urban realm winter2013

VOL4 ISSUE16 WINTER 2013

£9.25

AFRICAN SPRING DESIGN RITUALS LOOK-UPNEW URBANISMSCOTLAND’S TOP 100 PRACTICES

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As another year draws to a close Urban Realm takes stock of the current state of play in the architectural profession with profi les of the key practices which helped shape 2013 in their image (pg 29).

One theme that emerged from our reviewwas the increasingly successful rejuvenation of historic buildings, prompting us to take a closer look at two recent examples.

The fi rst of these, Malcolm Fraser’s Edinburgh Centre for Carbon innovation (pg 44) has just received the fi rst BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ rating for a UK refurbishment project and Morgan McDonald’s Charlotte Square (pg 50) is carried o� with no less aplomb.

Their work gives hope to the likes of Springburn (pg 20) and some forgotten Glaswegian city centre buildings (pg 56) which would all benefi t from some of this new-found Edinburgh verve.

Looking ahead to next year we investigate one of the greatest Commonwealth Games events that will never be, Aerostatic Bloomage (pg 70). Conceived as a means to showcase Glasgow as a cultural hub it was unceremoniously ditched. We fi nd out why and ask if it might one day be resurrected.

Casting our minds even further ahead we speak with the team at Lateral North (pg 88) who harbour a grandiose vision for Scotland’s northern hinterland. Seemingly far-fetched it nevertheless provides food for thought for today’s policy makers.

Further from home Paul Stallan returns from a trip to Nigeria (pg 62) bringing with him news of an exciting new cultural development in Lagos that proves opportunities are still there to be found for those prepared to look.

Here’s to a constructive New Year.

John Glenday, Editor

Mark Chalmers,Architecture writer and photographer

Paul Stallan,Director, Stallan-Brand

Chris Stewart, director, Collective Architecture

Willie Miller,Founder, Willie Miller Urban Design

Alistair Scott, Director, Smith Scott Mullan Associates

John Lord.Founder, Yellow Book

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Editor John Glenday Design & Production Amanda Dewar Advertising Katarzyna Uliasz,Web Manager Aleks Bochniak

05 QUARTERLY DIGEST 12 SHOREHAM CEMENT WORKS 20 NORTH GLASGOW 27 RECOMMENDED PRACTICES 44 ECCI 50 CHARLOTTE SQUARE 54 BRE 56 LOOK-UP 62 NIGERIA70 AEROSTATIC BLOOMAGE 76 CIVIC TRUST 82 NEW URBANISM 88 LATERAL NORTH 90 DEMOLITION 94 DIRECTORY 96 PRODUCTS Cover image: PAUL STALLAN

ST NO TN EC

OUR EDITORIAL PANEL INCLUDES:

Mark Chalmers,Architecture writer and photographer

Paul Stallan,Director, Stallan-Brand

director, Collective Willie Miller,Founder, Willie Miller Urban Design

Alistair Scott, Director, Smith Scott Mullan Associates

Founder,

WWW.URBANREALM.COMSubscription Enquiries 0141 356 5333

Editor John Glenday Editor John Glenday Editor Design & Production Amanda Dewar Advertising Katarzyna Uliasz,Web Manager Aleks BochniakWeb Manager Aleks BochniakWeb Manager

QUARTERLY DIGEST SHOREHAM CEMENT WORKS NORTH GLASGOW RECOMMENDED PRACTICES 44 ECCI CHARLOTTE SQUARE 54 BRE LOOK-UP NIGERIAAEROSTATIC BLOOMAGE CIVIC TRUST NEW URBANISM LATERAL NORTH DEMOLITION DIRECTORY PRODUCTS

Cover image: PAUL STALLAN

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OUR EDITORIAL PANEL INCLUDES:

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Urban Relam is the property of Urban Realm Ltd. The publishers, authors and printers cannot accept liability for errors or omissions. Any transparencies or artwork will be accepted at owner’s risk. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the copyright holder and publisher, application for which should be made to the publisher. Printed by Stephens & George Magazines. © Urban Realm Limited 2013 ISSN 2044-7345Published by Urban Realm Limited, 2G Garnet Court, Glasgow G4 9NT Tel: 0141 356 5333 Fax: 0141 559 6050INCORPORATING PROSPECT

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BRIEFS

Architectural historian and former RIAS secretary Charles McKean has died at St Columba’s Hospice, Edinburgh, aged 67.A noted scholar, commentator and author McKean is best known for producing a series of architectural guides, starting in Edinburgh in 1982 and continuing through to the present day. Though unfi nished it is proposed to publish the fi nal fi ve volumes of the series posthumously as part of the 2016 Year of Architecture.

Work to build Scotland’s largest new town in a generation has commenced at Chapelton, Aberdeenshire, including £8m of infrastructure work to ready the site for the fi rst phase of some 8,000 new homes.Designs are currently being developed for the fi rst school in the town ahead of its likely opening in 2018.

Page\Park’s plan to convert Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall to house the Scottish Screen Archive, civic collections and Glasgow University’s Hunterian Museum, have taken a step forward after the project secured £4.5m of lottery funding.Developed by GCC, Glasgow Life, the University and the National Library of Scotland, the scheme will create display space for around 1.5m objects currently kept in storage around the city.In addition a suite of cultural, research and conservation facilities will be incorporated; allowing the public to gain a glimpse into the conservation process.

Work to deliver a custom built family home in the Highlands has been completed by contractors Ullapool Construction on behalf of Helen Lucas Architects and David Narro Associates.The £320k home is situated in the village of Stoer and consists of two distinct volumes, a timber clad double height living space with green oak trusses and an adjoining rendered wing hosting twin bedrooms.

Maxwellton Primary and Greenburn School, an £8.7m integrated primary school and special needs campus, has opened its doors to pupils in East Kilbride.

Built by Kier Construction and designed by Stallan-Brand it incorporates 16 classrooms arranged over two levels

alongside a range of therapy rooms, a sensory room, soft play areas and hydrotherapy pool.

Designed by Stallan-Brand the school is fi nished in a palette of neutral colours and muted graphics the new campus is intended to create a peaceful atmosphere for pupils.

CLASS ACT

Work to raze the 13 storey former home of Aberdeen City Council has begun in earnest with contractors moving on site to dismantle the city centre landmark fl oor by fl oor.

Four remote control demolition machines will be hoisted onto the roof of St Nicholas House to begin ‘nibbling’ the concrete in propped levels in a process expected to take around two weeks per fl oor.

This follows earlier work by Safedem to strip back the structure of all soft fi ttings.

Plans to erect a £55m, 18 hole golf course at Forbes of Kingussie have been submitted by MAP property and Leisure Developments to Angus Council.

Designed by Archial the scheme will incorporate a golf academy, spa, holiday lodges and 180 bed, fi ve star Wyndham Grand hotel., which takes the form of three separate wings designed to maximise views across the course.

Work to deliver a £228m campus for the newly formed City of Glasgow College has begun with the demolition of the old Allan Glen’s school building on Cathedral Street and at the satellite Riverside Campus. Their replacements have been jointly designed by Reiach & Hall Architects and Michael Laird.

CHRISTMAS CHOP FOR ST NICHOLAS

ANGUS GOLF SCHEME IS ON COURSE

COLLEGE DROPS OUT

URBAN REALM WINTER 2013 URBANREALM.COM

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Q U A R T E R L YD G SI E TO C T

A neurological disease research clinic partially funded by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has been o� cially unveiled by HRH The Princess Royal and Edinburgh University.

Named in honour of the author’s mother, who died from multiple sclerosis aged just 45, the Ann Rowling Regenerative Neurology clinic was designed by Keppie.

Housing association the Link Group, in partnership with contractors J. Smart & Co, have submitted plans for seven new apartment buildings and associated car parking on land o� Ferry Road, Edinburgh.

Designed by CDA City Park occupies two hectares and will provide a total of 201 homes, three quarters of which will be a� ordable.

BRAIN BOX HOME RUN

The University of Glasgow has taken occupancy of the RMJM designed Translational Research Centre following its handover by Mansell, the main contractors.

Built adjacent to the Beatson Institute at the Garscube Estate, Bearsden, the facility will aid in the fi ght against cancer by bridging the gap between laboratory research and real-world therapies.

Work to redevelop the historic art deco Capital Theatre in Aberdeen has commenced after the city council granted planning permission for the £30m project.

Knight Property Group are developing the project on a speculative basis, retaining front of house areas whilst clearing land to the rear to make way for a 70,000 sq/ft o� ce block, designed by Keppie, for completion by 2015.

The latest Maggie’s Centre to open its doors to cancer patients has been o� cially opened.

Designed by Norwegian architectural practice Snohetta, in partnership with Halliday Fraser Munro, the scheme is conceived as a pavilion in a parkland setting and is named

after golfer Colin Montgomerie’s mother.The building will support more than

500,000 people from across the north east and is the 17th centre to be built by the cancer charity since the fi rst in Edinburgh back in 1996.

OVAL AND OUT

UNIVERSITY LAB COMPLETES

CURTAINS FOR OLD THEATRE

BRIEFS

Eight of Britain’s biggest construction fi rms; Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and VINCI, have agreed to compensate 3,200 workers whose names were placed on an industry ‘blacklist’.The practice involved each fi rm collaborating in drawing up a list of employees who management deemed to be troublemakers, administered by an arms-length organisation called The Consulting Association (TCA).Now the eight have agreed to set up a Construction Workers Compensation Scheme to act as a vehicle for those a� ected to seek recompense.

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh have been named as recipients of a £2.7m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund toward a John McAslan +Partners designed extension and redevelopment of Scotland’s oldest medical museum.Dubbed The Lister project it will entail creation of new displays and galleries by Campbell & Co, doubling the number of items on display and introducing audiovisual and interactive elements. A number of contemporary additions, such as a new glass atrium, will also be built to designs by John McAslan.

St Cadoc’s Primary, Rutherglen, has welcomed its fi rst pupils since handover by Kier ConstructionThe £6.2m school was delivered under South Lanarkshire’s £812m primary school modernisation programme and incorporates seven classrooms, a library, dining room and gym arranged over two storeys.Designed by the Paul Stallan Studio at RMJM team before passing to Stallan-Brand the scheme was built within the grounds of the existing school and sits adjacent to Cairns Primary – delivered by the same team

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BRIEFSA new mosque on Aberdeen’s Nelson Street, to serve the estimated 4,000 Muslims resident within the city and surrounding shire, is to move on site next March.The £1m Makespace Architects designed scheme will entail construction of a two storey extension to the front of an existing warehouse and will accommodate up to 800 people.

Moray Council have recommended for approval an Archial Norr plan to expand Elgin’s St Giles Centre to incorporate expanded retail provision and a new bus station.Robertson Property and Upland Developments are seeking to build an additional 4,500sq/m of space, doubling the size of the existing centre, whilst retaining the façade of a C-listed building.

Work to deliver a £4m sheltered housing complex for the elderly is nearing completion in the Liberton area of Edinburgh, o� ering 32 fl ats for social and mid-market rent to pensioners.Delivered in partnership between the Merchant Company, Edinburgh City Council, Dunedin Canmore HA, J. Smart & Co and Smith Scott Mullan the scheme is expected to welcome its fi rst residents this coming spring.

Adam Dudley, founder of Edinburgh based Adam Dudley Architects, has died following a fi ght against cancer.Dudley formed the practice in 1989 and in that time has made his mark with projects including a restoration of Greenlaw Town Hall and refurbishment of a Georgian terrace for Castle Rock Edinvar.

Construction work has commenced on a £3m outdoor centre at Fairmilehead, Edinburgh, run by Craigdon Mountain Sports and designed by Oberlanders.Pentland Outdoor Centre will provide facilities for the Pentland Rangers and ski hire facilities.

A £220m project to redevelop a swathe of brownfi eld land on the Broomielaw has been launched by Scottish Enterprise and property investment group Marlebone.

Subject to a pre-let this would see

a showpiece 500,000 sq/ft mixed use development built between Washington Street and McAlpine Street within Glasgow’s International Financial Services District.

WASHINGTON HITS NEW HEIGHTS

Organic Distilleries, a spin-o� company of Organic Architects specialising in distillery design, have submitted plans to build a new Highland distillery at Drimnin within an existing farm steading and out buildings.

The conversion will entail transformation of these agricultural buildings into a small craft distillery. The steading itself will be restored and its roof raised to accommodate the stills, with two large openings inserted to allow easy installation and maintenance.

Kirkcaldy Leisure Centre, built by Graham Construction and B3/Cre8 Architects, has opened its doors to the public o� ering a 25m main pool, 17m training pool and a health suite with steam room and sauna. It also houses a sports hall, aerobics studio, play centre, gym and café.

Costed at £15m the complex sits on the towns Esplanade and is hoped to spur further regeneration.

Plans to build a £10m Scotch whisky distillery and visitor centre within an historic former pumping house at Queens Dock, Glasgow, have been submitted by AD Rattray Scotch Whisky Company.

Designed by Hypostyle-BR it would be the fi rst distillery in Glasgow city centre for over 100 years and would incorporate its own visitor centre, bar, café and retail outlet.

Subject to planning approval work could commence immediately with the tourist attraction set to produce its fi rst whisky by 2015.

DRIMNIN GIVES A DRAM

KIRKCALDY LEISURE CENTRE

GLASGOW DISTILLERY IN THE DOCK


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Plans have been submitted by Unite the Union for the demolition of Typographical House on Glasgow’s Clyde Street to make way for a new 54.5m tall hotel development.

Designed by Glasgow/Manchester based Haus Collective the scheme would incorporate north and south facing terraces as part of a double height rooftop restaurant with 13 fl oors of accommodation below.

Meeting the street with a ground fl oor commercial unit and fi rst fl oor reception area the scheme would also incorporate informal meeting spaces.

It is the latest in a series of speculative hotel visions for the Clyde Street corridor following plans for the former Custom House and a mothballed scheme immediately adjacent.

HAUS PROUD

BRIEFS

A collective of tenant’s residents associations from the Denny area; including Sutherland, Argyll & Shanks and Glenwood, have joined forces to voice their opposition to a £6.5m regeneration of Denny town centre proposed by Falkirk Council.A recent rally in the town generated 222 letters of rejection against the Council penned plans, which call for the construction of a new library and retail units on the site of a series of redundant 1960s slab blocks known as Church Walk.

