy legacy and not create problems for future generations. There is clearly a pressing need for a more holistic approach to designing the future city. It is also important that this be on strict urban design lines, using design processes that set a three-dimensional framework as a context for
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Rab Bennetts, founding director, Bennetts Associates Consensus hardly sounds like a compelling vision for a city, but that is the foundation of bold new developments in places like Amsterdam, where a strong design culture has public support. By contrast, especially in Edinburgh’s historic centre, opinions are as polarised as ever with the former Royal High School being the most prominent battleground, so I question if another way is possible. At present, there is no permanent vehicle for public debate, displays of development proposals or even an exhibition about Edinburgh’s evolution as a great city. Could an architecture centre, accessible to the public, tourists and the architectural/development community alike, establish a deeper understanding of this compelling city and, over time, build a greater confidence about new development? The idea of an Architecture Centre isn’t new, but Edinburgh doesn’t compare well with cities that have one, like Amsterdam, Hamburg, Milan, Paris and London. In Edinburgh’s case, tourism is an added resource with so many visitors hungry for information about its unique urban form. Beyond the historic core a forum for public debate is just as relevant, with districts from Granton to Craigmillar poised to address the needs of an expanding city. My own experience suggests that architectural excellence is achieved through transparency, strong ideas, good drawings, logical explanations, thorough analysis of context and meaningful consultations. Any architectural ‘vision’ for Edinburgh in the future is pointless unless there is the will to carry it out, so perhaps the task for the immediate future is to establish the means rather than the end. An architecture centre could go a long way to filling that void.
architecture. That will establish an interplay of building spaces that defines its character and becomes `the music of the city’. It is important to ensure that the City Vision 2050 process embraces not only community and social aspects, as embodied within its four main themes, but the quality of the city’s buildings and spaces for the wellbeing of the city`s citizens old and young, richer and poorer. It is important that democratic values are not inhibited by an over concentration on economic development. The City Plan 2030 may do this but it has to move away from a piecemeal approach based on land use zoning and site by site proposals to a more strategic vision. The City Plan 2030 should thus be meshed together with City Vision 2050. How the city grows, how much change will be allowed within Edinburgh’s historic centre and how the city council provides for its citizens will be the true legacy of the next 50 years and this depends on having plans in place for the known, as well as mechanisms ready for the unknown.
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» My concerns for Edinburgh are wider than a building or two. It is a
fundamental rethink of how we as architects, planners and designers build up a relationship and a conversation with the city. I sense that we will create much more positive places, develop greater understanding of our city by building trust and using our skills in a proactive and forward-thinking manner. «
Allan Murray
» There is an increasing policy focus on ageing in Scotland. This
is becoming clear in locality plans and design services. Ageing is... becoming important when we decide on allocating assets or developing new places. «
Steven Malone
» My experience in Edinburgh is that curiously on the one hand the
planning department seems to be very coy about thinking big thoughts; on the other, planners cannot get their fingers out of the fine detail of smaller planning applications. «
Richard Murphy
» A great future for Edinburgh will not arise from a vision that goes no
further than the profitability of individual development sites. It requires a vision that embraces an understanding of the profitability and welfare of the entire city and the nation which it leads and serves. «
Robert Huxford
» There is no permanent vehicle for public debate … could an Architecture centre, establish a deeper understanding of this compelling city and over time build a greater confidence about new development? «
Rab Bennetts
» Pressure to redevelop (parts of the city centre) will lead to loss of much of what is special about the Old and New Towns. We must learn how to surf the wave of tourism while supporting the communities and cultural authenticity of the city which are already showing signs of stress. «
Adam Wilkinson
» A clear vision for the city of 2050 requires a new enlightened master plan that weaves together, place, people and their lives – a new paradigm to deliver a ‘connected, inspired, fair and thriving city’. «
Malcolm Fraser
» Planners, architects, landscape architects and developers need to work
together in a more holistic way... Edinburgh’s special character is slowly deteriorating due to poor maintenance and weak planning decisions. «
Alexander Burton
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PRINCE & PRINCESS OF WALES HOSPICE
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JOHN GLENDAY
The Glasgow Hospice boasts an enviable blend of with nature © KEITH HUNTER
CARE FU L BY NAT UR E ONE OF THE MOST COVETED SITES IN GLASGOW NOW BOASTS ONE OF ITS MOST INNOVATIVE BUILDINGS WITH COMPLETION OF A NEW PALLIATIVE CARE CENTRE BY THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES HOSPICE. URBAN REALM CHECKED IN TO SEE HOW HOSPICE RESPONDS TO A SENSITIVE SETTING AND COMPLEX BRIEF TO DELIVER CHOICE AND DIGNITY TO PATIENTS.
The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice has marked a milestone moment with the fulfillment of a long-held ambition to migrate to a purpose-built care hub in the grounds of Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. The Arnold Clark Building marks the culmination of a mammoth eight year £21m fundraising drive to deliver accommodation for 1,200 patients and their families within a parkland setting gifted by Glasgow City Council. Belying its size the hospice partially burrows into the hillside to manage the scale of four interlinked ‘villas’ within the wider landscape by reading as a three storey structure from one side only. In doing so the hospice has left behind its historic home at Carlton Place in the city centre, but its front door hasn’t yet been slammed shut. Instead it has been transported to Bellahouston Park to serve as an extension of the hospices roots. Ryder Architecture and ERZ formed the core of the design team the building and grounds cater for patients as young as 16, providing palliative care and a supportive environment for them and their families, a brief which presented a number of >
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challenges not least how to accommodate civic healthcare services within a domestic-style building. Fortunately, project architect Alastair Forbes, architectural director at Ryder Architecture, was on hand to reveal all, saying: “The building takes the form of a series of cottages which sit under idiosyncratic roofs but when you analyse the cross section it’s a house within a house. What that does is create a stepped edge which is essentially a veranda. No matter how cold it is patients will want to be outside on the veranda a lot of the time wrapped in blankets. “There’s a 12m rise from Dumbreck Road to the top of the site so it’s very much a building designed in section. What we did was a back of house wing which digs into the hillside and contains all the heavy lifting services which are not seen. That allows the front four villas to be far more domestic in scale. No matter where you are you can always get an outside view and we use the roof space for office accommodation. You should never be able to see the full building in its entirety from any one point, it should reveal itself as you move around.” Embracing a Scandinavian innovation which involves arranging bedrooms around the perimeter of a central nurses’ station, it provides staff with full visibility while minimising the amount of corridor space. In this way the architecture helps foster cutting edge care. Forbes said: “When you look at the lower ground floor to the patient gardens which is where the Sengetun model (meaning bed courtyard) comes in. Putting staff right at the heart of the plan in sight of all the bed heads allowed us to make a connection. We just took the nurses station out and created a lounge setting with soft furnishings, making the whole thing less clinical while allowing staff to be within metres of their patients.” Explaining how these principles were extended to the landscaping Rolf Roscher of ERZ Studio told Urban Realm: “The lower garden is modelled with a shared space in the middle and strong visibility around the edge and open to the landscape outside. The core space in the middle also has light coming down from above.” Seeking inspiration Forbes’ first move was to book himself in for a short stay at Carlton Place in order to better understand the reality patients face in a way impossible to read from a plan or drawing. The architect recalled: “It’s what you hear, see and smell from that perspective. That experience helped me through the process. In switching from a constrained city centre base to a parkland setting has the wealth of outdoor space brought a new dimension to the hospice? Roscher said: “There are lots of different types of outdoor space. All the bedrooms are on the ground floor and they’ve all got an individual semi-private garden terrace space which patients can take ownership of. It opens out to the larger landscape to give views and space. “On the other side there are smaller seasonal gardens which serve as destinations throughout the year. More intimate and with a route through them that follows the flowing water down URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
Left - A feature fireplace serves as a focal point and gathering space for the hospice Right - Nooks and crannies are utilised as luxurious alcoves, perfect for informal meetings
to the pond, it’s a very different type of environment. Those spaces can be used by groups or individuals to get away or have a chat.” Inevitably the relocation of a private hospice to a public setting raises questions of how you transition between two very different spaces. Roscher revealed: “It’s ultimately an enclosed site, it’s got a fence around it, but we’ve tried to integrate it visually. The building takes up less than 10% of the site so the rest is landscaping. There are a lot of considerations around how you approach the end of a building. There’s a big boundary of birch trees you pass through and it’s just stepping the scale down and changing people’s perceptions before you get to the front door.” It isn’t just patients who are benefitting from their new surrounds however and staff are happy to leave behind barred basement offices, dangling vacuum cleaner cords down stairwells and other such idiosyncrasies. As well as providing welcome camouflage a small hill has also been developed as a meaningful landscape set piece, playing host to a meandering path which snakes its way to a hilltop shelter, a semi-indoor space where staff, families and patients can take a quiet moment to themselves. Still somewhat barren it will soon play host to a wild flower meadow but expansive views of the city skyline can already be enjoyed. The hospice has certainly gained a wealth of facilities, in addition to space and light but In moving from the city centre has anything been lost? Forbes said: “Language is important, we always refer to people, patients, staff and volunteers. A big concern right from the outset was how you take the good parts and the atmosphere from Carlton Place? A lot of it is down to >
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Left - A hilltop retreat offer space for quiet repose Right - Erz have installed a series of water features, offering outdoor escape whatever the season
the people but there are also borrowed references that have found there way into the building, the front door being the most obvious.” Other references to the Georgian terrace can be found in the many alcoves and niches and even the front gates, the pattern for which is referenced from the South Portland Street Suspension Bridge. Forbes continued: “The notion of an alcove was really important in Glasgow town houses so you find those dotted around. There’s always a place to take a rest and there’s always a scalloped edge which marks those alcoves out. There’s always a choice for people when deciding where they want to go. This idea of a hierarchy of spaces extends seamlessly through to the external spaces as a means of accommodating large numbers of people while remaining calm. Roscher explained: “All the outdoor spaces have little moments where URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
you can pause with smaller spaces off bigger spaces.” Forbes added: “There are just three materials, the first is Penrhyn slate, that came out of the requirement that we have a traditional slate roof. Having traditional slate there would have been very black and that wasn’t a reference we wanted to make so we found this heather coloured Welsh slate which has a fantastic relationship with what Rolf was doing with the colours in the landscape. “The inner layer is marked by brickwork as reference to the walled gardens at the back of the site and internally everything is oak. Everything uses those three materials in different ways.” Normally in this type of building 90% of rooms are trying to grab external wall space which is why you get spread out plans. Here there was a willingness to look at a stacked building because they were used to multiple levels at Carlton Place.
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Something they liked was having quick and slow stairs and the informal meetings that can happen. With this site those things came together quite naturally. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been an exemplary design process for a client who has never been through a build before.â&#x20AC;? Vital but intimidating infrastructure such as medical points have been sensitively incorporated within fixed pieces of joinery, helping to afford dignity to hospice users with Burns Design overseeing all interiors, including soft furnishing, to further imbue the hospice with a domestic character. The concept of wellness is immediately apparent to everyone but it is rather hard to define in practice. The Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice this elusive concept and bottled it within the villas and parkland of Bellahouston, with a hospice infrastructure that can finally provide care and attention equal to that given by its dedicated staff.
Client: The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice Architect: Ryder Architecture Landscape Architect: erz Ltd Interior Design: Burns Interior Design Ltd. Structural and Civil Engineer: Woolgar Hunter Environmental Design and Engineers: Atelier Ten Project Managers: Turner & Townsend Cost Consultant: Aecom Planning Consultant: Scott Hobbs Planning Health and Safety Consultancy: Fairhurst Construction Legal Advisors: Pinsent Masons Clerk of Works: Ross Quality Control Main Contractor: Balfour Beatty
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WORLD OF STONE ll
Aspen Quartz
Edinburgh showroom
WORLD OF STONE Stonecraft Edinburgh Ltd opened its original showroom in 1981 after a long involvement in the marketing of sandstone, limestone and granite for major building projects throughout Scotland. The aim was to make natural stone more readily accessible for small to medium sized residential projects. The initial focus at the time was on kitchen and bathroom surfaces and also fire surrounds. Fire surrounds remain a substantial area of the business today with Stonecraft representing a number of leading brands including Chesney’s and Dru Fires. The recently refurbished showroom contains an impressive range of traditional and contemporary surrounds and appliances. However, the main growth and expansion of the company is based in our roots in the stone industry. In 1987 Dunedin Stone Ltd was formed specifically for the supplying of sandstone for projects throughout Scotland. Stonecraft continued with the production of marble, granite and limestone, these materials all being fabricated in a similar manner. This market has surged in recent years with the development of engineered stones such as quartz and Dekton. These new materials offer significant advantages over natural stone and open up whole new areas of useage. They bring together cutting edge technology and a diversity of colour and texture previously unimaginable. Stonecraft has a long association with Cosentino, the market leader, and is one of their preferred fabricators. Towards the end of 2015 Stonecraft was approached by Simpson and Brown Architects regarding a private home refurbishment in St Andrews, Fife. The project was well under way but arrangements with a London based stone contractor had fallen through. They were looking for a local based contractor capable of fulfilling
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the project which consisted of a number of stone floors, kitchen and bar surfaces and four extensively clad marble bathrooms. Stonecraft was appointed and with the architect, they visited a number of their overseas suppliers, sourcing material for the project. At the same time a similar project also began in St Andrews in conjunction with a London based design team. These projects were quickly followed with a further two similar contracts in Edinburgh’s new town. Work was completed in India Street and Great King Street through Ian Smith Design. Throughout these works the company added to its production capabilities with an Intermac CNC work centre and a pair of Sasso CNC bridge saws. These additions stood Stonecraft in good stead to begin eighteen months work on Nunraw Tower in East Lothian with GLM Architects. Stonecraft produced and laid an extensive area of stone flooring in rooms and hallways built over a period of four centuries. The work included refurbishing a large number of fireplaces. Mosaic floors were laid throughout the spa, sauna and steam and the spa walls were clad in granite. Surfaces in four kitchens were covered with granite and the walls, floors and showers of a large number of bathrooms were clad in various marbles and limestones with matching profiled architraves around the doors. These projects were completed on time and the work met and exceeded the expectations of the design teams and clients. Future projects later this year include extensive marble work in a number of bathrooms on a project in Sutherland through GRAS. Clients are welcome at Stonecraft’s Edinburgh showroom to discuss their plans and projects with our friendly and experienced team.”
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Silestone Eternal Statuario
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THE BAYES CENTRE JOHN GLENDAY
T ECH C I TY FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER IT BEGAN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH HAS COMPLETED THE FINAL PHASE OF ITS POTTEROW DEVELOPMENT. BENNETTS ASSOCIATES HAVE STUCK WITH THEIR ORIGINAL VISION THROUGHOUT THIS MARATHON JOURNEY BUT IS THE FINISHED PROJECT WORTH THE WAIT, OR IS IT ALREADY DATED? PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEITH HUNTER.