Construction services group Roberson have completed work on West Linton Primary School, Peebleshire.Built in partnership with Scottish Borders Council at a cost of £6.5m and employs a timber glulam structure, ground source heat pump and natural stone detailing.

Keppie Design has handed over a £1.2m intensive support unit for vulnerable children in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, on behalf of the Northern Health and Social Care Trust.The Willows provides accommodation for up to six children in single, en-suite bedrooms and includes an atrium, communal space, kitchen and dining room all overlooking secure gardens.

Hadden Construction has completed the refurbishment and extension of Edinburgh’s Corstorphine Primary School.The £1.6m project for City of Edinburgh Council saw construction of a contemporary extension clad in render, glazing and stone to complement an existing listed school building.

Reiach & Hall Architects have unveiled a trio of health centres for NHS Lanarkshire to add to their growing portfolio of health project s currently underway; including Maggies Lanarkshire and Ardrossan Medical Centre.

Situated in East Kilbride, Wishaw and Kilsyth each new building will incorporate a GP surgery and community healthcare facilities.

Glasgow City Council has granted planning permission to a Hilton Doubletree hotel on the site of the A listed Custom House.

The historic building will be turned into a new bar, café, conference space and o� ces whilst land to the rear will be used to build a 209 guestrooms as well as a number of restaurants, a gym, business centre and conference suites.

CUSTOM HOUSE HOTEL WINS PLANNING

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BRIEFSNord Architecture has won the Andrew Doolan Award 2013 for their work designing WASPS South Block, Glasgow, after a panel of judges plumped for the warehouse conversion as the ‘clear’ winner from a shortlist of a dozen projects.Their decision nets Nord a custom cast gold medal in addition to a cheque for £25k, the highest remuneration of any UK architectural award.

South Ayrshire Council has unveiled the fi nalised designs for a landmark £8m leisure centre at Girvan Harbour, opening a 12 week consultation period for the proposed plan.Designed by Page\Park the centre will be built on the site of an existing pool, pavilion and parking area on Knockcushan Street, benefi tting from expansive views out to Ailsa Craig.

The Architects Registration Board has successfully brought its fi rst Scottish prosecution in a case against CM Design – after a court ruled they had misused the term ‘architect’ and fi ned them £400.Charges were brought against the fi rm in relation to its use of the proscribed term in its signage and trading style, in contravention of the Architects Act as none of its employees were registered with the ARB.

Landscape architecture graduate Euan Maharg has emerged victorious in a Glasgow Institute of Architects backed competition to design a green bridge over the M73 through the Seven Lochs Wetland Park, Glasgow.The winning solution design involves construction of a pre-fab concrete tunnel above which would a sunken path would be laid, bounded by a 20m wide strip of woodland.Maharg saw o� competition from four other practices to win.

Land Securities and Henderson Global Investors have unveiled their vision for a 1.2m sq/ft expansion of Glasgow’s Buchanan Galleries.

O� ering a mix of retail and leisure space the extension would accommodate two anchor tenants in the form of a 150,000sq/

ft Marks & Spencer and a reconfi gured 300,000sq/ft John Lewis.

Once complete in 2017 the BDP designed centre will house 100 shops, 25 restaurants and a multi-screen cinema and will be directly connected to a revamped Queen Street Station.

BUCHANAN GALLERIES

City of Edinburgh Council has applied for planning permission to extend fi ve primary schools for the start of the 2014/15 school year.

Designed by Scott Brownrigg, with Aecom as project managers, the accommodation stretches to 17 new classrooms and fi ve general purpose spaces for Broughton Primary, Craigour Park Primary, Liberton Primary, St David’s RC Primary and Victoria Primary.

Elder & Cannon architects have completed work on a development of 103 self-contained studio apartments on the site of a former drill hall at West Princes Street, Glasgow.

Set within the confi nes of a tenement backcourt the scheme comprises two blocks of student housing, linked to the historic former ballet school, which has itself been converted into fl ats.

EDINBURGH BABY BOOM

ELDER & CANNON KNOW THE DRILL


Nord have submitted plans for the latest phase of residential development at Maryhill Locks on behalf of ISIS Waterside Regeneration.

The terraced housing scheme will deliver 40 homes of up to four bedrooms for sale at ‘the botany’, part of a wider master plan which has already seen delivery of housing from Elder + Cannon and Hypostyle.

MARYHILL LOCKS

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BRIEFSProposals for a ‘crannog’ style village hall in the Highlands, backed by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, have come under fi re from locals who claim the development will ‘destroy’ their village. Designed by Nigel Johnston of Nevis Estate this would incorporate a new marina, shops, café and a private pier for Mackintosh.

The department of architecture at Strathclyde University has announced that three of its alumni have won the Scottish Scenic Routes Competition to design three ‘architectural interventions’ in Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.This will see new shelters and viewing platforms built by young architects at three of the most scenic areas of the park by March.

Dumfries and Galloway Council has awarded planning consent to ARPL Architects to press ahead with the refurbishment and extension of Dumfries Theatre Royal. Built in 1792 it is the oldest theatre still in use in Scotland but requires extensive modernisation to extend its opening hours, prompting the Guild of Players to commission their future vision for the venue.

Merchant City Properties have unveiled master plan to build a £70m student residential scheme near Glasgow’s High Street Station. Prepared by Stallan-Brand Seventeen Acres, named after the parcel of land which once hosted the medieval University of Glasgow before making way for a railway goods yard, will provide accommodation for 1,200 students in addition to a new cultural and outdoor space, multi-purpose venue and 15 shop units. Set within a landscaped park, which takes its inspiration from an historic orchard and botanic gardens, the scheme will re-open access to the long-hidden Molendinar Burn.

Scotch whisky producer the Erdington Group has announced its selection of a Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners design for its planned £100m distillery and visitor centre for The Macallan whisky brand.

Intended to embody ‘craftsmanship, attention to detail and innovation’ the new Speyside distillery has been designed to complement the Jacobean Easter Elchies House on the Macallan Estate, whilst ramping up production capacity.

Henry Boot Developments have published indicative designs for a planned £200m replacement for the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre after their team, which includes SasanBell Architects, were named preferred development partner.

To be situated at Dyce, near the city’s airport, the mixed use development would provide additional exhibition and conference space alongside a four star hotel but is dependent on Scottish Government funding.

It is hoped to have the new centre built by 2017.

Renfrewshire Council have granted planning consent to the £15.5m Eastwood Health & Care Centre to be built on the site of the former Isobel Mair School, Clarkston.

Designed by Gareth Hoskins Architects the project will provide a suite of GP, clinical and social care facilities, replacing a number of existing buildings which are no longer fi t for purpose by 2015.

Alan Dunlop Architect, together with ERZ landscape architects and project managers PMP, has been commissioned to design a series of extensions to children’s charity East Park’s existing Maryhill home.

The will entail creation of 1,000sq/m of residential space, respite accommodation and classrooms for children with learning di� culties and is scheduled to start on site in June 2014.

DUNLOP SECURES EAST PARK COMMISSION

ROGERS TOASTS SUCCESS

ABERDEEN CONFERENCE CENTRE

EASTWOOD IN GOOD HEALTH


SHOREHAMMARK CHALMERS

MARK CHALMERS UNDERWENT A RECENT PILGRIMAGE TO A CATHEDRAL OF CONCRETE IN KENT, SHOREHAM CEMENT WORKS. ON ENTERING HE DISCOVERED A HIDDEN WORLD WHICH HAS CEMENTED ITS REPUTATION AS AN URBAN EXPLORERS PARADISE. HERE WE INVESTIGATE ITS DEEPEST NOOKS AND CRANNIES.

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14 SHOREHAM

Once upon a time, architects incorporated allegory into their projects. During the 1970’s, Ricardo Bofi ll built a monumental piece of social housing called “Walden 7” in the ruins of an old cement works on the outskirts of Barcelona. Bofi ll was inspired by a utopian sci-fi novel, “Walden Two”, which was infl uenced in turn by Thoreau’s famous novel about the log cabin at Walden Pond which he built with his own hands.

Looking at the giant red towers of Bofi ll’s project, it’s hard to imagine anything further from that rude shack, even though both Thoreau’s novel and Bofi ll’s vision were intended as “experiments in living well”. Thoreau felt that, “a great proportion of architectural ornaments are literally hollow, and a September gale would strip them o� , like borrowed plumes, without injury to the substantials.”

Mind you, there’s nothing more substantial than an old cement works, so perhaps Thoreau would approve of Bofi ll’s post-modern monumentality and appreciate the challenge of recasting other old cement works. The most abandoned of those lies on the Channel coast of Sussex, a vast structure which has lain quiet for two decades, since it was shut down by Blue Circle Cement.

During the 20th century, Blue Circle was one of the biggest names in the construction industry. Although it later

spread its wings into Armitage Shanks bathrooms, Myson radiators and Potterton boilers its mainstay was cement, the grey powder which gives birth to architecture.

Cement powder, properly called Ordinary Portland Cement or “OPC” is the fundamental ingredient in every building: without it, concrete wouldn’t exist, nor would the mortar which holds masonry together, or the grout which waterproofs joints. Thanks to its strength, plasticity and economy, concrete became the universal building material.

Portland cement was patented by Joseph Aspdin in 1824 and for decades afterwards, it was made in small bottle, beehive and chamber kilns. The process is a simple one: you heat a mixture of fi nely-ground limestone and clay to create cement, a powder which hardens with the addition of water. Aspdin named it “Portland” because it resembles the stone quarried on the Isle of Portland.

A few miles along the coast from Portland, a chalk pit existed at Upper Beeding from at least 1725, but during the 18th and 19th century most of its chalk went for lime burning. Cement production began in 1850, and by the 1880’s the six chamber kilns were producing around 7,500 tons each year. In 1897, the Sussex Portland Cement Co. of Newhaven bought the works, and began to expand it.

Pipe dreams: The sprawling complex could be the backdrop to a particularly atmospheric horror fi lm

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Three years later, the Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers (APCM) coalesced from the multitude of small cement producers in the south-east of England. Around the same time, the rotary kiln was introduced, improving the e� ciency of the process and thus revolutionising the industry. One of the cement works which benefi tted from both was that small plant in the valley of the River Adur at Beeding.

The 1910’s and 1920’s were thin decades, but as the construction industry recovered from the Great Depression, APCM decided that Beeding should be rebuilt with rotary kilns on a grand scale. During the mid-1930’s, a new cement works was planned in the mouth of the chalk quarry: clay would be won from pits a short distance up the Adur, and coal was brought in by rail.

Construction began in 1948, and appropriately much of the new cement works was built using reinforced concrete. The buildings were designed by Oscar Faber, the structural engineer who pioneered the use of “ferro-concrete” in Britain. Although Faber remained in the shadow of another emigré engineer, Ove Arup, he was the expert in reinforced concrete

during the 1950’s. The cement company’s engineer at the time was George Rheam, so the monumental project became known locally as “Rheam’s Cathedral”…

Big and blu� with vaguely Art Deco details along its frontage, the new works was the fi rst of its kind, and was equipped by machinery made by Vickers-Armstrong. Better known for building battleships, Wellington bombers and VC10 airliners, Vickers got into the cement business during the post-war building boom. At the time, arms manufacturing was in decline, but concrete was a growth industry.

During that era, the Vickers company made ships, bulldozers, steel and cement plant. In due course, its management saw more promise in ships and steel than bulldozers and cement, because margins on the former were good, whereas each time the construction industry su� ered a slump, the factories which made bulldozers and cement plant stood idle. Today, the military side of Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering is part of BAE Systems, whereas the construction

» Blue Circle spread its wings into bathrooms, radiators and boilers but its mainstay was cement, the grey powder which gives birth to architecture. «

Very little cement, ironically, is used in the factories construction

>


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SHOREHAM

side of Vickers-Armstrong e� ectively doesn’t exist.APCM became known by the trademark on its cement

bags, a blue circle, and eventually the fi rm changed its name to suit. The cement works at Upper Beeding was a success, and afterwards Vickers and Blue Circle collaborated to create a series of further cement works, including Westbury and Northfl eet, the latter of which became the largest in the world.

The pair of giant rotating kilns, called C1 and C2, are 350ft long by 10ft in diameter, and were constructed in a huge hall. It was common practice to mount coolers directly under the kilns, which is why the concrete piers they sit on are so high. As a result, the kiln hall is as tall as a cathedral’s nave. The clinker mills, with their bright yellow motors, were housed in an adjacent block. All were built by Vickers’ factory in Barrow-in-Furness, and formed the fi rst installation of a design which was subsequently used elsewhere.

Chalk blasted from the quarry face was conveyed to two sets of crushers, then transported into the main building where it was sorted and blended then made into slurry. From there, it entered the pre-heating tower, which drew waste heat from the kilns to bring the slurry up to their steady operating temperature of 1400°C. The kilns themselves are

insulated with two layers of refractory bricks, and were driven by securing steel tyres at intervals along the kiln shaft, which sit on rollers powered by electric motors geared down to drive the kilns at around 3rpm.

The chalk slurry was fed into the kilns, then pulverised coal was blown in and ignited. The heated material was driven along the kiln by the slight gradient, and by new material being fed in from the pre-heaters. Passing through steadily hotter zones turned it into a semi-molten state, and it began to change in composition. The red-hot clinker then dropped into cooling tubes, and the waste heat was captured using blowers.

Molten cement clinker at 1400°C gives o� vast amounts of heat, so the tyres around the kiln have to be “chaired” from the main drums to avoid absorbing too much. Similarly, the kilns were fi tted with damper weights suspended on wire cables to prevent vibrations breaking them apart. Another risk was a power outage which stopped the kilns turning: the temperature di� erential between the top and bottom of the kiln would cause them to warp and buckle on their rollers, turning them into expensive chunks of scrap metal.

The cooling clinker moved onto conveyors which fed ball mills, which are huge drums similar in appearance to

Left - A thin fi lm of concrete dust now permeates the interior Middle - Decaying machinery stands idle, just as the last cement workers left it Right - Walk this way: the scale of the empty halls and corridors is both impressive and daunting

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the kilns, but containing large metal balls which progressively grind the cement down to a fi ne powder. The plant here consisted of Metrovick electric motors driving Vickers mills through David Brown reduction gearboxes. Finally, the cement was transferred next door to the holding silos for eventual bagging.