Fifteen years later and a decade after delivery of the Informatics Forum and Dugald Stewart Buildings the University of Edinburgh has completed the final phase of the Potterrow development. Since winning the architectural competition back in 2003 Bennetts Associates have persevered with their original vision on the marathon journey but is the finished project worth the wait, or is it already dated? Over the intervening years Edinburgh’s status as a magnet for experts in data science and artificial intelligence has grown, building towards the critical mass necessary to support the Bayes Centre, a 9,500sq/m hub which draws together 600 PhD students, researchers and university staff with established tech-oriented businesses and start-ups. Combining a robotics lab, lecture theatres, workshops and flexible office space within one ‘synergetic’ design the finished work seeks to break down barriers between business and academia and allow ideas to percolate freely. In its most literal sense this sees the Bayes Centre push connectivity with multiple links on different levels, maximising connections in the manner of a silicon chip or neural map but the approach also extends to a public atrium and street facing ‘shop window’, designed to promote transparency between the building and wider city. > URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
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A dramatic atrium unites researchers within a single volume, inviting chance encounters
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Top - A gentle inflection embraces the streetscape tightly Bottom - Cantilevered stairwells provide their own web of connections
Conceived to replicate the historic street plan prior to the 1960s, the campus is built around a series of pedestrian routes which slice through the block by way of a public courtyard and ground floor space lined with floor to ceiling windows and a café. From here direct access is offered to a basement level given over in its entirety to cyclists and showers. Conducting his first tour of the completed complex Rab Bennetts, founding director at Bennetts Associates said: “Cyclists are able to ride straight down. The planners were divided over whether they wanted a car park, so we did a huge car parking study and came to the conclusion that you didn’t need car parking for this site. In London they don’t do parking at all now.” Even below ground small details such as a glazed connection to the staircase go a long way toward making people feel connected, enhanced by the use of unified paving across both old and new elements. The star attraction however is not the architecture, but the work conducted within, which includes a fully glazed robotics lab that literally allows the university to lift the curtain on some of its most exciting work, including the Valkyrie – a humanoid robot currently being equipped for a future NASA Mars mission and even a robot dog. URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
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A landscaped roofscape makes the most of Potterrow’s most unique aspect - its setting
Explaining this theatricality Bennetts associate Sally Mackay remarked: “As architects we didn’t want people to arrive at a blank wall, the university took that premise because people always want to come in and look at the robots and this way people can have a look at them without disturbing the researchers, although they can draw the blinds if they need to.” Bennetts continued: “The route through the pend from Nicolson Square is entirely timber lined, Balconies shade the glass on the south side and louvres shade full height glass elsewhere. When you do buildings with no warmth to them you feel slightly frustrated by it.” Playing host to The Maxwell institute for mathematical sciences, a partnership with Heriot-Watt university, the centre is at the forefront of UK research in maths and data science, standing alongside Oxford, Cambridge, London and Warwick as members of the Alan Turing Institute a rarefied position which brought its own subset of challenges for the design team. The work that they do is so complex that few people understand it, when they are brought together they chat and draw everywhere they are so excited.” Strategic blackboards have been positioned for this very eventuality with a scattering
of tables and chairs thoughtfully dotted around the space to encourage brainstorming. “There was a charismatic academic lead, Jon Oberlander, who died last year who was crucial in bringing people together. His enthusiasm for the building and his ability to connect people really made a difference, observed Mackay.” Bennetts added: “His father was an architect, I knew him, so he had an architectural sensibility. He understood the spatial volumes of the building and its potential better than many clients. “When we were doing the Informatics Forum in the first phase the university were trying to attract academics from all over the world but of course British universities don’t pay American salaries. Edinburgh University space standards are about half what you’d get in a plush places like Harvard. What you can offer here is the most fantastic corner room with a view of the castle in the most amazing city centre – and it works. For the tech industry in Britain London comes first but Edinburgh is second.” Migrating to modern accommodation has proven to be a culture change for many who were, unused to the freedom to roam afforded by the open plan spaces. The university also found that it wasn’t just the occupants who embraced spatial >
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Left - Ideas can also be shared in the form of doodles and equations Middle - The public are invited to get up close and personal with robotic residents via a ground floor ‘shop window’ Bottom - Edinburgh has positioned itself on the front rank of UK tech cities
freedoms but the furniture too. Mackay explained: “Phase one had a pink floor with colour coordinated furniture but then we realized people moved things around. The ethos of this building is everyone moves around, including the furniture, so we’ve mixed up green’s and reds.” The furniture includes specially designed booths formed from high-backed chairs which can be joined together to form a closed environment with excellent acoustics. Invariably colleagues from the south make a bee-line for the expanded roof terrace and loggia which has been repaved and planted to form a continuous outdoor environment. From its elevated position spectacular views of the surrounding cityscape open up to the foot of the Salisbury Crags, with the head of Informatics enjoying prime position from a room halfway up the loggia accessible from a dedicated spiral staircase. Amidst such beauty lie construction details which are easily missed such as the inclusion of rainwater drips. Bennetts noted: “If you look at the ground floor where we did not put a drip, like the shop window, they’ve streaked terribly. Most architects wouldn’t do it because it’s an extra line you’d rather not have but it makes it cleaner in the long run.” Floorplates take the form of simple painted slabs providing thermal mass to the interior and ensuring that temperatures fluctuate less than in a normal building. Other than acoustic rafts and robust services everything is buried in the floor, URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
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A collonaded entrance adds a touch of civic drama
including natural ventilation around the perimeter. Bennetts said: “We learnt a few lessons from the first phase. There were some rooms which weren’t getting enough air from the voids in the floors o we added extension ducts to get to those. In this building we’ve got extension ducts all the way through so there’s no possibility of a shortfall in the air supply.” A key goal of the design was to make sure the structure could always be read through the cladding, something which has remained consistent throughout, unlike the massing which has been subject to significant change. Bennetts said: “The original planning consent would have been a straight cornice line all the way along with only a loggia breaking the skyline in front of the Appleton Tower. Since then we’ve had bigger buildings built and we felt it was time to go higher than that. With double height balcony spaces and a very long entrance sequence to get enough space at the courtyards. “It has a slight inflection to take the boundary, the sides are not parallel. There’s also a slight difference in stone where the first phase ends because the quarry had run out but it’s near enough the same. It’ll weather down.” The courtyards make the scheme and are differentiated from the street elevations through the use of staggered runs of panels and glazing, to form a central space for congregating which is open throughout the day. “Not many clients would
do that,” Bennetts notes, “most would want to close it off with gates. Come next summer when the Festival is on this will be mobbed.” Since Potterrow first emerged there have been significant changes nearby, not least LDN’s McEwan Hall refurbishment. How does Bennetts view the new space? “It’s big enough for the square to take it. The planners insisted on this height and actually they were right. This façade is bit more lively, the solid panels stagger all the way up, you’ll always have one that runs all the way through each time there is a column. It’s confident, it’s very modern and I think it fits reasonably well in terms of its massing, modelling and materials and the planners like it.” Having stayed the course through one of the city’s longest running projects Bennetts recalled: “When I was a kid I was interested in being an architect and my dad said ‘well, have you thought about being a town planner as well?’ So we talked to some people about it and I came to the conclusion that I just could not take the timetable. It takes 20 or 30 years to do something.” Edinburgh can seem like a city stuck in the past but it is also embracing the future with completion of the Bayes Centre. This 15-year odyssey to bring cutting edge mathematics and robotics research to the heart of the city demonstrates that embracing the past can help pave the road to the future.
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OPEN: PLACEMAKING IN ABERDEENSHIRE
The small holdings
ENABLING HISTORIC ESTATES: A NEW VILLAGE AT FASQUE. An historic Scottish country estate, its former grandeur somewhat dampened by changing fortunes and a quickly evolving modern world is a familiar scene in many parts of Scotlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rural communities. The challenge with Fasque House Estate in Aberdeenshire, situated near the village of Fettercairn, was no different. The Category A castle and surrounding designed landscape, once home to William Gladstone, required some significant reinvigoration. The nearby communities were in need of investment and homes. With the estate mid-way between Aberdeen and the resurgent Dundee, the potential to attract people to enjoy a piece of rural life and history presented a unique opportunity. It would have been easy to scatter houses across the estate, finding secluded pockets and framed views, and no doubt using much of the land available. However, the design practice OPEN embarked on the creation of a new estate village at the heart of the site, influenced directly by the historic setting and nestling in the landscape close to the castle and existing ancillary buildings. The concentration of the new village allowed an opportunity to also introduce a limited number of
small rural holdings on the edge of the estate. This approach allowed this widest possible provision of housing types and therefore audience. OPENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work on Fasque commenced in 2016, requiring close liaison with Historic Environment Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council. Early in 2018, detailed planning permission was secured for the new estate village, including 74 new build houses, a series of conversions and renovations to existing buildings including uses for holiday accommodation, leisure, farm shop, restaurant and equestrian facilities within the estate grounds. As architects and landscape architects, OPEN has a significant track record in working within historic building and landscape settings including advising at Scone Palace, Culzean Castle and Inverlochy Castle. Their ambition for Fasque House Estate was to create an exemplar development that demonstrates how modern sustainable design can sit in a historic rural setting. OPEN prepared the masterplan and all architectural and landscape designs in tandem, considering carefully
OPEN is based at Quartermile, Edinburgh and has offices in Manchester and London. www.optimisedenvironments.com
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The village core
the sensitive setting of the listed assets and refining the proposals to ensure the most sensitive and appropriate design response, befitting this special estate. Place-making is at the heart of the proposals. The intention is to create a series of modern dwellings that make meaningful connections to each other, the estate setting and the landscape beyond; and which are inspired by, but not dictated by, the vernacular of local villages and agricultural buildings on the site. These buildings have been designed and located so they can fully enjoy the beauty of the setting without detracting from Fasque House and the other nearby listed buildings. As well as providing much needed housing, this development is, importantly, about rejuvenating the historic setting, conserving the essence of this unique estate while providing a future community to ensure its vibrancy for the long term. Design focus has been about identifying opportunities for enhancing the quality of the place, making it more desirable and providing the opportunity for a new community to evolve. For that to happen, new development had to be located in a way which allowed critical parts of the historic setting to the castle and its landscape room to breathe and proposals had to be efficient with the land while providing the opportunity for the widest range of people to visit and live, ensuring a socially diverse community will establish and thereby creating a sustainable development in its
truest sense. As such, the design approach recognised the need for a range of housing types rather than adopting the perhaps more obvious scenario of filling the site with large detached homes, recognising that society is composed of many household variations â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the traditional family unit, older people, single people, children who are unable to leave home until older and so on. Increasingly many people, especially in rural areas, are choosing to work from home. All these households have different socio-economic profiles and priorities, and this is recognised in the site layout through the provision of a range of types and plot sizes within different areas of the village. Therefore, there are dwellings ranging from compact 2 bed mews houses and apartments, 3 bed cottages and courtyard houses, 4 and 5 bed long-barn style and split-level houses appropriate to their location on site and extensive plots set up as small holdings to allow opportunity to live of the land. In summary new residents would benefit from living in an outstanding landscape setting with easy access onto the A90 dual carriageway to Dundee and Aberdeen and extensive opportunities for outdoor recreational pursuits whilst being part of a vibrant community. The small holdings plots are currently being marketed by Rettie Edinburgh.
The village interface with the landscape
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DUNDEE WATERFRONT MARK CHALMERS
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WITH DUNDEE STILL BASKING IN THE IN THE AFTERGLOW OF A SPECTACULAR V&A OPENING MARK CHALMERS APPRAISES JUST HOW FAR ITS RIPPLES HAVE SPREAD. IS KENGO KUMAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S SINGULAR VISION THE HIGH WATERMARK FOR THE CITY OR DO PROJECTS SUCH AS A NEW TALLEST BUILDING IN SCOTLAND BY INVERTAY HOMES SUGGEST IT IS ON THE CREST OF A NEW WAVE OF DEVELOPMENT?
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Previous page - Dundee Railway Station and the V&A Museum take pride of place on Dundee’s fast evolving waterfront Above - The cavernous interior of Dundee’s new railway station brings a sorely needed sense of drama for those arriving in the city
When the press pack descended on Dundee for the opening of the V&A, many sought the city’s identity in the one thing they knew: jute. There isn’t much to see of the jute industry nowadays; the last of its derelict mills, Lower Dens Works, recently reopened as Hotel Indigo. However, Dundee only became the world capital of jute thanks to the Tay. Before jute, the city’s wealth came from the river, thanks to mercantile trade, shipbuilding and whaling. Even in those days, Dundee was a global city which traded with the Hanseatic League and Baltic ports. It took shipments of flax from Archangel and jute from what became Pakistan and Bangladesh – but Dundee’s notoriety began with the whalers. Herman Melville was obsessed with whaling (think of Captain Ahab’s life-and-death struggle with Moby Dick) and in his novel Billy Budd, Melville’s title character is impressed by a Dundee merchantman, who wears “big hoops of gold in his shapely ears and a Scotch Highland bonnet atop his dancing yellow curls”. In Melville’s day, the world’s whaling ships were built and engined on the Tay, and Billy Budd sailed on a fictional vessel owned by a Dundee shipowner. Whale oil from the city’s rendering factories was later used to soften the tough fibres of the jute plant, and its shipyards adapted to the textile trade by building clippers and jute liners. Maulesden, built by Alexander Stephen & Sons at the Panmure yard, was the fastest clipper ship of all time. Later, the Caledon
yard built ferries, cable ships and dozens of cargo liners for Alfred Holt’s Glen Line. The site now refits and decommissions North Sea platforms, using the biggest quayside crane in Europe, an 875 ton giant. The waterfront was crucial to Dundee’s growth, but as seaborne trade and shipbuilding drained away, its redevelopment became pivotal to the city’s future. The first waterfront plan of 1986 saw the creation of a Tesco store on Riverside Drive, followed by Discovery Point, then the Victoria Dock regeneration scheme of 1993 which evolved into City Quay. Ten years later, the Apex City Quay hotel opened nearby and the Central Waterfront regeneration plan emerged in 2001. Prospect Magazine’s Autumn 2009 issue described the waterfront’s new shape as it began to emerge, then in 2014 I wrote that, “The ultimate aim is to create a new grid of streets around a landscaped square – but the other buildings could be seen merely as a setting for the V&A.” I was wrong, because the converse is true: the V&A was just a pretext for the regeneration of the waterfront. Speak to Dundonians, who express pride mixed with gentle puzzlement that Kengo Kuma was flown halfway around the world to design a museum, and it’s clear some don’t understand how the hidden machinery of the architectural world enabled that to happen. Dundee City Council has done a good job of communicating how the regeneration will work and what it seeks >
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to achieve, but not everyone attended the public consultations, read the newspaper articles nor attended the exhibitions… Recently, letters to the Dundee Courier became strident about the construction work on Site 6. “Why are they building ugly office blocks in front of the V&A?” – came the voice from the bars. “They’ll blot out the river!” – shouted old men from their armchairs. Yet the masterplan extrapolates a grid of streets and buildings which a previous regeneration of the 1960’s destroyed. The masterplan calls for medium-rise blocks clad in masonry, and Site 6 is a typical block with brick piers following a strong vertical rhythm. Buildings facing into Slessor Gardens will be five and six storeys high, and the edges of the Central Waterfront scheme will rise to seven storeys. Site 6’s mottled brown brickwork is a rough match for the Kingoodie and Leoch stones from which much of Dundee was built. As the masterplan’s Planning and Urban Design Framework notes, “Each development site has been intentionally divided into smaller development plots to increase variety and create a more human scale. Hence avoiding the development of large monolithic and repetitive elevations, for example full facades of curtain wall glazing. Diversity of design and use between plots is encouraged to further breakdown the scale and mass of the sites and to strengthen the vision for a vibrant unique sense of place.”