The cement works operated for decades using its original machinery, although it was modifi ed at one point to use “fi lter cake”, which was less polluting. By the end of the 1980’s, it was deemed to be obsolete, and production ended in 1991. Blue Circle planned to re-develop the works to modern standards, but after the plans were dropped production was simply halted, leaving the buildings and chimney standing.

Planning applications by Blue Circle’s development arm in 1988 for a science park and winter sports centre came to nothing, so the site was sold and the silos are currently used to store cement (that’s made somewhere else, of course). The rest of the works has been left to decay, and today mature trees sprout from the roof valleys, and rotting Lionweld walkways lie under gaping holes in the roof.

Now, the most striking impression of the cement works is

of something cyclopean, beyond human scale, rather like the grain elevators which excited Reyner Banham in “A Concrete Atlantis”. The machinery halls are impressive not only for their sheer size, but also the relationship between the vessel and its container.

The kilns here are 350 feet long, (although those elsewhere such as Westbury are up to 600 feet long), and the huge, inter-penetrating spaces underneath are lined by sets of concrete piers. Overhead, the solidity of the boiler-plated kiln counterpoints the lattice of built-up steel trusses, and the platforms around the kilns o� er the same scope as a multi-level computer game.

As a result, the cement works embodies its own particular kind of architecture as allegory. However, the real message of a dead cement works is how cold it becomes. As with brick, ceramic tiles and steel, all the stu� we build with is formed in a blaze of heat: that makes it all the more poignant to see a cement kiln once its fl ames have been doused.

» The works have been left to decay and today mature trees sprout from the roof valleys and rotting Lionweld walkways lie under gaping holes in the roof. «

20 NORTH GLASGOWCHRIS STEWART

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Prevailing wind direction gives Glasgow the East and West End, the Clyde gives us the so’ side, whilst our largest urban desert is dryly tagged North Glasgow. On 27th December 2012, the fi rst working day after Christmas, the Grinch stole into Springburn and took the desert’s Category A Listed Public Halls.

Like most of Glasgow I was born in Stobhill Hospital, bordering the oasis of Springburn Park, as were local celebrities Peter Capaldi, Armando Ianucci, Molly Weir and Glasgow’s current bike tzar Frank McAveety. After my birth I was whisked from that Neverland, only to return once I discovered the desert’s mythical past. Unfortunately the destruction is relentless and the Grinch has this time set its kleptomaniac sights on Gartloch Asylum and its Category A Listed Grand Hall. It is a stretch to place Gartloch Asylum in the desert but close enough to raise a Hook-like eyebrow and cast a pirate’s glance at a land so near yet so far far away.

Whilst perhaps not at the northern heart, Gartloch shares much of its

A RECENT SPATE OF LISTED BUILDING LOSSES SHOWS NO SIGN OF ABATING WITH COUNCILLORS VOTING FOR THE DEMOLITION OF PERTH CITY HALL. IT IS THE LATEST DECISION TO CALL INTO QUESTION THE LISTING PROCESS BUT THE RESULTING DAMAGE IS PERHAPS WORST IN THOSE AREAS LEAST EQUIPPED TO DEAL WITH THE RESULTING LOSS, NORTH GLASGOW BEING A CASE IN POINT. COLLECTIVE ARCHITECTURE’S CHRIS STEWART REPORTS FROM THE FRONT LINE.

Heisenberg’s Journeymen by Matt Baker featured prophetic use of fi re and brimstone

© DAN DUBOWITZ

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22 NORTH GLASGOW


myth. Providing the setting for the BBC drama ‘Taking over the Asylum’, the mad towers have been crumbling for years. With the fi ctional nom de plume St. Judes (patron saint of lost causes), a long running planning application for its demolition was granted by the Grinch last September. Demolition is a thriving business in Glasgow with multi-storey fl ats highest on the agenda, let’s hope this unique 20th century typology is not lost and we can look forward to the

turn of the Wimpey ‘Noddy’ house. The treatment of Springburn seems closer to demolition genocide; summed up by the condemned housing complex Red Road Flats, cleverly over clad in asbestos.

All roads lead to Rome but all trains lead to Springburn. Its start as a small rural hamlet was originally transformed with the establishment of a chemical works by Charles Tennant, with the non fi ctional nom de plume St. Rollox (patron saint of skin conditions), the

perfect place to manufacture his new invention, bleaching powder. Charles is now buried in the Necropolis, next to St. Mungo (patron saint of Glasgow), so as to overlook the contaminated site and contemplate the tree that never grew and the fi sh that never swam, while awaiting the birth of Natural Capitalism.

What St. Rollox (also patron saint of knee problems and diseased cattle), did achieve was give reason for a rail network to be laid into the City from

Top - . These enigmatic fi gurines brought some orange order. Images by Dan Dubowitz Above - The notorious ‘ski jump’ makes for an unconventional gallery

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the North. This was added to by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, the City Union Line and the Hamiltonhill Branch Line; these umbilical cords thus giving birth to the North British Railway, Caledonian Railway and Atlas Works. These powerhouses would eventually produce 25% of the entire global manufacture of railway engines and found Locomotive City.

In those days steam was king and Springburn was unable to adapt to subsequent coronations of diesel and electricity, the industry declined. Unlike its ugly big step sister shipbuilding, the locomotive industry was forgotten and left to tend the cinders. Its one time grandeur tattered to rags, where once industry attracted industry, poverty attracted poverty, like a diseased carcass. Misplaced do gooders with their Bruce Plan and Corbusian ideals, saw an opportunity to dip their hooked beak into the rotting fl esh. Plans were tabled for the circling of Glasgow with a new inner ring road, potential inspiration for the child who never grew up and the drunk who never sobered up, fortunately these plans were shelved. This happy decision unfortunately did not extend to Neverland and St. Bruce (patron saint of egos), managed to designate Locomotive City as a “Comprehensive Development Area”; demolition of 85% of all the buildings followed along with the construction of a series of foul housing estates, to the vision of the White Knight. If this was not enough, salt was trod deep into the ground with the construction the A803 Springburn Expressway, so Locomotive City would never rise again and petrol was the true king.

It is said you die twice; the fi rst when you leave the mortal coil and

your body is left to decay, (apologies for potential metaphors comparing urban rebirth and reincarnation but this is a sad carol and the ending is still not clear); the second when you are forgotten and your memory no longer exists. The Springburn Museum was closed in May 2001 and with it the Ghost of Christmas Past. Not so, a new Ghost has emerged - currently the most used internet search term in Scotland is dear old ‘Locomotive City’. Social media is awash with memories, from tattie fritters and dirty faced workers to Victorian splendour, maybe as a result of the one time ghettoisation of Springburn and the exodus of its people.

Tales tend to be morbid and unpleasant, such as in ‘Red Road’ the 2006 winner of the Cannes Film Festival by Andrea Arnold. A depressing story of voyeurism, bad memory and vengeance, enhancing the reputation

» Demolition is a thriving business in Glasgow with multi-storey fl ats highest on the agenda, let’s hope this unique 20th century typology is not lost and we can look forward to the turn of the ‘noddy’ house. «

Page\Park produced this ‘catwalk’ proposal for Springburn Winter Gardens

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24 NORTH GLASGOW


of St Bruce’s legacy to fever pitch. Unfortunately when it was thought things could not get worse, sadly in 2010 three asylum seekers jumped to their death, sparking a series of more positive contributions from the community. Such thoughts could be considered hypocritical, unlocked barn doors left open for straying guests, although I would welcome anything positive from the mind. The ‘Multi Storey’ exhibition at GOMA / YMCA (2004 - 2010), Your Stories (2010) and This Road is Red (2012) by Alison Irvine are all good examples.

So often it is left to artists to sprinkle fairy dust, the fi rst in my memory and still very present is George Wyllie (1921 - 2012). His best known work, ‘Straw Locomotive’ was built in Springburn before being escorted through the streets to be held aloft by the Finnieston Crane, emulating the real locomotives who enjoyed a similar coming out before being shipped to the four corners of the globe. It was then subsequently

ceremonially burnt to reveal ‘scul?ture’. One artist group managed to bring the plight of both the Springburn Public Halls and Winter Gardens to attention as part of ‘the partnership fund’ Glasgow 1999. Heisenberg and its principle of uncertainty states that the act of observation distorts that being observed, a good reason for Dan Dubowitz and Matt Baker to take a closer look at the precarious position of these two structures, in particular

their photographs of the Public Halls shrouded in candles make it appear like a corpse dressed for its funeral.

To say North Glasgow is the land that time forgot is not entirely true, as a few handsome royal siblings have come forth. The Beauty and the Beast that is Glasgow City Council did venture forth with a gallant e� ort to bid for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, bringing forward the redevelopment of Sighthill. Its Cemetery remains as one

Above - Glasgow’s engineering prowess wasn’t quite what it once was by the eighties Below - Garden Festival-goers had to crane their necks

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of the high points of the North, with the main protagonists of the radical war - including Hardie and Baird - buried there. Other high points include North Glasgow College by RMJM and the 364 feet high drumlin Balgary Hill home of the magnifi cent mirage Springburn Park, a little known extravaganza which really is the park which time forgot.

Of the handsome princes and charming princesses to come forth, Paul Sweeney of Save Springburn Winter Gardens and Patricia Ferguson their tireless MSP have been chopping down most of the thorny undergrowth. The target of their struggle is the Winter Gardens completed in 1900 in return for the Reid family’s donation of the ill fated Public Halls. The largest single span glass structure in Scotland, it has lain derelict for 30 years with numerous attempts to magic it into a di� erent use, the most notable failed fairy godmother being Page and Park’s multi-functional community space come catwalk. Our latest heroes have managed to strike

an early blow by appealing to Glasgow City Council’s generous spirit and like an awakening Scrooge they bestowed a princely sum of money to clear away the worst of the decay. Salutations go out to the Parks Department with an understanding that not through a glorious grand plan but through small thoughtful steps the Winter Gardens could be saved.

This philosophy has been picked up by Glasgow Institute of Architects, in the fi rst instance through a community consultation event as part of Doors Open Day. The public were asked if they had any free time what might they do to help, in a week, a month or a year; their willingness was overwhelming. These thoughts are being gathered by the G.I.A. and with the support of Glasgow City Council a realistic design

competition will be launched early in the new year.

In tandem, Save Springburn Winter Gardens are making the necessary moves to consolidate their organisation in readiness. It will not be ticking crocodiles, giant beanstalks nor poisoned apples our heroes will face but as any bottled genie will tell you, each journey begins with the fi rst step, Save Springburn Winter Gardens have taken their second.

For more information on Save Springburn Winter Gardens check their facebook facebook.com/springburnwintergardens and Twitter: twitter.com/SpringburnWG For more information on current and forthcoming Glasgow architectural competitions refer to www.gia.org.uk

» To say that North Glasgow is the land that time forgot is not entirely true, as a few handsome royal siblings have come forth. «

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27UR100

THE END OF THE YEAR BRINGS NOT JUST FIREWORKS AND RESOLUTIONS - IT ALSO SIGNALS THE RELEASE OF URBAN REALM’S ANNUAL RUN THROUGH OF SCOTLAND’S TOP 100 PRACTICES. SO BEFORE 2014 STARTS IN EARNEST LETS TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF 2013’S HIGHLIGHTS.

Our latest snapshot of the Scottish architectural profession documents an industry (and a country) in transition. Having weathered the worst recession in recent memory many practices are smaller and more e� cient than ever before and now face a challenge of a di� erent kind, as they seek to upscale to meet the challenges of nascent growth.

This is refl ected in our updated sta� and project summary which show many practices are now recruiting again as workloads increase, o� ering hope to a generation of graduates who have been shut out of the sector for far too long.

First and foremost though this is about buildings and in that regard this year has been a tour de force. From the crashed spaceship of Foster & Partners Hydro Arena (sadly not eligible for this list) to Malcolm Fraser’s Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation (reviewed on pg 46), this year’s coterie of buildings demonstrate aptitude for both new build and refurbishment - highlighting the breadth and diversity of indigenous talent and a commitment to the country’s unique heritage.>

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Highland are proud to sponsor the top 100 Architects in Scotland

29UR100

01 jmarchitectsNo. Architects: 31

Ian Alexander, Design Director

What work are you most proud of from the past 12 months? We like to think that we are proud of all our work from the Maggie’s Centre in London (with Steven Holl), new canalside housing for Isis in Manchester and the new Life Sciences building for Moray College in Elgin. However the new Glasgow School of Art building that we are working on with Steven Holl Architects from New York is particularly interesting.

The building is now nearing completion and is satsfying on a number of levels; poetically, volumetrically, materially and experientially.

Has the construction industry fi nally put the recession behind it? It would be comforting to think so but it feels like just below the thin strata of emerging confi dence there is an underlying sense of fragility. Fees remain competitive, the sector has contracted but competition for work is intense. Many projects go on hold while funding is put in place or they go through a process of sign o� which creates a lack of fl ow for a practice. The building of housing has still really a way to go to get back to where it was.

What are your plans for 2014? To get better at doing what we do and despite the challenges briefl y noted in your previous question still enjoy the subject whether the task is small or large. Recent circumstances have taught me to see the opportunities and joy in what we have in front of us and while the future is important for all sorts of reasons anything we are designing or detailing now could be the project that takes us somewhere new, innovative or might alter our way of looking at things.

If you go down to the School of Art today, you’re sure of a big surprise. JM’s opus, masterminded in conjunction with Steven Holl, is rapidly nearing completion and already boasts a commanding presence on Garnethill.

This year the Urban Realm team and website readers all contributed to our top 100 list which is topped by JM Architects thanks to a body of work that culminates in a reimagined Glasgow School of Art (delivered in partnership with Steven Holl). It exemplifi es an increasingly muscular approach to design fuelled by increased confi dence.

Now is an exciting time to be Scottish and in Scotland, from the political debate surrounding independence to anticipation of the 2014 Commonwealth Games and with that in mind this summary can be seen to mark a transition from recession to growth, London to Edinburgh and public to private.

It certainly whets the appetite for what promises to be an exciting 12 months to come.

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30 UR100

How does the quality of architecture in Scotland compare with that found abroad? I don’t really sign up to the philosophy that the grass is greener elsewhere. It does feel however that we can be on the periphery of architectural debate and philosophy and the best of British architects do their more interesting work in other places. During the enlightenment or even the turn of the 19th/20th century we had architects who were defi nitely original thinkers who had strong links and connections to the outside world and in retrospect stand up in the world canon of architecture. We do good work here and over the last 20 years matters have certainly improved. In many ways what is interesting about the UK or Scotland is that we are still searching for a cultural identity through our contemporary built form – this will only occur through the emergence of a stronger set of shared values both cultural and architectural.

02 Page\ParkNo. Architects: 28

Eilidh Henderson, Depute Head Arts & Culture

What work are you most proud of from the past 12 months?In terms of building completions we were pleased to see two

projects emerge, one which had been with us for a long time Clydebank Civic Heart, as a renewed mix of event, museum and social foci for the community, and one very fast track which we were asked to do at the beginning of the year at St Andrews University in creating a new post-graduate university library in the former Martyrs Church. Next year will be exciting, with our work for Edinburgh University, for New Gorbals Housing Association with Elder and Cannon at Laurieston, and the extension for Scottish Opera at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow all being delivered.

Has the construction industry fi nally put the recession behind it? We lost a lot of good companies on all sides of the construction industry during the recession, and those that survived the onslaught of retraction in workload, fees and to a certain extent erosion of respect for what we all do, are stepping warily into the hoped for sunlight. There is no doubt a pent up demand has not been met over the last fi ve years so in part the uplift is a economic cyclical inevitability. In that new dawn a shrunken industry will be expected to respond and resource up, and that will mean costs will go up.

What are your plans for 2014? We became an employee owned business on the 1st of December. This is an exciting transformation for us all. The commitment that architectural practice demands of everyone has made it only reasonable

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Page\Park’s forte in repurposing historic buildings came to the fore in this renewal of Clydebank town hall. It caps an eventful year for the practice which has just become fully employee owned.

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that all who contribute should benefi t and represent us. The collective model pioneered by others including Arup, we think will give us the right foundation to create good architecture into the future.

How does the quality of architecture in Scotland compare with that found abroad? What makes architecture interesting is how it deals with the political, economical and cultural context of the place it is located. In that respect there is a lot of good work being done in Scotland with many new emerging voices, and speaking for ourselves, new platforms to have interesting conversations, promoted by a vigorous

university system, a government embrace of the potential of architecture and place, and publications such as Urban Realm.

03 Reiach & HallNo. Architects: 25

04 HypostyleNo. Architects: 25

05 LDNNo. Architects: 24

Mark Hopton, Partner

What work are you most proud of from the past 12 months?The last twelve months has seen LDN complete a number of projects including the new Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock, the refurbishment and upgrading of the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh and the new Visitor Centre at Abbotsford, Sir Walter Scott’s Conundrum Castle. Further North, we have been instrumental in giving Knockando Wool Mill a new lease of life. As a practice, we are proud that we have managed

Above & below - LDN Architects have had a bumper year, exemplifi ed by this visitor reception building at Abbotsford House. Home of Sir Walter Scott. Located in extensive woodland it employs extensive use of timber.

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of medium sized practices producing thoughtful and highly specifi c work, and our best students and emerging practices are a cause for optimism. As ever, the best work is produced by creative architects working closely with clients to develop their key objectives. Public procurement processes however seem increasingly to mitigate against this and marginalise the critical input of architects.

06 Simpson & BrownNo. Architects: 17

07 Gareth HoskinsNo. Architects: 18

08 Collective No. Architects: 17

09 Anderson bell Christie No. Architects: 16

to deliver a consistently high quality of work for our clients across each of these projects and that we have helped our clients develop and extend their own businesses and activities in new ways.

Has the construction industry fi nally put the recession behind it? Perhaps. There seems to be more activity but we are working harder then ever to deliver work in an extremely competitive environment.

What are your plans for 2014? LDN was fi rst established in 1957 and has managed to weather the boom and bust cycles that seem to have happened every few years since then. Over the past few years business has been di� cult for everybody but LDN has managed to retain a core team of excellent and committed sta� and we are well positioned to make the best of opportunities as they arise. We have some interesting and complex projects in development in Scotland including the development of the Edinburgh Law School at Old College for Edinburgh University and in England, a new Central Library and the restoration and redevelopment of the Grade 1 Listed Piece Hall in Halifax which are due to start construction later in the year.

How does the quality of architecture in Scotland compare with that found abroad? Very well. Scotland has a group

32 UR100

Michael Laird Architects proposal for a new Edinburgh Academical stadium which is set to become a regular fi xture for Scottish Rugby fans.

10 Austin-Smith:Lord No. Architects: 11

11 Malcolm FraserNo. Architects: 10

12 Elder & Cannon

No. Architects: 10

13 Richard Murphy

No. Architects: 10

14 NORD

No. Architects: 6

15 Holmes Miller

No. Architects: 28

16 Sutherland Hussey

No. Architects: 6

17 Michael Laird

No. Architects: 14

Brendan Diamond, Director

What work are you most proud of from the past 12 months?The City of Glasgow College - won at the end of a long NPD process this project, designed in conjunction with sub-consultant Reiach and Hall Architects, shows that great design is achievable in Design and Build procurement.

Successful planning approval for Edinburgh Accies rugby ground on a very prominent site despite very vocal, local opposition.

Our speculative o� ce building for Ediston Properties on Morrison Street Edinburgh, the fi rst speculative o� ce building completed in Edinburgh since the recession started.

Our refurbishment of WL Gore’s o� ce building in Livingston won the British Council of O� ces ‘Best of the Best’ award. This is the fi rst time this award has come to Scotland.

Has the construction industry fi nally put the recession behind it? It looks that way and we have been growing steadily over the last fi ve months. Some remnants of the

recession still haunt us. The worst of these is low fees. We need the whole architectural industry to regain confi dence and to insist on realistic fees. This will allow us to invest in our practice and redress the loss in earnings our fantastic sta� has made in the last 6 years. On a positive note the recession has taught us to be much more e� cient in our business which stands us in good stead for the recovery.

What are your plans for 2014? We aim to continue to grow methodically. For the past fi ve years we have set the foundations for this growth through numerous feasibility studies and planning applications. What we really want to see now is these buildings being built and the renewed confi dence in the market is enabling this to happen. We have a fantastic team in MLA that is passionate about architecture. Our aim is to turn this passion into beautiful buildings and to improve our already excellent reputation for the quality of our service. Work is due to start on site on a large o� ce development in Aberdeen, Edinburgh Accies Stadium and a large housing development at Pitsligo Road Edinburgh.

How does the quality of architecture in Scotland compare with that found abroad? Very well indeed. Over the last few years the quality of our architecture at the top end has improved greatly. There seems to be a wider range of talented practices in Scotland producing beautiful buildings of all scales. What is interesting is that many of these buildings have been created in a recession which shows that good design does not need excessive funding. However, the standard of these really good buildings accentuates the gulf that exists with the ever increasing amount of mediocre buildings that are being created. Architects need to regain some of their respect in the industry – we are falling too far down the food chain.

18 ARPL

No. Architects: 7

Gordon Fleming, Managing Director

What work are we most proud of in the last 12 months?The work we are most proud of this year is the completion of our fi nal work in the regeneration project at Ballymun in Dublin. We have been working with the residents of Ballymun for over 13 years as part of the transformation of the high rise estate into a new town. This summer we completed 125 new family homes around Poppintree Park and an ultra low energy apartment block. Seeing the residents moving from the substandard deck access fl ats to their new homes is very satisfying.

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Has the construction industry fi nally put the recession behind it? There does seem to be defi nite signs of increased activity with more inquiries coming in to our o� ce but it is more the beginning of the end rather than fi nally in the past. The ripples of the recession will also continue to be felt for some time. Contractors and consultants will feel the e� ects of low tenders and low fee levels for some time to come. We are still seeing suicidal fee bids being submitted on projects which will still be running a couple of years from now. Will we have businesses failing next year as a result of this backwash?

What are your plans for 2014? Schools, theatres, housing, churches, community centres, more passive houses and fi nally building with BIM.

How does the quality of architecture in Scotland compare with that found abroad? The best of Scottish architecture can stand alongside work in any country. There is however still a large body of poor work being built and my perception is that there is more value attached to design in many other countries. I am nevertheless optimistic about the future as we move out of fi nancially straightened times we will hopefully see recognition of the longer term benefi ts of well considered work in all fi elds.

19 Oberlanders

No. Architects: 14

20 7NNo. Architects: 3

Ewan Anderson, Managing Partner

What work are you most proud of from the past 12 months? We have had a pretty good year, relatively speaking. We started o� by completing the Glasgow City Centre Strategy which was a fascinating project, tackling city wide issues at a strategic level to try and make a di� erence at street level . We’ve just fi nished an extensive public consultation exercise on the Fountainbridge masterplan which the local community are very pleased with, we are very pleased with and the City of Edinburgh/EDI are very pleased with. It has great potential to become a key civic project for Edinburgh, with the Council taking a long term interest in the site, so it has been a satisfying way to fi nish the year.

34 UR100

ARPL’s foray into Dublins Ballymun resulted in the creation of this 126 home development around Poppintree Park, culmination of a community engagement process which ARPL have been involved with for the past 13 years.

Has the construction industry fi nally put the recession behind it? Yes and no I suppose. Things are certainly better than last year but there is still a pretty big hangover. Everything seems to take forever to get going due to funding problems and high levels of caution and the profession is still cutting its own throat in a race for the bottom on fee bidding. However, in many respects it is an interesting time as the last few years of enforced self examination about how we do things and how we adapt to the changed environment and recalibrate is opening up some interesting avenues.

What are your plans for 2014? 7N will be fi ve years old in January so it will be quite a poignant time to take stock of where we’ve been, where we are going and have a wee celebration. I think we’ve achieved a lot over the last fi ve years, in really tough times, and have some great projects to look forward to in 2014. We’ve just been appointed to do the Town Centre Masterplanning Toolkit for the Scottish Government, we’ve got planning applications to do for the Fountainbridge and West Edinburgh International Business Gateway masterplans and have residential and student housing projects going on site.

How does the quality of architecture in Scotland compare with that found abroad? It is generally inferior to most European countries but that is not due to a lack of architectural talent but is the result of embedded procurement and development funding systems in the UK. The public sector seems mired in an internally perceived need to eliminate every possible risk from procurement processes rather than delivering quality and real value. I have a wishful hope that the post recession climate will level the playing fi eld a little forcing development decision makers to consider a much longer term view. The UK is focused on the short term and Northern Europe on the long term. This is the most signifi cant di� erence which is the root cause of architectural quality issues.

21 John McAslan

No. Architects: 4

22 BMJ No. Architects: 18

35

7N have extensive experience of regenerating Scotland’s canal networks, evidenced by some of their latest work which will see a number of disused waterways around Edinburgh’s Fountainbridge district brought back to life.

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23 Sheppard RobsonNo. Architects: 5

24 KeppieNo. Architects: 54

David Ross, Design Director

What work are you most proud of from the past 12 months? There are a number of projects which we’re proud of, and for di� erent reasons. But perhaps those which stand out are Aberdeen International Business Park; the largest commercial investment outside of London, and Project Olimpic, Iskandar, in Malaysia; a competitive winning design for a major new Sports village. Other highlights include the newly completed Stromness Primary School in Orkney and our design for the new Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infi rmary. We were also successful in winning the competition to design a new masterplan to regenerate the former Diageo site in Kilmarnock. The project is called The Halo and we’re very proud of it.

Has the construction industry fi nally put the recession

behind it? No, not entirely. With a recession so deep and which cut across all sectors and regions, growth is always going to be fragile. However there are encouraging signs that commercial investment has picked up a bit in the UK, especially in places like Aberdeen. We’ve been fortunate in having some success in these areas which has allowed us to recruit again but I don’t think many in the industry will take success and growth for granted. We’re all smiling a bit more regularly and given the tough times of the last fi ve years, maybe that’s enough for now.

What are your plans for 2014? Our plans are fairly simple. We’d like to win more – and better – work in areas and sectors that interest us. We aim to improve our e� ciency and our service to our Clients, and we want to become an even better place for creative people to work. The very high quality of new people we’ve brought into our business gives me confi dence that our work will continue on the upward quality curve that it has followed recently. More specifi cally, we are planning to build on our position in Aberdeen.

How does the quality of architecture in Scotland compare with that found abroad? I think it compares very well. We have a very high quality of work being done in Scotland, and

36 UR100

Left & right - Keppie’s master plan for Aberdeen International Business Park for Abstract Securities is indicative of surging demand from the North east’s burgeoning oil and gas sector.

by a number of di� erent practices. I think we are continuing to export well too and perhaps practices from Scotland continue to punch above their weight overseas. I’d obviously prefer for our country to be the home of some more large scale, innovative, design-led initiatives that promote collaborative ideas for how we might address the major issues around us, and in turn elevate the profession. Maybe that’s something you guys could start to turn your mind to?

25 RyderNo. Architects: 8

26 Ian SpringfordNo. Architects: 7

27 Morgan McDonnellNo. Architects: 5

28 Cameron WebsterNo. Architects: 4

29 Rural DesignNo. Architects: 4

30 Neil SutherlandNo. Architects: 2

31 McLean Architects

No. Architects: 7

Don McLean, Managing Director

What work are you most proud of from the past 12 months?We have recently implemented a logistically di� cult new-build project, the Scottish Centre for Ecology and the Natural Environment, at Rowerdennan, for the University of Glasgow, and are well advanced with the new-build Westhills Episcopal Church, in Aberdeen. However, probably the most challenging has been the voluminous work-stream of ward and department upgrades being carried out at the Queen Margaret Hospital for NHS Fife to very pressing time constraints. This work was necessary in response to the

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38 UR100

completion of the Victoria Infi rmary, Kirkcaldy, and essential for NHS Fife to provide their full complement of services locally. Has the construction industry fi nally put the recession behind it? Despite the more positive headlines which are beginning to appear, I don’t yet think we can claim that! It’s true that Mclean Architects has experienced improved workload in recent days, but, listening to our peers in the industry, this is a far from universal experience. My concern is that many companies have made unwise choices in reducing costs, and have taken work on at much lower fee levels, all in the interest of achieving turnover. Surely in an upturn, when additional resources are needed in advance of actual fee income, this will cause some real problems! What are your plans for 2014? More of the same! That means seeking to win work through relationships rather than by fi lling out endless PQQ’s, encouraging our talented and motivated team to continue producing high-quality work, and seeking to o� er a tailored service that best suits our clients’ needs! This has been our plan in recent years, along with our desire to remain diverse and resist being seen as ‘specialists’. To this end we have recently added an Accredited Conservation Architect service to our o� ering. Having recently taken on two more Architectural graduates we will also continue to expand our team to cope with the increase in projects being experienced.