In fact, the Central Waterfront has adopted a traditional urbanism which James Thomson, Dundee’s City Architect a century ago, would recognise and which Jan Gehl, author of Life Between Buildings, would applaud. The waterfront’s green lung, Slessor Gardens, projects out from the building line of the Caird Hall providing an outdoor concert venue and active focus for the waterfront. It’s also a ghost of Thomson’s original waterfront plan of the early 20th century, which planned a huge civic centre on the same site. When Charles McKean’s “Lost Dundee” was published, I bought the book and read it to pieces. Yet McKean’s book encouraged nostalgia for a waterfront that was long gone. People much too young to remember the Royal Arch suggested it should be rebuilt, and perhaps the Earl Gray and King William Docks should be exhumed, too. Telford’s Beacon has been restored, but the “good old days,” in fact, were not so good. I remember Paladini’s derelict car showroom at Craig Harbour, the decaying Tay Hotel which stood abandoned for 20 years, and the state into which the Olympia Leisure Centre had fallen before it was demolished. Much has changed over the past few years, and of course that makes people uneasy – but the new waterfront has brought tourism, and with that a demand for hotel beds which would have been unimaginable twenty
Left - The boardroom at Harbour Chambers is still awaiting regeneration Right - The dilapidated interior of Dundee’s Custom House embodies the faded splendour of the city
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years ago. Although the Central Waterfront masterplan hadn’t begun to be implemented, regeneration had already begun in 2003 when the Apex City Quay hotel opened. It was followed by the Malmaison which occupies what was once Mathers’ Hotel, and a newbuild Holiday Inn Express which sprung up to the east. Now the waterfront is circled by a ring of hotels including Sleeperz, a forthcoming Marriott and Apex Hotels’ future plans for the old Custom House. Dundee attracted them for a couple of reasons. Historic under-investment left gaps in the market waiting to be filled, and the masterplan opened up development opportunities close to the city centre. Speaking to property agents, historically there was too much low-quality floorspace in the wrong areas, hence the city earned the reputation for low yields. New floorspace being built on the waterfront meets a pent-up demand for hotel beds, as well as Class A office space for financial services, digital media and the public sector. To understand how the hotels fit into the masterplan, it’s worth taking the train to Dundee. Sleeperz is a modern hotel set above the remodelled railway station, but in the grand tradition both of Victorian railway hotels and Air Rights buildings of the 1980’s. The new station was designed by Nicoll Russell Studios
and its vaulted ticket hall expresses the giant steel arch which spans the tracks below; a diagrid canopy sits over escalators which lead down to platform level. The hotel’s fit-out was designed by Space Solutions and follows on from Sleeperz Hotels beside Newcastle, Cardiff and Edinburgh railway stations. Sleeperz opened just after the refurbished station and consists of a colourful, contemporary design scheme and a bar located to maximise views out to the V&A. Sleeperz in this case refers both to what those above the station do at night, and what carries the rails far beneath them. Just beyond the edge of the Central Waterfront is Dundee’s Custom House and Harbour Chambers. Although not connected to the masterplan, the case for its rebirth is linked to the success of the wider regeneration. Plans for conversion were originally drawn up in 2013, when Urban Realm reported that Dundee would gain its first five-star hotel with a scheme by JM Architects to convert it into a 38 bedroom boutique hotel. The Custom House is now owned by Apex Hotels who are currently considering options for it. Meantime the building, which was one of the biggest Custom Houses in Scotland, is a landmark on approach to the waterfront. Inside, Dundee Port Authority’s former boardroom retains its ornate oak panelling and a grand fireplace with the crest of the Authority carved onto >
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Sleeperz hotel reception points the way towards the Nethergate Centre, Mecca Bingo and the Malmaison
it. The level of detail gives some idea of the wealth which flowed through the port in the 19th and 20th centuries. Another prospective scheme sits just off the edge of the Central Waterfront area. A recent feasibility study by Wilson+Gunn looked at the opportunity to create a new Dundee Arena with a capacity of 6000-7000, on the site of the Mecca Bingo hall. The bingo hall in turn replaced Green’s Playhouse, once a 4000 seat cinema with an Art Deco tower, and its rebirth would be another boost for Dundee’s night-time economy – but meantime it is just a feasibility study. Back within the Central Waterfront masterplan’s remit, the most eye-catching idea so far is Discovery Heights, a scheme for Scotland’s tallest building which was recently announced. It’s intended for Site 12, which sits on arguably the most prominent site on the waterfront, beside the Tay Road Bridge landfall and along from the V&A. A CGI animation shows a 39-storey tower plus podium block, which would house a five-star hotel, conference centre, luxury flats and a Sky Bar. However, Dundee City Council has already agreed an exclusivity agreement with Dawn Developments, and Keppie Design recently lodged a proposal of application notice on their behalf. Given that, plus the height limits set out in the Masterplan and the challenges that the Beetham Group had with their stillborn 40 storey tower at Edinburgh Harbour over a decade ago, it’s fair to say that Discovery Heights is highly speculative.
By contrast, the furthest advanced construction works are on Site 6, where Alimak lifts are currently climbing the facades to complete the brick cladding and curtain walling on a block designed by Cooper Cromar. This will consist of over 80 apartments across two six-storey buildings, plus a 150-bed hotel and four floors of open-plan office space. Despite the criticism of those who write Letters to the Editor, it’s a city-scale building which has already helped to reinforce the urban grain of the new waterfront. We often criticise the tie-up between town planning and economic development, when inappropriate developments are forced through because jobs and investment win over amenity and aethetics, but the Central Waterfront is an example of how that should be done. Are there issues? Yes: over the past few years, roadworks have travelled around the Central Waterfront with an endless crocodile of traffic cones, and the need to close East Dock Street each time Slessor Gardens hosts a concert is a periodic nuisance. Yet those are inconveniences rather than failures. The V&A has already succeeded, drawing in around three hundred thousand visitors in its first three months, and approaching half of the planned £1 billion investment has already been sunk into the masterplan area. Dundee is reshaping its city centre in a comprehensive way which nowhere else in Scotland has attempted since the 1960’s, and the results so far are impressive.