How does the quality of architecture in Scotland compare with that found abroad? I think that Scottish architecture compares favourably with projects carried out in other countries, certainly in terms of quality of design. Having said this, we generally only see the high-points of design projects in magazines from abroad, but can see all around us missed opportunity shaping our local environment, rather than ambition for innovation and creativity. Architects, I think, these days are too often seen as merely necessary to get something built (often referred to in ‘frameworks’ as sub-contractors). We are certainly not seen as leaders in a process where ‘design’ is at the core! We need to be careful that we don’t, in a climate of meagre fees, respond by taking the course of least resistance!

32 Smith Scott MullanNo. Architects: 7

33 AedasNo. Architects: 22

34 A449No. Architects: 1

35 JAMstudioNo. Architects: 1

David Crozier, Associate

What work are you most proud of from the past 12 months?We have undertaken a number of varied projects in the last year, as well as continuing to work with existing clients.

39

JAMstudio’s most recently completed residential project is a 4 bedroom new build house in Royal Deeside and is our most energy e� cient house to date, with solar thermal & photo-voltaic panels, high performance glazing and a biomass boiler. Our newest retail project for Duncan and Todd in Aberdeen gave us the opportunity to design a sleek, modern opticians practice using modular units, clever joinery and a minimal colour palette. We are very proud of the fantastic feedback for both projects and thankful for our clients who give us the opportunity to practice inventive and original architecture. Has the construction industry fi nally put the recession behind it? I don’t think anyone expected the economic climate to change so suddenly, or for as long as it has. There

are promising signs that growth is improving and there are areas of the country which have been fortunate enough to avoid the worst of the recession, but on the whole I don’t think the construction industry is out of the woods just yet. We have been lucky enough to grow in size through the recession for a number of reasons but most importantly to us as a practice we are fi nding more and more clients coming to us because they want bespoke design. What are your plans for 2014? We are very excited about 2014 as we have made the decision to move our practice into the centre of Aberdeen. At the moment we’re working on the fi tout of the o� ce which we have designed to showcase di� erent ways of working using some of our

McLean Architects experience in ecclesiastical work came into play for the development of Westhill Episcopal Church. Located within the diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney it will eventually sit at the heart of a new housing estate

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40 UR100

favourite furniture solutions and lighting products. We want to practice what we preach in terms of good o� ce design showing that there are options and that following standard practice is not always the best response to workplace design. Visitors will be more than welcome so watch this space for progress as we plan to be open early in 2014! How does the quality of architecture in Scotland compare with that found abroad? Scotland has a lot of buildings it can be very proud of, including a number of big name projects such as Glasgow’s Riverside Museum and the upcoming V&A museum in Dundee which stand alongside the best architecture abroad. At the other end of the scale however, Scotland su� ers from a lack of aspiration when it comes to both new o� ce buildings and new housing developments. The majority seem resigned to the idea that things have always been done this way and therefore always will be. I think that architects, as well as planners, developers and politicians, need to be more vocal about the opportunities which new materials and better understanding of design processes can bring to Scottish architecture today.

Above & below - JAMStudio’s retail fi t-out for Douglas Dickie Opticians is a real sight for sore eyes. Making a virtue of its constricted site the work sees moodular display panels arranged on both sides to open up the centre of the shop.

41

3DReidAbbozzo ArchitectsADF ArchitectsAlan Dunlop Architect LimitedAllan Murray ArchitectsArchial NORRArmitage AssociatesataStudioATW Chartered ArchitectsBaxendale Design Co. LtdBDG architecture + design BDPBennetts Associates Architectsbergmark architectsBrennan & Wilson ArchitectsBrown + Brown ArchitectsCreative Design Practice LtdCity Architecture O� ceColtart Earley ArchitectureCooper CromarCre8 ArchitectureCRGP LimitedDavid Blaikie ArchitectsDO ArchitectureDualchas ArchitectsEDO ArchitectureFergus Purdie ArchitectsGokay DeveciGraeme Massie ArchitectsGraven ImagesGroves Raines ArchitectsHalliday Fraser MunroHLM Architects

Icosis ArchitectsJewitt and Wilkie ArchitectsJohn Gilbert ArchitectsJohn Renshaw ArchitectsKerry Smith ArchitectsKonishi Ga� neyLawrence McPheerson AssociatesLee BoydLewis and Hickey Ltdmacmon chartered architectsManson ArchitectsMcInnes Gardner ArchitectsMichael Gilmour AssociatesMoxon ArchitectsNicoll Russell StudiosOliver Chapman Architects LimitedPATIENCE and HIGHMORE ArchitectsReynolds ArchitectureRobin Baker ArchitectsRoom Architects LtdSASANBELLSHS BURRIDGE ARCHITECTSSimon Winstanley ArchitectsSlorach Wood ArchitectsStallan-BrandStudio DubStudioKAPWT ArchitectureWylie Shanks ArchitectsYoung and Gault ArchitectsZM ArchitectureZone Architects

THE LIMITATIONS OF THE PRINTED PAGE SADLY RENDERED IT IMPOSSIBLE TO INCLUDE EVERYONE IN THIS COMPILATION OF THE BEST, THE REMAINING 65 OF WHOM WE PRESENT BELOW IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER. KEEP AN EYE ON URBANREALM.COM TO KEEP ABREAST OF ALL THEIR LATEST WORK.


ARPL Architects11 Wellington Square, Ayr KA7 1ENTel: 01292 289777 Email: gfl [email protected]: www.arpl.co.uk

No. of Architects (Scotland): 7 No. of Sta� (Scotland): 14

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 providing an exemplary service to ensure all parties in the project team can deliver the result each project demands.

Services Provided: Architectural services, conservation , Passive Haus accredited design , sustainable design, masterplanning. Quantity surveying, CDM Co-ordinator services

7N ArchitectsTel: 0131 220 5541 Email: [email protected]: www.7narchitects.com


Practice Statement: 7N Architects are a design studio where architecture, masterplanning, urbanism, landscape and social entrepreneurship are woven together in a holistic approach to environmental regeneration and transformational change.

Services Provided: Architecture, Urban Design, Strategic Planning, Masterplanning, Public Realm

McLean Architects LtdCraighall Business Park, Glasgow G4 9XATel: 0141 353 2040 Email: [email protected]: www.mcleanarchitects.co.uk


Practice Statement: McLean Architects are a progressive and experienced team based in Glasgow, working throughout the United Kingdom on a broad variety of projects. As a diverse and award-winning practice we cover every sector and feel that the broad experience enjoyed by our team brings benefi ts in innovation to every project.

McLean Architects, ‘a team driven by design excellence and client satisfaction’

Keppie Design160 West Regent Street, Glasgow G2 4RLTel: 0141 204 0066 Email: [email protected]: www.keppiedesign.co.uk


Practice Statement: Architecture by Keppie is a hallmark of design excellence in both form and function. Keppie buildings are visually stunning, technically sound and always practical in concept and purpose. We never compromise in the quality of our design and delivery.

Services Provided: Architecture, Interiors, Landscape Design, Urban Design, Town Planning.

Hypostyle Architects49 St Vincent Crescent, Glasgow G3 8NGTel: 0141 204 4441 Fax: 0141 204 4897Email: [email protected]: www.arpl.co.uk


Services Provided: Hypostyle Architects is a UK practice that works in all fi elds of Architectural Design. Specialising in Residential, Health, Education, Commercial, Master planning and Urban Designs, the practice understands the boundaries and process of creating visually dynamic and functional buildings. In the past year Hypostyle Architects have incorporated Bradford Robertson into the fold. The addition of this team expands Hypostyles industrial and commercial expertise.

Austin-Smith:Lord LLPEmail: [email protected] Email: [email protected]: www.arpl.co.uk

No. of Architects (Scotland): 14 including landscape and technicians No. of Sta� (Scotland): 17

Services Provided: Architecture, Conservation, Landscape Architecture, Masterplanning, Urban Design, Interior Design

42 UR100

Simpson & Brown with Addyman Archaeology St Ninian’s Manse, Quayside Street, Edinburgh, EH6 6EJ Email: [email protected]: www.simpsonandbrown.co.uk


Services Provided: Full Architectural Services from project inception to completion on site, Feasibility Studies, Conservation Plans and Statements, Building Surveys, Analysis, Archaeology and Heritage Consultancy, Advice on planning and funding applications, Sustainable Design.

Armitage Associates 69 Haugh Road, GLASGOW, G3 8TXTel: 0141 221 7304Email: [email protected]: www.armitageassociates.com


Services Provided: Healthcare Design, Public Residential, Private Residential, Feasibility Studies, Project Managing, Brief Writing,Space Planning, Interior Design, Refurbishments, Restoration and Rehabilitation, Alterations and Conversions

A449LTD23 Morton Street, Edinburgh EH15 2HNTel: 0131 563 5152 Email: [email protected]: www.a449.co.uk Twitter: @A449LTD

Principal Contact: Matthew Johnson

Practice Statement: We take pride in a role that allows us to interpret and improve how people interact with buildings and spaces. Our experience enables us to quickly recognise site conditions and opportunities, and mindful of context we realise the true potential of an idea through the use of e� ective design and careful detailing. We believe in the e� cient use of budget, materials and space, and understand how aspect, light and orientation inform a project.

jmarchitectsTel: 0131 464 6100 Email: [email protected]: www.jmarchitects.net


Practice Statement: jmarchitects is an award winning architectural practice with extensive experience in education, community, health, social housing, commercial, private residential, retail, and sports and leisure projects. We are experienced in providing all of these services to both the public and private sector, and have a professional, proactive approach to client liaison and customer care.

Services Provided: Architecture, Urban Design and Regeneration, Masterplanning, Educational Project Advisors, Lead Consultancy, Project Management and Contract Administration, Interior Design, Design Champions.

JAMstudio LtdUnit 6, Netherton Business Centre, Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, AB51 5LXTel: 01467 641670 Email: [email protected]: www.jamstudio.uk.com Twitter: @jamstudio_ltd


Practice Statement: Whatever you are looking to build, JAMstudio can help you. As Chartered Architects, we specialise in designing commercial, retail and residential property whether it is a new build, renovation, conversion, fi t-out or extension, and we have the architectural design skills and construction expertise to bring your project to life. We are looking for clients who want great design combined with technical expertise and know that you do not have to go to a big practice to fi nd it.

Services Provided: Architecture, space planning, interior design, project management, feasibility studies, planning and warrant approvals, contract administration, tendering, site inspections. Sectors covered ‚Äì commercial o� ces, hotels, bars, restaurants, distilleries, residential new builds and conversions, extensions and alterations including listed buildings work.

LDN ArchitectsTel: Edinburgh 0131 222 2900 / Forres 0130 967 3221Email: [email protected]: www.ldn.co.uk


Practice Statement: LDN Architects is a practice of about 40 people working together in Edinburgh and Forres to create architecture which makes a positive contribution to the lives of its clients and the people who use its buildings. The practice is best known for public buildings, theatres, museums, law courts, churches, and for its creative approach to conservation.

Services Provided: A full range of architectural services for a wide range of clients on projects of all sizes.

Page \ Park Architects20 James Morrison Street, Glasgow G1 5PETel: 0141 553 5440 Fax: 0141 553 5441Email: [email protected]: www.pagepark.co.uk Twitter: @ pagepark


Practice Statement: Page \ Park became an Employee Owned Business on 1 December. Over the last year we moved from being a traditional architectural partnership into a forty strong employee owned model which combines the dynamic of a lively and creative collection of design groups, linked together by the strength of collaboration, e� cient working, shared values and with the administrative strength of a common base.

Services Provided: Conservation, Arts & Culture, Masterplanning, Housing, Work, Learning & Health spaces, Briefi ng & Interiors

Michael Laird Architects5 Forres Street, Edinburgh EH3 6DETel: 0131 226 6991 Email: [email protected]: www.michaellaird.co.uk


Practice Statement: Michael Laird Architects are a well established, award-winning, Scottish practice based in Edinburgh and Glasgow. We are passionate about architectural design and providing an excellent service to all of our clients. These clients come from both the private and public sector and much of our work is obtained from repeat business and framework agreements with key clients. Our work covers a wide range of environmental design from master planning and urban design through to building and interior design. We have a particular expertise in the design of workplaces and workplace buildings.

Services Provided: Masterplanning, O� ces & Commercial, Residential, Workplace & Interiors, Data Centres & Industrial, Retail, Hotels & Leisure, Education, Conservation

43


G NEM IC E

R EA NH

Housed within the 18th century Old High School building The Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation proves that it’s still possible to teach an old dog new tricks after becoming the fi rst listed building in the UK to earn a ‘BREEAM Outstanding’ award at design stage (it must wait a further six months for a separate construction assessment). No mere esoteric platitude doled out on the whims of a fl awed tick-box checklist it is being heralded as providing no less than a template for upgrading yesterday’s buildings to meet the challenges presented by tomorrow’s low carbon economy.

Designed by Malcolm Fraser Architects and delivered by Graham Construction the £10.5m carbon hub practices what it preaches by working with the grain of existing buildings and the embodied energy these represent and drawing business, government and academia together to collaborate on problems such as climate change and the development of low carbon technologies.

Situated alongside Surgeon’s Square, where Burke and Hare once delivered cadavers to Dr Knox’s dissection theatre, the scheme was conceived through Heriot Watt, Edinburgh and Napier, a collaboration which has transformed a forgotten car park into a landscaped

pedestrian space and through route to the Parliament. A raised landscaped plinth spills out to form an outdoor terrace after the university decided to have no parking for the development, save for three wheelchair accessible spaces and two electrical charging points. To further entice people through an old caretakers cottage has been demolished, allowing a gap in the stone wall to be widened in consultation with Edinburgh World Heritage, which will allow pedestrian access from High Street through to Drummond Street during o� ce hours.