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KIRKCALDY SEAN KINNEAR
SEAN KINNEAR PAYS A VISIT TO KIRKCALDY’S DOOMED OLD VICTORIA POWER STATION, SEAT OF A LONG-RUNNING DEMOLITION BATTLE BETWEEN ITS OWNERS AND CONSERVATIONISTS. IN THE PROCESS HE KICKSTARTS A WIDER DISCUSSION ABOUT THE FIFE TOWN’S FORGOTTEN INDUSTRIAL LEGACY. PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK CHALMERS
Paying Last Respects “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…” I’ve returned home this weekend to the East Neuk of Fife, I’m paying my last respects to Victoria Road Power Station in Kirkcaldy. The Category B listed building is in its final stages of demolition, peering through the security fence I can see its transformation is almost complete. Once a proud monument, venerated within the local community, the industrial relic has been reduced to a pile of unrecognized rubble; awaiting confinement to the history books. Haunted House Morning Commute I remember wishing for the traffic lights to turn red every morning as I approached the Dunnikier Road junction in Kirkcaldy. Not because I needed that extra minute to compose myself en route to catch my early morning commuter train to Edinburgh, but to allow me a rubbernecking opportunity when I passed the old power station on the right-hand side of the road. A 7am start meant the morning was cloaked in darkness, the derelict building forever sat still with all the accoutrements of a haunted house. Broken windows, boarded apertures, gaping holes and vegetation sprouting from the external > URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
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Sadly Kirkcaldy Power Station has already been reduced to a pile of rubble
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KIRKCALDY
Left - Kirkcaldy has the distinction of being one of the first towns to possess a municpal tramway Right - Romantic ruination was not enough to save the landmark for posterity
walls would often cast eerie shadows. But the eroding nature of the abandoned power station always permitted a teasing glimpse beyond its stone façade or through its fissured roof; just enough to ignite my inquisitive imagination of what lay beyond. Back in 2013, Victoria Road Power Station was on the buildings at risk register, at the time extant with the protection of listed building status from Historic Environment Scotland. When I moved West to Glasgow in 2014 to finish my architectural training, I left my commuting days behind me. Although I would no longer nod at my architectural acquaintance, I maintained a romantic notion I would one day return to the Kingdom and adventure inside. I had naively assumed the statutory legislation would stand guard until my homecoming. However, in April 2017 the site was granted listed building consent for demolition. The Category B listing was not enough to save the power station from the impending bulldozers on this occasion; by now, queued out the gate. Architectural Death row I had taken this piece of architectural heritage for granted. After existing for more than 100 years I believed URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
its stubbornness would permit survival for another century. Once I heard the news the death sentence had been sanctioned, I made a final attempt at the 11th hour to visit the building prior to demolition, but to no avail. Unfortunately, the razing commenced within days. Although my efforts were futile, I found solace that this abandoned building had also caught the imagination of many likeminded urban explorers in previous years. Thanks to these industrial enthusiasts there is a rich collection of photography available. You can browse through some of these images via online sites dedicated to urban exploration and derelict places that celebrate the buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life. These fantastic stills and video footage show the building in its final years on architectural death row. The power station had been victim to vandalism, graffiti work and fly tipping but the scene inside conveys a somewhat peaceful material decay. Traces of slow erosion are omnipresent; walls and ceilings show peeling paint and plaster crumbling to reveal wattle and daub substructures. Steel railings, trusses, in-situ mobile cranes and riveted columns create a rich tactile dichotomy between the smooth stone and glazed bricks. Victoria
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Road Power Station evokes a powerful sense of ruination that has intrigued visitors for decades.
» The power station had been victim to vandalism, graffiti work and fly tipping bu the scene inside conveys a somewhat peaceful material decay. «
Birth of a Monument The Victoria Road power station, purposely constructed to power Kirkcaldy’s tramway, was located next to the existing railway line for logistics in the delivery of coal. Works started in 1899 on land feued from the neighbouring Linoleum factory and was completed by 1901. The facility primarily provided electricity for the tramway system that operated from 1903 – 1931, but archives show the station was extended through the years and further permitted household electricity to c.30,000 homes and streetlamps. The compound and East gable offered the final use of the site to a secondhand car lot. Many Fifers may recall William Williamson, the local architect who designed the main stand at Raith Rovers Football Ground in 1920 and oversaw the conversion of Forth Park House into a maternity hospital in 1933. He was also the talent behind the classically detailed
Victoria Road Power Station. In its heyday it expressed a commanding street presence along Victoria Road, with Keystone windows, arched voussoirs, channelled quoin strips and projecting pediments; all the ingredients that would make any civic building stand proud. Archive photos show the building in its prime before falling into its disrepair, the main (South) façade presented itself very handsomely indeed. The historical importance of Victoria Road Power Station lay in the origins that Kirkcaldy was one of the first towns to have a municipally owned Tramway; initially legislated under the Kirkcaldy and District Tramways Act (1883). Before competition from buses emerged in the 1930’s the trams of Kirkcaldy were the pride of the town. An upper route stretched from Junction Road to Whytecauseway with the lower route between Gallatown and Links Street. The novelty of the new tramway saw 65,000 plus passengers within the first week, eventually >
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KIRKCALDY
Left - The power station has suffered the same fate as the tramways it once served Right - Remedial works were deemed to be ‘not economically viable’ in the oft used parlance of developers
totalling 2.7 million by the end of the first year. The demand for the avant-garde transport system saw the line extended to Wemyss and Dysart; despite the maximum tram speed being 8 mph. However, by 1922 the future of the system came into doubt and was further compounded in 1928 with the disrepair of the lines and frequent breakdown of tram cars. After anticipated costs of £100,000 were deemed too high for renewal and maintaining progress with buses, the last tram ran in 1931. The decommissioning process first saw the removal of the poles and overhead power cables, tram cars were re-used as summer houses, chicken coops and even placed in local public parks. 6.5 miles of tram lines remained in situ until the material demands of the Second World War requisitioned them for use as girders in the coal mines. With the Gallatown tram depot at Oswald Road demolished in the late 1980’s, the power station was one of the last remaining nostalgic links with the town’s tramways. The only surviving feature of the iconic transport system now is the category B listed viaduct on the Eastern approach to Victoria Road, spanning across the Den Valley. URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
Embattled End Days The last days of Victoria Road Power Station were not so utopian. Tracing back the local press coverage indicates the site had become embattled in its final years between the land owner and Fife Council. After restoration efforts were deemed too costly and complex, the threat of demolition hung over the building and the vultures circled. Feasibility studies and reports express the notion that repairing the building’s fabric and carrying out remedial works to the structure, including façade retention, were not “economically viable”. To conclude, the investigations note “the demolition of the listed power station is essential to the redevelopment of the site”. Although the site had been marketed since 2005 there seems to have been no party willing to take on the difficult task of restoring the power station to something akin to its former glory. Even when the price was dropped to £1 no buyers presented themselves to take on the sensitive project that would have to meet the architectural stipulations of HES and Fife Council. An earnest campaign to save the building from demolition was spearheaded through change.org in 2013, but this
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An unlikely post apocalyptic Eden had begun to sprout within the glazed brick interior
only achieved 13 signatures. The final curtain call came in 2017 when the application for listed building consent for demolition was granted by Fife Council. Permission was given under the condition a salvage plan was submitted for the ashlar stone, important fabric and architectural features of the building. Failings of listed building status Victoria Road Power Station divided opinion. Whether you like it or loathe it, this represents part of our local industrial heritage. Neglected, like a haunted house at the end of the street, the building had slowly eroded through the years, leading to its derelict state. The elements had battered this relic for decades, water ingress had rotted its timbers, corroded its steel and vegetation growth had all taken their toll. I appreciate these historic buildings are not easy or cheap to restore for adaptive re-use within our current built environment, but perhaps we should strive for better care of these dwindling reminders of the past? The demolition of a category B building sets a dangerous precedent for other industrial monuments
forgotten across the country; staring down the barrels of re-development. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s therefore prudent to ask if there will be a degree of scrutiny with the new proposals. Will the listed power station be replaced by good architecture of integrity, or merely satisfy a parking space quota? Since 1990 the buildings at risk register has listed sites across Scotland in various categories of risk; currently over 200 listed within Fife alone. Perhaps more can be done in terms of raising awareness to these buildings in danger, keeping us updated with structures awaiting approval for demolition and an overall increase of local knowledge to maintain collective memory. I would rather preserve and share these buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proud pasts through tangible bricks and mortar instead of writing another obituary for the rubble club. Linoleum Links So, I bid you farewell Victoria Road Power Station, now sharing the fate of your industrial neighbours. Gallatown tram depot, McIntosh furniture factory and the more recently demolished Nairnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Linoleum Works (South Factory); listed as category A before being razed in 2013.