Giving Urban Realm a guided tour of the project lead architect Calum Duncan said: “The High School Yard would have originally been a formal driveway leading to the Hall, over time a series of buildings have been built around. This continues that pattern of bringing something new into the courtyard. The idea is to bring as much engagement and through tra� c into the courtyard as possible”, explained Duncan. These interventions include a contemporary copper clad extension overlooking the square, creating a second frontage for the centre. “Before this was just a back elevation of a cast iron escape stair, caretakers cottage and whirligig. Now it’s a connected space. A lot of people didn’t appreciate that this building

44 ECCIJOHN GLENDAY

BY ALL ACCOUNTS THE CARBON REDUCTION STANDARDS ADOPTED BY MALCOLM FRASER AT THE EDINBURGH CENTRE FOR CARBON INNOVATION ARE SECOND TO NONE. ON A RECENT VISIT TO THE EXEMPLAR PROJECT URBAN REALM TEASED OUT SOME OF THE TECHNIQUES AND TECHNOLOGIES WHICH HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO ITS COLLECTION OF A BREEAM ‘OUTSTANDING’ AWARD - THE FIRST LISTED BUILDING IN THE UK TO DO SO.

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Wood you believe it: The ECCI is the fi rst UK listed building to be named BREEAM ‘Outstanding’


46 ECCI

was here beforehand just because it didn’t have that presence down Infi rmary Street. It’s just about doing some simple things like the landscaping, giving it a clear presence and identity. We’re working with an artist and sculptor to decorate that outside space”, said Duncan.

“We’ve just tried to make good, decent, fl exible open-plan spaces all of which visually track into a central atrium where there are opportunities for break out into smaller groups or informal meetings. Basically the building is all about connecting people together and mixing people up so you’ve got. All businesses, master students and centre sta� . They didn’t have a building before, this is their fi rst building.”

Internally the space is defi ned by a full height atrium

conjoining the rear elevation of the front building with another historic structure behind. Intent had existed to repoint stonework on this façade to provide some texture but this idea was shelved when the full extent of damage was revealed. Duncan observed: “When we fi rst saw it we appreciated how many times wall and door openings had been moved and fi lled in with blockwork and brickwork, only a small amount of original stonework remained.”

These changes stemmed from a 1900 overhaul when the university transformed the buildings into a new department of engineering, lining interior walls with a glazed brick and laying new concrete fl oor with a steel frame. “The whole thing was just one big space,” recalled Duncan. “A huge crane stretched the full length of this

A key goal for the University was to open up the site to pedestrian through tra� c

47

volume and was used to hoist up engines during work.”

A positive side e� ect of all this chopping and changing was that it gave the architects the ability to add new insulation internally, as there were no decorative cornices or other period features to get in the way. Foregoing the use of steel a cross-laminated timber frame was specifi ed from wall to wall to minimise solar gain. Duncan added: “Everything is structural, the only thing which isn’t quite what it seems is a central column of plywood, 400mm thick. Structurally it doesn’t need to be that size but if ever there was a fi re it would char down and that charring would protect it. It actually

performs better than steel. In historic buildings timber was a common structural element but nowadays you wouldn’t normally think of using timber in the remodelling of an historic building. You would be using steel or concrete.“

Plumping for timber wasn’t without its challenges however as the chosen structure came with no tolerance at all, “… it was all mm perfect” recalled Duncan. “We were wedging this between two existing buildings.”

A series of timber ba� es stretch the full length of

» When we fi rst saw it we appreciated how many times wall and door openings had been moved and fi lled in with brickwork. Only a small amount of stonework remained. «

Above - A public cafe activates the ground fl oor and courtyard Below - The ECCI eschews labs and white coated scientists for meeting rooms and o� ces

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48 ECCI

the atrium’s roof, a conscious decision on the part of the designers to limit overheating. “Environmentally I just didn’t want this space to be overheated but architecturally you also get a really nice, dappled, di� use light. Typical atrium buildings are over lit,” Duncan explained. “It’s always much more interesting to frame something than look at every view that possibly could be. If you come on a sunny day or warm afternoon you just get that glow coming through and shafts of light hitting the walls. It’s just more interesting and environmentally you’re not making problems for yourself.”

Annabel Cooper communications o� cer said: “I keep coming in at weekends now, it’s a nice place to work

- you’ve ruined my life! (pointing at Duncan). It’s been tremendous for us because what we do is quite conceptual and it was hard to explain before the building existed but now it’s much more tangible. “

Duncan added: ”The fi rst thing I grasped in the early days was it wasn’t actually about research into carbon, so it wasn’t about bo� ns in white jackets researching. It was actually about communication and the exchange of ideas. That gives you a clear idea about what the building is about.”

Not everywhere are the environmental credentials so high however, with restrictions on site necessitating the use of mechanical air conditioning. Speaking above

Whirligig’ s & bin stores have given way to a landscaped courtyard

49

the hum of an ac unit outside one of the main meeting rooms Duncan explained: “There’s only roof glazing here, you could ventilate from the roof but on a rainy day that proves di� cult. It’s sensible just to close it o� but mechanical ventilation is kept down to an absolute minimum.”

Elsewhere a shopping list of low-carbon add-ons is impressively long, stretching from a combined heat and power system to a phalanx o three letter acronyms such as VOC levels and FSC specifi cation, its location and a lot of else besides which don’t really come under BREEAM. Duncan noted: “We didn’t get any BREEAM credits for taking bits of steelwork from the old building and re-using

those in the new building but it’s enormously satisfying. As to whether the scheme will attain its hoped for ‘Outstanding’ rating for construction Duncan is remaining coy, saying only: “There are critical credits that still could go either way but fi ngers crossed.”

As a template for repurposing redundant buildings ECCI proves that historic building fabric and legacy structures needn’t be a hindrance to crafting spaces that are the equal of any new build. With the vast bulk of our present day cities likely to be with us for the next century or more it is a timely reminder that the most innovative and successful designs are often those borne not from blank slates but the rich and complex layering of history.

True to its function surface parking has given way to cycling facilities


50 CHARLOTTE SQUAREJOHN GLENDAY

S RU N PQ I UA G

Blending period grandeur with modern technology Charlotte Square bristles with fully refurbished period cornicing, stairwells and wooden wall panels across six townhouses once occupied by the National Trust for Scotland. Behind this elegant facade however lie a host of modern building services such as cat 6 wiring and air conditioning hidden in window sills lamp shades.

New additions elsewhere such as Adamesque wall lights have been given greater prominence to help marry the modern with the historic but this fusion really comes alive in a dramatic interior sandwiched between the new and the old elements. Bridged by a dramatic roof of lightweight ETFE pillows, last seen at Foster’s Hydro Arena, this atrium space serves as a spectacular showpiece, held aloft on steel supports shrunk to the slimmest possible dimensions in deference to the Georgian architecture.

Conducting a tour of the property for Urban Realm Morgan McDonnell director Guy Morgan said: “When people walk into that atrium, almost to a man they say ‘wow’. It’s so unexpected; it’s very un-Edinburgh. This was a car park, there was a bit that the NTS used as an outdoor café space but it was barely used. We’ve raised the ground with glazed fl ooring, like a pool, playing with the idea of space. One of the challenges was creating a four storey o� ce building with car parking below it that was subservient to the principal buildings.” This glazed fl ooring allows light into a workmanlike basement level which retains some of the safes from the old wine cellar and adds a range of building services, such as showers and a bike store.

McDonnell continued: “At the same time as being subservient it had to rise to the same height as the atrium. We’ve used ETFE pillows in the roof to keep it as light weight as

possible so the structure is really minimal, but also we were able to join the building horizontally because if we joined the in and out facades with any kind of pitch at all it would be a complete guddle on the roof. By using ETFE on the structure you can just tailor the cushions to tie in. It’s a much neater option.”

This minimalist approach is refl ected in the gables where the maximum size of glass possible was specifi ed, an unintended consequence of which is the confusion amongst some occupants who have taken to smoking in the space in the mistaken belief that they are outdoors. “The idea here is to create an enclosure which is as invisible as possible rather than shouting ‘look at me’”, observed McDonnell. Drawing light to the black glass cladding of the buildings core it refl ects the dynamic play of bay windows opposite, interconnecting link bridges above and transparent fl ooring below. This also allows daylight to enter at both ends of a space which is intimate enough to allow a dialogue between buildings and to act as a focal point for internal circulation.

Another set piece addition can be found embedded within the heart of the original Adam structure, a disused lift shaft that had been driven down one of the original stairwells. McDonnell recalled; “Previously there was no daylight here at all, it was fl oored over on every level with a lift shaft going up and down The play here is rather than put in a pencheck stair with glass and stainless steel we’ve kept it 50mm from the wall, so rather than cantilevering out from the wall we’ve left a gap. It fl ows rather than being a part of the wall and was done in exactly the same rise and tread dimensions as the original stone stair… so it feels natural within the space.”

For a project on this scale in a city as fi ckle as Edinburgh,

MORGAN MCDONNELL’S REFURBISHMENT AND EXTENSION OF A ROBERT ADAM TOWNHOUSE AT CHARLOTTE SQUARE, ON BEHALF OF CORRAN PROPERTIES, DRAGS EDINBURGH’S NEW TOWN INTO THE 21ST CENTURY WITH A SUITE OF FLEXIBLE GRADE A OFFICE SPACE. SIGNPOSTING THE WAY AHEAD FOR THE REPURPOSING OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS IT IS AS MODERN AS ANY NEW BUILD BUT, AS WE’VE JUST SEEN AT THE ECCI, RETAINS ITS PERIOD ELEGANCE AND A SENSE OF HISTORY WITH IT.

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52 CHARLOTTE SQUARE

Top - The terrace has been turned inside out Left - It’s easy to just stop and stair Right - Few clues to the transformation within are evident here

the assumption might be that feathers will get ru� ed but McDonnell expresses satisfaction at the relatively pain-free gestation of the project, saying: “The whole process has been really quick, we’ve had a lot of support from Edinburgh World Heritage who got what we were trying to do. To attract businesses back into the city centre you’ve got to make buildings fi t for purpose.

“The proportions are amazing; the fi rst-fl oor gallery is about as open plan as you’re ever going to get in a series of buildings like this. One of the interesting things when you go to the new build is you’ve got that layering of space which Adam was interested in. You see right through. We kept to a minimal palette, with over scaled pendants that contain an amazing amount of kit – giving us LG7 lighting levels even though we’re in a 200 odd year old building.

A secondary façade of the building stretches along Hope Street Lane, a ‘robust’ service lane which presented the design team with its own particular set of challenges. McDonnell noted: “One of the things we had to be cognisant of is that the lane itself is a really robust environment, the back of McDonald’s is always going to be a back of McDonald’s. The language of this building onto the lane is redolent of that industrial city centre environment. We’ve got a robust fi nish with large timber panel sections that are a play on the idea of a warehouse with sliding

doors. If we attempted to put anything showy here it would have looked ridiculous in the context so what we did was create a solid robust space and the space between the townhouses was that sparkly jewel.”

Utilising Accoya timber, ’real wood with the living daylights sucked out of it and impregnated with chemicals’, these panels will resist discolouration and are extrapolated indoors through the use of ply alternatives. “We played on the idea of principal levels on ground and fi rst, the classical idea that the other fl oors are plain white whilst here you’ve got something else happening,“ continued McDonnell.

Asked what Robert Adam himself would have made of all this tweaking and tinkering McDonnell stated: “I would hope what he’d fi nd quite interesting is that the buildings now work in an Adamesque-way, which is all about serial vision sequences and moving from one room to another in a journey through the building. Previously the connections were very expedient whereas now they fl ow. Adam designed the facades and the feu lines behind but not the interiors, which were developed piecemeal by developers or private individuals. What we’ve done on the fi rst fl oor is a response to that front facade with the large gallery space.”

Making all this possible was Corran’s fastidious acquisition of properties resulting in the ownership of leaseholds for

53

This feature glass stair allows Charlotte Square to scale new heights

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54 BUILDING

Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride, Glasgow, G75 0RZ Tel: 01355 576200 Fax: 01355 576210 Email: [email protected]

BRE in association with Freescale Semiconductor Ltd and the University of Strathclyde have recently undertaken a feasibility study on the provision of eApps and eServices for the housing sector.

The eApp concept seeks to combine ultra-low cost sensors with open source hubs to create the delivery of a range of e-Services that connect the delivery of services to communities. The project involved embedding low cost ICT capability throughout homes and within home appliances to enable intelligent conditions monitoring, aggregate remote control and timely information feedback.

This furthered the eApp concept in three signifi cant application categories; namely systematic housing stock performance monitoring, including stock rating and improvement tracking post refurbishment, with monitoring of environmental conditions to ensure that enhanced performance is not achieved at the expense of vulnerable members of society. It also included the remote control of appliances to maximise operational performance and facilitate active demand management and domestic-level energy storage to accommodate stochastic supply output as well as the provision of personalised data to encourage and support behavioural change.

The feasibility study utilised the outcome from recent research projects addressing pervasive monitoring in support of the rapid deployment of e-Services in buildings. The monitoring system comprised Open Source wireless devices for environmental conditions and occupant behaviour monitoring and device control. Groups of devices are connected via low cost local hubs, which are, in turn, controlled by a hub integrator designed by Freescale and also made available as an Open Source product. The data, as collected, is delivered to an e-Service Server from where specifi c e-Services can be launched.

A low carbon house on the BRE Innovation Park at Ravenscraig has had a number of sensors installed as part

of the initial exploratory deployment. Note that at this stage no specifi c eService is being demonstrated or deployed, and that this installation is purely to test the functionality of the monitoring equipment and software in relation to temperature, relative humidity, light levels, air quality and acoustics.

Property owners, housing associations and landlords are all encouraged or incentivised under current legislation and policies (and through rising energy prices) to improve the energy e� ciency of their buildings. As such, a number of key stakeholders are currently undertaking a programme of improvement or retrofi t works on their existing stock.

A pre and post deployment monitoring e-Service can be a simple reporting service to demonstrate the e� ectiveness of an energy saving technology, or calculating a precise return of investment for any energy e� ciency project. It can also be utilised to monitor the impact on the internal environment, following any retrofi t measures.