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Six months on from the untimely passing of the late, great Will Alsop in May, his vision for a fluid Trans-Pennine city, is up for debate again – albeit this time, from the pure transport perspective of devolving rail infrastructure: December 2018 saw the Government deadline for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) to submit its Strategic Outline Business Case to the Secretary of State for Transport. In this, Transport for the North (TfN), are updating their plans for ‘High Speed 3’ (HS3), better known as ‘Crossrail for the North’. This of course is linked to the launch four years earlier in Manchester, where Coalition Chancellor, George Osborne, first proposed his Northern Powerhouse ‘economies of agglomeration’. His vision included a high-speed rail link connecting Leeds and Manchester. Back in 2004, Alsop’s own pan-northern vision was for a longer Liverpool to Hull conurbation spread over 100 miles and 20 miles wide. His ideas featured as part of his Channel 4 series Supercities UK, and was one of three extraordinary linear cities he saw as emerging along the nations motorways and highways. “They’re the future” he said by way of introduction, “and I have plans to make them even better”. As such, the case for his Great Northern SuperCity called ‘Coast-to-Coast’ was expanded upon in an exhibition and book launch at Urbis, (then) Museum of Urban Life in Manchester the same year. It coincided with the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott’s Urban Summit being in town, with his call for a “paradigm shift” as part of New Labour’s Northern Way strategy (and precursor to the Northern Powerhouse). On the surface, Alsop’s utopian thinking looked to pay allegiance to a linear city concept first developed by Arturo Soria y Mata in Spain during the 19th century. Soria’s city created a core infrastructure to enable a process of expansion that merged one growing city node to the next over time. This was the core thinking behind Coast-to-Coast, with its thread of transport and rural parks running through. No single city along this route should dominate any other though believed Alsop: “what we are after is a chain of singularly URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
© TIM GREEN
FAST
extraordinary points all the way from the Mersey to the Humber”. As such, he saw Coast-to-Coast as being one big landscape of different characters, events and activity. Each city offered a different experience: “A Friday night out in Liverpool; A Sunday afternoon in Bradford; A Wednesday in Hull” he imagined idly. Remarkably, his ideology was also backed up by a string of actual commissioned feasibilities over a 7-year golden period in the north which resulted in ambitious proposals spanning across the Pennines. These ranged widely from a Liverpool 4th Grace (2002, aka ‘The Cloud’ & ‘Diamond Knuckleduster’); to
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Bradford will be plugged into Britain’s nascent high-speed rail network
a Manchester residential block (2009, aka ‘Chips’); a Halifax Piece Hall development (2003, aka ‘The Silo’); the Barnsley Masterplan (2002, aka ‘Barnsley Halo’ & ‘Tuscan Hill Town’); and finally Bradford Masterplan (2003, including the ‘Mirrorpool’ aka ‘Puddle in the Park’). With the exception of the small portion of Chips wrapped-up for Urban Splash, the only other northern project of his to move forward to close realisation was the pale imitation of his Bradford Masterplan – and at realisation, even this was without Alsop at the helm. So, after Hull was crowned City of Culture in 2017 and
following-on from Liverpool as Capital of Culture in 2008, might Alsop’s vision of an agglomerated Coast-to-Coast be worth a revisit? Whilst the jury remains out on that, one thing is clear, which is for it to ever stand a chance, then a fully integrated transport infrastructure would need to be put in place first. This would also need to be one that mitigated against the winter ravages of the high Pennine weather on road and rail. Contrast such idealised thinking with a pragmatic reality check from today: The start of December 2018 saw a 39th day of strike action on Northern Rail networks starting, linked to >
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© RYAN TAYLOR
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Bradford’s Forster Square Station is still stuck in the slow lane
the threat to guards as defended by transport union RMT. All of this has happened on the back of a summer rail timetable crisis that had the Transport Secretary even apologising for it at the October Conservative Conference in Birmingham. Rubbing salt into these wounds, Northern Rail has also warned passengers in the north they are not likely to see any timetabling improvements until May, despite the fact they plan to put their fares up by 3.2% in the new year. Then to make matters even worse, HS2 and Crossrail chairman Sir Terry Morgan has recently agreed to resign ‘by common consent’. Northern transport chaos would be an understatement. Still resolute though, as part of the TfN’s own submitted business case for NPR, the City of Bradford is supporting a case for its late inclusion as an additional station on a LeedsManchester high-speed link. In support of this, and also at the recent party conference, Chris Grayling pledged his strong and personal commitment to Bradford, saying it had been “woefully served” previously. The economic benefits to HS3 seem compelling enough: As well as reduced journey times and increased capacity, independent research by GENECON has quoted a significant boost following NPR to the greater northern economy of £15 billion by 2060, as well as the generation of 15,000 additional jobs within the Leeds City Region. A consortium of Yorkshire council leaders are also currently advocating for a ‘One Yorkshire’ devolution deal that delivers a £30bn-a-year boost to both region and UK. Tempering these northern expectations however, December 2018 also saw publication of the annual report from the UK URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
‘Progressive Think Tank’, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Called the ‘State of the North 2018: Reprioritising the Northern Powerhouse’. In this, the northern focus is seen as being both a simultaneous threat and opportunity: The uncertainty is brought on in part by the economic spectre of Brexit, but also set against the paradox of a hope for an end to government austerity measures, whilst considering that the next global downturn is being forecast as both inevitable and imminent. On top of this (if that wasn’t enough), are increasing impacts due to globalisation, climate change, artificial intelligence, automation and an ageing population. A real test to the North’s steadfastness and innovation was identified by IPPR, albeit one that the North could be up for - if only given a fair opportunity and a shift of emphasis to help enable it better. A ‘clear break’ from the original vision for the Northern Powerhouse was called for. The time was right concluded IPPR, for the Government to commit to a ‘whole North’ approach, rather than just focus on a booming Greater Manchester. The previous top-down agenda from the Government was “done to the North, not by, and often not even with the North” it said. With three Northern Powerhouse ministers appointed in the space of several years, this remains a tricky issue for the Government to deal with. A direct descendant from the ‘Cities and Local Government Devolution Act’, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham remains an advocate for the Northern Powerhouse and has previously described it as being potentially a ‘dawn of a new era’, and not just for the city region. Despite this, interviewed on
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Left - By stressing east-west connections in addition to north-south routes northern cities can begin to function as one Right - Will Alsop’s psychadelic pic ‘n’ mix, realised only in outline form, would have been a destinaation in itself