The project has engaged with housing providers through a series of workshops and it has begun to make an impact by raising awareness. It is clear that such groups are already considering various options for services for the clients. However, the costs and timescales involved have often been restrictive. The opportunity presented by ultra-low cost sensors, hubs and integrators provides opportunities to deliver e-Services at a� ordable costs.

The initial prototype has been developed and shown to work at a laboratory scale. The next steps will involve full scale trials and demonstration activities. The trials will include all those in the supply chain, including suppliers and clients. The trials and demonstrations will continue the research in order to provide the proof that the eApps and e-Services can be successfully deployed and deliver cost e� ective benefi ts at scale.

For further information contact Dr Stephen Garvin, BRE – 01355 576200. [email protected]

ESERVICES IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENTWITH ENERGY PRICES DOMINATING THE POLITICAL AGENDA THIS WINTER THE NEED TO MANAGE AND MONITOR HOUSEHOLD USAGE HAS NEVER BEEN GREATER. FORTUNATELY BRE IS ON THE CASE WITH ITS EAPP AND ESERVICES.

55

entire blocks, learning from the mistakes of the eighties when ownership was fragmented and tenants migrated to newer builds, with rents dropping accordingly. This estate based approach parallels the way that Bedford and Grosvenor do business in London, providing the ability to o� er alternative accommodation as needs dictate.

Describing how the scheme strikes a ‘balance’ between old and new McDonnell adds that Charlotte Square o� ers a unique proposition to tenants: “You have the o� ce building at the back which is almost the engine room and then you have the address, boardroom and grandeur of the period property. By making it all work we hope people will see the value of having this type of o� ce instead of a big contemporary box.”

That all-encompassing approach is refl ected in the ambitions for Charlotte Square itself, where, in partnership with Edinburgh City Council, the intention is to reduce four lanes of tra� c to a single one way system and sort out discrepancies in levels associated with a camber introduced in the sixties.

An acre of new hard landscaping will accompany this work to restore the square’s tranquil character. “It’s one of the fi nest classical set piece squares in the world”, observes McDonnell. “The works at St Andrews Square have been very successful; it’s a commercial space that works. But just because Charlotte Square is at the other end of the dumbbell doesn’t mean we’ll go with the same thing.”

Musing upon the privilege of overseeing two of probably the best sites in the Old and New Town’s (after completing work at Advocate’s Close) McDonnell states. They’re very, very di� erent albeit you’re dealing with some of the same aspects. It’s that Robert Louis Stevenson Jekyll and Hyde thing where classical town houses rub shoulders with medieval tenements. It’s the Edinburgh story.” For too long Edinburgh has been about compromise, governed by a fear of the future and debilitating deference to the past. It is to be welcomed that it is belatedly growing the balls to shake things up a bit by writing a fresh chapter in the history of Charlotte Square.

New and old face-o� against each other across a central atrium


LOOK UPJOHN GLENDAY

56

© DAVID BARBOUR

57

S E CO F DT EN A

Local architectural photography tomes may be ten a penny, o� ering up a familiar diet of familiar views of popular places as handy stocking fi llers but one such book has a far more original perspective. Homing in on the sort of incidental detail that is secreted away in elevated nooks and crannies which even a lifelong resident could miss, these views are by no means inconsequential.

Look Up Glasgow, written by Adrian Searle with architectural photography by David Barbour, lifts the curtain on the sort of architectural detail that is often hidden in plain sight

- from sculpture, ornament and friezes to weather vanes and carvings. Commenting on how these details were discovered Searle said: “I’ve lived in Glasgow for 16 years and the project has been in my head all that time because, coming from the east coast, I was struck by how lavish the ornamentation is in Glasgow - particularly the city centre. “

Overwhelmed by a simple walk around town Searle found Ray McKenzie’s seminal book, Public Sculpture of Glasgow, to be a tremendous boon for locating some of the more obscure work. It also gave Searle the chance to present the subject

THE ECLECTIC RANGE OF STATUARY ARRAYED ABOVE GLASGOW’S BUSY STREETS MAY BETRAY NO EMOTION BUT THEY INSTILL PASSION IN SOME OF THOSE WHO GAZE UP FROM BELOW. INSPIRED BY WHAT HE SAW ADRIAN SEARLE HAS WRITTEN A BOOK DOCUMENTING THE KEY SITES. PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID BARBOUR.

Left - If you feel you’’re shouldering a burden then spare a thought for this chap Above -Ostentation on the Clydeport Building is a Searle favourite

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1458 LOOK UK

matter to a broader audience by ditching McKenzie’s somewhat dry and academic approach for a more personal collection that catalogues the more exuberant and esoteric of the follies. As Searle noted: “I was drawn to the interesting and the quirky – particularly fi gurative sculptures, the extraordinary fi gures that you see on tops of buildings. They have personality and give the building a feeling of being watched over benignly.“

That quirkiness is best exemplifi ed by one of only a handful of modern pieces in the book - a cat created by sculptor Calum Sinclair at 100 West George Street. The whimsical piece is so tucked away that it’s di� cult to spot unless pointed out by someone in the know. Searle commented: “It harks back to the Victorian playfulness in terms of the use of sculpture to decorate buildings with a post-modern twist.”

It also shows that ornamentation isn’t exclusively a pre-war feature of city architecture, even if its practice has been drastically scaled back in pursuit of the rational and the functional. Is this something modern day architects should be re-embracing however? Searle responds: “I think it’s a case of everything in moderation, personally I love brutalism and modernist architecture but at the same time I think exuberance of any kind is to be applauded; whether it’s exuberance of minimalism or exuberance in ornament and decoration. That’s the beauty of the Scottish Parliament, where each building has its own integrity and playfulness. I guess it comes out in di� erent ways these days and certainly function very much

dominates that now with innovation in terms of space and light - but at the same time there’s defi nitely a place for ornament done well and tastefully in a tradition which stretches back hundreds of years.”

It is intended to follow-up the project by launching a smartphone app to act as a digital guide to allow locals and visitors to undertake their own walking tours, bringing the wider history and narrative of the work to life. Searle observed: “The feeling I get as an incomer to the city is that Glaswegians are only dimly aware of just how fabulous the city is architecturally, there is a perception that the east holds the jewel in the crown. Edinburgh is extraordinary and picture postcard perfect but architecturally it’s not nearly as interesting to me as the cornucopia of styles and approaches of Glasgow.”

Documenting this history is a race against time in many cases as the ravages of time, pollution and botched cleaning take their toll. Continued demolition is also denuding the city’s physical connections to the past; particularly in peripheral and disadvantaged districts beyond the relative a� uence of the city centre. One recent egregious example is the loss of Springburn Public Halls, bulldozed last Christmas along with some stonking ornamentation.

Commenting on this loss Gemma Wild, heritage and design o� cer at the Scottish Civic Trust said: “If a building is being demolished, there is unlikely to be any requirement to remove and preserve ornamental features unless they have a strong

Left - The ship has sailed for most sculpture Right - Even if your not looking at them, they’re looking at you

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151559

Ornamentation died out along with Glasgow’s industrial wealth


60 LOOK UP

signifi cance and value in and of themselves, and there are plans for how to store/preserve/ display the items. It’s more likely that there will be a requirement for recording of the building prior to demolition, which would usually be carried out by RCAHMS Threatened Buildings Survey.”

Springburn Public Halls has now gone and outlining some other threatened buildings Searle remarked: “If you look around the city there are some pieces which are very badly eroded, such as a fi gurative motif above Sartis on West Regent Street. I don’t know if it’s the type of sandstone used or whether it was badly cleaned in the 70’s or 80’s but that’s certainly on the way out.

“Glasgow Gas Corporation’s former headquarters on Virginia Street has some Viking guys with enormous bandit moustaches which are also eroding badly. There’s another great building on Gorbals Street, a former British Linen Bank, which was used for a fantastic artwork a couple of years ago with a huge knitting needle stuck through it. The other building I’d be concerned about is the old Linen Bank building between the Chinese supermarket and Stow College (Cowcaddens). It’s lived in but it doesn’t look like it’s been taken care of, particularly the decoration on the outside.”

Another piece to have been lost in recent years is Douglas

Gordon’s ‘Empire’ sign that once stood in a lane connecting Trongate with Bell Street in the Merchant City. Searle remarked: “It was done like a pre-war theatre sign that was back to front, signifying how the Merchant City was built on the empire and slave labour. It disappeared and one would hope that it’s been taken into care by Glasgow City Council but there’s a big argument that it should remain in situ, particularly with the Commonwealth games coming up. The fear would be however that someone’s nicked it - I wanted to nick it!”

Of course it’s not all doom and gloom and Searle is at pains to stress that ‘fantastic work’ has been done in terms of protecting buildings such as the Ladywell School on Duke Street, which is now the Ladywell Business Centre, or more recently the Olympia building in Bridgeton. One bombastic piece stands alone in terms of its scale and ostentation, the ‘just bonkers’ Clydeport building. Searle said: “It’s the great fi gure of the woman leading a bull on one side with a horse drawn chariot on the other and a child behind it with a portico and relief. It’s just so monumental and over the top.”

The next time you fi nd yourself pounding the streets try to take your eye o� the chewing gum, paving slabs and litter of 21st century Glasgow and look up, a Victorian fantasy awaits to be found – and it won’t be around forever.

Left - Can you fi nd this elusive feline? Right - Many of Glasgow’s guardian angels are in poor repair

61

The Victorians had money to pour down the drain


O OTF AI

U FRA C

Many of the world’s leading economists, social scientists, philosophers and writers believe that Africa is on the cusp of changes that will alter the world. The United Nations’ reports on Africa’s prospects and challenges are simply staggering. Take for example the fact that Africa’s current population is estimated to be 1.033 billion with two thirds of this number under the age of 25. If current demographic trends continue, the population will increase to 1.4 billion by 2025 and 1.9 billion by 2050. In short one in every three children in the world will be born in Sub Saharan Africa.

Africa’s fast-growing population boom is seen as both a blessing and a curse. The hope is that this phenomenon will be a decisive boost for economic growth and an opportunity for this enormous continent to transform its fortunes by becoming even more beautiful, harmonious, sustainable and prosperous, o� ering education and good health to increasing numbers of people.

Despite Africa’s role in the development of contemporary culture the continent does not yet have an intellectual and academic centre ofi nternational repute and excellence.There are no major arts and humanities learning institutions to rival the likes of Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, London’s Royal College or the Glasgow School of Art. In fact none of the world’s top 50 universities are in Africa and there are no African universities in the arts and humanities. The African University of the Creative Arts (AUCA) which proposes to address this

situation by positioning itself as a world class centre for study that will attract students and academics from not just Africa but from across the world.

Today many young Africans interested in an arts education leave Africa to progress their dream elsewhere. Those who leave are the small percentage of ucky ones whose parents are wealthy enough to a� ord the fees. For the vast majority there is limited opportunity. Even for families who can a� ord an arts education for their children the arts often becomes a second choice. Most aspiring African parents would rather support their children through a business or practical engineering course, as they believe this to be a more secure and rewarding route to employment and prosperity. A generational bias that is not limited to Africa of course.

Certainly in Nigeria the idea of creative training being ‘less useful’ is not wholly accurate. Nigeria has a rapidly expanding creative economy. Nigeria has for example the world’s third largest fi lm industry called Nollywood ... after Bollywood and Hollywood! The fi lm business in Nigeria is massive, and the Nigerian economy is set to overtake South Africa as Africa’s largest in terms of GDP. Many young Africans like young people the world over see ideas as the currency of the future. The prospect of a much larger and more infl uential creative class in Africa is very real and very exciting.

Working on the AUCA project we are in no doubt we will learn much more about what we can contribute to this modern

62 AUCAPAUL STALLAN

VETERAN TRAVELLER PAUL STALLAN HAS PUNCHED A NEW PIN INTO HIS BATTERED ATLAS FOLLOWING A RECENT TRIP TO LAGOS, NIGERIA. THE EXOTIC PORT OF CALL RELATES TO THE ARCHITECTS LATEST INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE - TO DELIVER A PRELIMINARY MASTER PLAN FOR THE AFRICAN UNIVERSITY OF THE CREATIVE ARTS. IT IS A PROJECT WHICH PROMISES TO DO MUCH TO CHANGE PERCEPTIONS, BEGINNING WITH STALLAN’S OWN. HERE THE ARCHITECT RECOUNTS SOME OF THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES PRESENTED BY A DARK CONTINENT WHOSE FUTURE HAS NEVER LOOKED BRIGHTER.

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64 AUCA

African renaissance. Our skills are clearly in demand. Our client and project champion is a remarkable woman called Ejemen Ojeabulu who has become a very good friend. Ej is the driving force behind this extraordinary project and involved us because of our experience in education architecture and campus master planning in both the U.K. and internationally. We hope to o� er more than just an insight into higher education but a unique insight into education as a whole. We can in e� ect demonstrate an understanding of the lifelong learning continuum with particular reference to curriculum innovation; i.e. from child to young adult and beyond. In this project our sense is that the focus will not just be higher education but arts education in its entirety.

Although expert in educational environments working in Africa, West Africa and specifi cally Nigeria was new to us. Much of our work to date has therefore involved considerable research and study; that said we found the critical writing on precolonial sub Saharan African architecture to be limited. Compared with the extensive texts and observations dedicated to African art the continents architecture is poorly served. I read in one text that the lack of documents on historic African architecture was because Africa’s indigenous sub Saharan inhabitants were nomadic.

There was no need for architecture and no requirement to build monuments for a state system that did not exist. Of

course there are notable legacy and religious structures but on the whole the people of central and southern Africa lived with and on the land, they had a light touch. What therefore would be our inspiration for AUCA without reference to architectural precedent?

In stark contrast and in no way a light touch the colonisation of sub Saharan Africa was to change the landscape of the continent dramatically. Along the North African coast a complex mix of Phoenician, Roman, Islamic and European infl uences exists due to the lands proximity to the Mediterranean, however the interior of the Dark Continent as our Victorian forefathers referred to it was transformed by the Empire builders.

In Central, East, West and South Africa invaders including the British, French, Dutch, Belgian and Portuguese made their mark. The division of Africa into many di� erent countries that you see on the modern map is an imperial overlay. This partitioning of the country impacts on the African psyche to this day.