talkRADIO recently, he criticised the continued lack of public spending in the north which has stunted growth. A continued policy of “Shovelling money into London won’t help the north of England grow” he said. Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson went one step further in his own city’s criticism and quit the supposedly independent Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) in December. So where does all this leave the future of Bradford in the bigger picture? John Lord’s excellent 2016 article ‘Bradford: Woolly Mammoth’ was part of his series on struggling northern cities featured in Urban Realm. In this, he marked the city as the perpetual poor cousin and second-class power, albeit one that at least “engages your mind and your heart”. Not quite extinct, its transport and rail connections were still seen as being pitiful, and amongst the worst of any large English city - barring Sunderland. His observations would certainly back up TfN’s strategic case for Bradford becoming part of NPR, but would a rail deprivation factor alone be enough? It wasn’t enough to justify extending the high speed line beyond to Leeds-Bradford Airport, and so whether Bradford can make a compelling enough economic case for the city itself remains to be seen. One would hope so given that Bradford is anyway the 4th largest metropolitan authority in England, with a growing population of over 500,000 residents. Add to this it is the ‘youngest’ city in the UK (23.7% of it’s population is under 16 as compared with 18.8% nationally), and has one of the most diverse populations too (ethnic minorities making up 36% of the total). So might the ‘Alsop-effect’ still have any further influence on Bradford after his death? In reviewing one of It’s few urban design successes of modern times, the City Park, John Lord cited planner Adrian Jones, from his 2016 ‘Cities of the North’ book. In
this, ‘Jones the Planer’ had dismissed the project as a dumbeddown, cost-engineered ‘palimpsest’ and entertainments plaza, when compared to Alsop’s original Bradford Masterplan and ‘Bowl’ neighbourhood design. In the strictest terms, this might well be true, but at least Bradford as a city has had the boldness to go it alone, in the face of a national funding rejection and the political loss of Regional Development Agency Yorkshire Forward, following the critical change to Government post downturn in 2010. It also did this whilst surviving the political fall-out of an ill-fated Westfield Shopping Centre development that left Bradford with a 9-year vacant ‘hole-in-the-ground’ post demolitions from 2006 onwards, until the eventual completion of the current Broadway development. In terms of Alsop himself, his stated starting point was always that Bradford remained too ‘hidden’. This bred his desire to uncover the true Bradford ‘experience’, starting with its position in the region, and including at the centre of his perceived ‘Coast to Coast’ map. Linked to the city topography and it’s buried water courses was his proposed ‘Park at the Heart’, with the city centre split into four fingers known as The Bowl, The Channel, The Markets and The Valley. Within the Bowl, its signature ‘Mirrorpool’ wrapped around the City Hall, adjacent to the National Science and Media Museum, and designs were eventually to morph into the current City Park. There is no record of how Will Alsop might have viewed accusations of any perceived dumbing-down of his Bradford masterplan. What records that do exist seem to indicate that he did at least positively acknowledge the boldness of the creative risk that Bradford council took with City Park, and the positive catalyst the resultant meeting place once built had on the wellbeing of the people of Bradford. >
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Historically, the conversion of Alsop’s Bowl designs had come first via Urbed’s City Centre Design Guide and then Arup’s Neighbourhood Development Framework. Thereafter, a 2006 design competition was won to lead on the delivery of a simpler, more achievable scheme, by landscape architects Gillespies. Despite their proposals submitted to the Big Lottery Fund being rejected, happily Bradford Council (very narrowly) elected to proceed and build anyway. A year after the 2012 opening, the Academy of Urbanism in awarding the City Park a ‘Great Place Award’, stated that Bradford people were still learning how to use their space by exploring its possibilities. Initially, as self-styled ‘Bradford Virgin’, Alsop had stated “I wish Bradford well” in his opening Masterplan introduction. Fifteen years on from the launch of that, there were over 15 million visits made to the City Park in its first 4 years alone; a reported £1.3 m boost to the city economy in the first 6 months; and a multitude of urban design awards since received. Beyond these typical quality indicators, the 2014 report ‘The Great Meeting Place : A Study of Bradford’s City Park’ by the University of Bradford and Centre for Applied Social Research, also celebrated the pure public popularity and inclusivity achieved by the space. Eulogising Will Alsop, in their official obituary, the Architects Journal described him as being able to ‘conceive an imaginative field of objects, possibilities and emotions in which architecture could come into being as a frame for enjoyment and fulfilment’. It also quoted him as once stating “I like people and I hope it shows”. This amicable, empathetic spirit was at the very heart of the man and his design philosophy. The same public joy for the City Park shines through today also, as does the fact that whilst the design may indeed be a far more simplified abstraction (literally in terms of the aquifer fed mirrorpool), the creative homage owed to the Alsop original remains clear. Regardless of Bradford’s new rail infrastructure ever being granted as part of HS3, or his conceptual linear Coastto-Coast ever being realised, this human legacy will remain his most significant gift to a city’s ongoing self-discovery and wellbeing. Of Bradford he said: “The point is, they have done it. It’s a very important focus for the city, it can become a meeting place for the people. It has an inherent beauty, a sense of calm and peace”, at the 2013 launch of City Park. “I’m very proud of it” he added, and then laughed: “I can’t think of any other city with a puddle in it!” His playful irreverence often disguised his more serious undertones, but it could never diminish the uniqueness or integrity of his bold vision. The next big step for Bradford is to try to gain approval for a new station on the important HS3 link. City Park may appear an urban design flippancy to some purists, and is arguably a watered-down version of an original concept at that, but it has undoubtedly helped Bradford stand out and gain confidence to position itself far more equally within his virtual Great Northern SuperCity. URBAN REALM WINTER 2018 URBANREALM.COM
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Forster Square is a pale reflection of the long departed Bradford Exchange station
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DIRECTORY LISTING 3D VISUALISATION Max Maxwell Tel: +44 (0)141 370 3500 Email: info@maxmaxwell.co.uk Web: www.maxmaxwell.co.uk Studio, 80 Nicholson St, Laurieston, Glasgow G5 9ER ARCHITECTURAL ALUMINIUM SYSTEM SPECIALISTS Smart Architectural Aluminium T 0787 232 245 Contact: Bill Robertson Unit C, Coalburn Road, Bothwell Glasgow, G71 8DA Web: www.smartsystems.co.uk ARCHITECTS & BUILDING CONSULTANTS AHR Tel: 0141 225 0555 Email: glasgow@ahrglobal.com Web: www.ahr-global.com Savoy Tower, 77 Renfrew Street Glasgow G2 3BZ jmarchitects Tel: 0141 333 3920 Email: gla@jmarchitects.net Web: www.jmarchitects.net Michael Laird Architects Tel: 01312266991 Fax: 1312262771 Email: marketing@michaellaird.co.uk Website: www.michaellaird.co.uk 5 Forres Street, Edinburgh EH3 6DE ARCHITECTURE & MASTER PLANNING Hypostyle Architects Tel: 0141 204 4441 Contact: Gerry Henaughen Email: glasgow@hypostyle.co.uk Web: www.hypostyle.co.uk
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