Fast forwarding to the 20th century it was late modernism that had the largest impact on the character of African urban environment, although not in a wholly positive way. Today, entire cities of rudimentary functional concrete construction defi ne the African metropolis.

There have been attempts at making this generic

Above - Prof. Wole Soyinka holds a Nobel prize in literature Right - Proportionate scaling features in village settlement plans, weaving, games and music

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66 AUCA

modernism contextual by superfi cially decorating structures with African forms and patterns inspired by traditional art and craft. There have also been attempts to create new African aspirational commercial architecture; like the phenomenon that is Dubai where the excesses of Arabesque appliqué border on the absurd, with architecture reduced to built cartoons. Although not with the same budgets or on the same ‘bling scale’ as Dubai there are never the less many buildings in Africa that are in contention. Potato print commercialised architecture sold via stylised CGI is well established in Africa, as in other emergent economies such as China and India.

Digging deep I did fi nd some early modern architecture that genuinely attempted to respond to the specifi cs of place, the diverse African natural habitat, social systems and regional culture though these are few. In this respect our challenge was set. Our AUCA project had to critically position itself as an exemplar of architecture that is contemporary and is inspired by the reality and richness of place. As AUCA fountainhead and counsel the chairman of our client body, Professor Wole Soyinka is a remarkable man and a Nobel Laureate. Professor Soyinka the fi rst Black African to receive a Nobel award and has been recognised for his political insight, his artistic integrity and the championing of Africa and the African spirit.

Professor Soyinka’s writing has helped me to understand some of the cultural challenges that Africa faces. A principle challenge is one of boundaries and the illusions of freedom. His book African Spring considers that the original partitioning of Africa has created many of the problems that the continent now faces. Professor Soyinka idealises an Africa with a populace that moves freely across the landscape. Without complex hierarchal state systems, Africans could travel freely across the vast continent to trade, hunt and harvest the land and avoid droughts in one region and confl icts in another.

The lines now drawn on the map of Africa prevent people from responding to events with the same fl uidity and sustainability as they did in the past. Whether warlords, despots, global corporations, disease or just bureaucracy Africa doesn’t function now as it once did. The point being made is not to return to the precolonial past but to inspire an

understanding that what still links all Africans is a generosity of spirit and that together all Africans can make things better. The fl uidity and ability to grow and evolve rests with sharing and openness. Stability and sustainability rests with generosity and equality. The quintessential point I took from Wole’s book African Spring was that spiritually Africans have a shared soul, mother Africa. Not one bit of it all of it.

I foundthe architecture of the AUCA campus plans relevant to Professor Soyinka’s ideas of shared di� erence and people fi nding their way in life supported by more gentle and generous political and cultural systems. I have been prompted to imagine an education environment for AUCA where people can develop their knowledge in a gently inclusive collaborative fashion. Much of what we have been developing in the context of new educational architecture for interested clients revolves around these ideas.

The partitioning of education into knowledge silos where students are instructed (told) is giving way to more constructive learning that cross programmes di� erent curriculums and learning styles. Our educational architecture aims to develop learning environments that encourage student centred learning through the provision of spaces and places that can support learning cultures, where learners learn to

The university will be oriented to face and exploit the prevailing winds from the sea whilst o� ering as much shading as possible

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67

Stallan-Brand have sought to deliver a project which is African in spirit, comparing its groth to that of a tree


68 AUCA

learn.I have become excited with sketch designs that explore

how a new educational architecture could promote a learning place for the African creative arts and in refl ection also embrace Professor Wole’s more existential ideas of African harmony. Philosophically I hope we are making progress with the campus master plan premise, however I was also massively interested in understanding the common qualities of African art and reviewing what relevance these might have for the architecture of the project.

This is a profound statement but here goes ... my study of African art has changed my life and westernised view of the world. The more I read and learned of African art the more I thought that I had learned about the world in reverse. If I had started life studying the concepts embedded in African art before any other area in my education as an architect and artist I believe I would have had a better grasp of not only the world of art but also of human nature, sustainability, mathematics, in fact everything. African art is a refl ection of world in its simplest most beautiful form. At a decorative surface level African art might be reduced to being colourful, naturalistic, primitive and symbolic but what I have come to understand beyond a graphic appreciation is its intellectual origins and inspiration.

A primary feature of African art is mathematics. For me this was not as obvious as it is with Islamic art for example. Islamic art and architecture is pure mathematics with no fi gurative form. With Islamic art the mathematical grids that generate the tile work and the great mosques are determined by grids of increasing decreasing scale and complexity. With African art however the increasing decreasing patterns and determinants are also grids but are fractal grids. When I said earlier that African art is a refl ection of the world I meant quite literally it is a refl ection of the world. When fractals were discovered by scientist in the 20th century they were described by some as God’s fi nger prints.

From my reading traditional African art is a direct extension of nature. For example anthropologists and mathematicians have documented African settlements as being based on fractal geometries. One notable mathematician Ron Eglash has claimed that this settlement planning is unique to the indigenous tribes of Africa and not evident in other continents. This interest in scaling proportionate harmonious degrees is captured in everything from village settlement plans, weaving patterns, traditional games, music and dance.

Architecturally I was interested in connecting what I understood were the determining principles of African art and incorporating them in our project. I wanted the ideas of scaling, of harmony, of growth of infi nity and inclusiveness to be the genesis of our project. I wanted architecture that was African in spirit at an intellectual level, a planning system that develops according to the AUCA’s developing requirements, growing like

a fl ower or a tree and beautiful at every stage. What we proposed for the new University architecture was

an approach that started with the student. From the learning environment of a single student, we scaled up to imagine a studio, from a studio we extended to department and from a department to a faculty, from a faculty to a campus, from a campus to a whole learning environment within the context of the city. This scaling approach has wonderful aesthetic synergies with African art but the social, cultural and political relevancies give it validity. Even economically the approach is attractive in presenting a campus architecture that can expand incrementally into a landscape dependant on the realities of time and money.

Even more wonderful are the symbolic overlays that complement the fractal grids that underlie African art. It is this graphic language that most people relate to when you mention the continents arts and crafts. Across Africa there are hundreds of di� erent languages and tribal infl ections that infl uence design.

The sheer variety, depth and complexity is astonishing. Figuratively African art is rich in meaning. From leafs to lizards

every shape, colour and line has a narrative and a coded message. In Europe early 20th century art movements like post impressionism and DaDA referenced Africa primitive sculptures and forms as a refreshing juxtaposition to the Beaux Art excesses of the day. Much of African art and the new wave of African contemporary artists still have this ability to utter a primeval scream.

Figuratively speaking (or rather painting) working on AUCA master plan is like being a kid with a new box of toys, all my Glasgow toys, my ships, cranes, bridges, walls have been replaced by lions, tigers, lizards and leafs! No rain to deal with just sunshine. I was worried that if I spent too long in Nigeria that I would start wearing colourful clothes. Seriously though the potential for a new African architectural vernacular is exciting.

As parts of Africa become more prosperous and culturally confi dent I am sure we will see more young African architects making modernism their own. Just look at China’s emergent avant garde artists and architects ho are challenging the world’s preconceptions.

More architecture schools and learning environments like AUCA will ensure that future Africans are empowered to access their heritage and take the art in Africa into their architecture. It is important because fundamentally we are all African, everything came from Africa, culture, literature, art, mathematics, philosophy, mankind. Africa’s contribution to art worldwide is total.

» Working on the AUCA master plan is like being a kid with a new box of toys. My ships, planes, bridges and walls have been replaced by lions, tigers, lizards and leafs! «

69

The buildings abstract forms are determined by functional requirements but also resemble fi shing boats or seed pods


AEROSTATIC BLOOMAGEJOHN GLENDAY

G IO GP SI

R NWA N

Of all the events planned for Glasgow’s stint as host of the Commonwealth Games next year perhaps the most spectacular would have been Aerostatic Bloomage, an aerial art and urban design project which aimed to transform the Dear Green Place into an aerial sky garden. In circumstances which parallel the George Square fi asco however this was another scheme which literally failed to get o� the ground following a last-gasp change of heart. Here Urban Realm gets the lowdown on a project which had been fl ying high… until Glasgow Life popped their balloon.

Conceived by art and architecture brothers Adrian and Dorian Wiszniewski Aerostatic Bloomage evolved in three stages before its fateful cancellation; Originating as a fl amboyant statement of cultural vim it was soon reduced to a bid to get a single proof of concept built and has now been franchised out entirely to Ross McArthur and David Clark - who are desperately trying to realise some form of future for the original ideas. So what on

WITH GEORGE SQUARE STILL STICKING IN THE CRAW OF MANY ARCHITECTS YOU COULD BE FORGIVEN FOR THINKING THAT ENOUGH HOT AIR HAD ALREADY BEEN RELEASED ABOVE CITY CHAMBERS - UNTIL AEROSTATIC BLOOMAGE WAS FIRST FLOATED. IT PROMISED TO TAKE THE CITY TO NEW HEIGHTS BUT, AS URBAN REALM FOUND OUT WHEN SPEAKING TO A DEFLATED DORIAN WISZNIEWSKI, GLASGOW’S ABILITY TO PULL THE PLUG ON AMBITIOUS DESIGN SCHEMES AT THE LAST MINUTE REMAINS UNDIMMED.

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70

Left - George Square has never strayed far from controversy Right - A very literal interpretation of the ‘Dear Green Place’


» The fl owers were a powerful emblem and metaphor for the fl ourishing of Glasgow but also something which reinterprets the colonial history of the city. «

72 AEROSTATIC BLOOMAGE

Glasgow’s 74 parks would have played host to a fl otilla of fanciful tethered creations

earth went wrong?Dorian Wiszniewski, co-founder of Wiszniewski

Thomson Architects and senior lecturer in architectural design and theory at the University of Edinburgh, told Urban Realm: “Adrian and I were invited by Glasgow Life to come up with an idea for the Commonwealth Games. They had an arts budget of somewhere in the region of £14m for a range of projects spread across the city and wanted us to pitch the next big idea.”

It was from this invitation that the seeds of a fl oral-themed sky bouquet were fi rst sown, rapidly growing to a fl otilla of individually crafted ‘aerostats’ each of which would have been tethered to one of Glasgow’s 74 parks. By a happy coincidence there are also 70 participants in the Games, which raised the possibility of some form of alignment with individual teams.

Described as an ‘Infl ated tumescence of foliage’ the fl owers were conceived as three dimensional interpretations of Adrian’s drawings realised on the scale of the city and fl oating in the air by means of helium – an element fi rst discovered by Glaswegian William Ramsay. Indeed a myriad of connections informed the project; from the Glaswegian botanists who sailed with Captain Cook to the parks and botanical gardens which pepper the city.

Wiszniewski said: “The fl owers were a powerful emblem and metaphor for the fl ourishing of Glasgow but also something which reinterprets the colonial history of the city and the Commonwealth as something more a� rmative and positive - but without losing the need for reconciliation because, let’s face it, the Commonwealth doesn’t have a perfect history. We wanted to embody

73

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Glaswegians, often exhorted to look up to appreciate the city’s fi ne architecture, would be left nursing sprained necks


that but also get away from the ticky-tacky stu� that the Games might be. What we don’t want is PR and advertisement being equated with culture.

“One of the things which was seen as good about our project was that it didn’t focus on need or necessity. There’s a complex issue of how you promote a city without recourse to neediness. We thought it was an amazing project of the unnecessary which was celebratory but also a genuine attempt to a� liate ourselves with the local communities. The reception we got to that was quite strong and we got a second follow-up meeting with Commonwealth Games director David Grevemberg; Jill Miller, director of culture at Glasgow Life and city design adviser Gerry Grams, where we got a very a� rmative reception and were asked to make a fully costed submission. We thought it was going to happen.”

Asked by Urban Realm why the scheme had been scrapped Grams said he had ‘no idea’ but in a statement Glasgow 2014 said that the aerostats were just one of 496 applications made to its £4m ‘Open Fund’, established specifi cally to fi nance the Games cultural programme. From these applications 39 grants of up to £300k were made to a range of artists, community groups and arts organisations.

The statement read: “A team of 16 assessing o� cers

from Creative Scotland and Glasgow Life reviewed each of the 496 applications, with each application being either assessed or reviewed by an o� cer from each organisation.”

As part of the aerostat application, submitted before the fi nal proposal, a short fi lm was put together to explain the proposition in greater detail, but the team fell short of actually designing the aerostats themselves – due to the technical challenge married to a lack of money and design time. “We couldn’t design this without a fee”, Wiszniewski observed.

In terms of infrastructure investment the costs wouldn’t have been that great but the impact is enormous, you’ve got that sense of festival and ceremony. We didn’t think these had to necessarily go away after the commonwealth Games, they can be an ongoing thing. That legacy would be longer than just the length of the event.

Illuminated from within and without, the aerostats would have embodied textile technology in a hugely scientifi c process, balancing just the right mix of materials and mass to keep the exuberant structures lighter than air. Stretching to around 20-30m in size the aerostats

» One of the things which was seen as good about our project was that it didn’t focus on need or necessity. We thought it was an amazing project of the unneccessary. «

74 AEROSTATIC BLOOMAGE

Flowers have a long association with global peace movements

would have needed licensing as fl oating structures when straying above 60m in altitude.

The concept isn’t entirely new with aerostats making their fi rst appearances at the Manchester and Delhi Games, the latter in particular was enormous and even had images projected onto the structures but there had never been anything on quite this city-wide scale. Wiszniewski noted: “They are in e� ect a one-to-one map of Glasgow raised into the air, once you’ve got an understanding of which fl owers are which you really would understand where these places were. It was a nice way of bringing the whole city into play not just the Games area.”

“They never, ever came back to us”, lamented Wiszniewski. “Not one word of polite apology or anything

- just a note from the bid process informing us that we were unsuccessful. We were quite annoyed about that as a lot of e� ort had gone in. We thought there might well be bids but what we didn’t appreciate was the chance that our plans would not come to fruition. There’s a great deal of disappointment with that given that we’d done a lot of work in advance and they’d asked us to do it. It wasn’t an open competition but it was turned into an open competition. We were approached and it was done through a lot of conversations in advance. To this day we don’t even know if they looked at the fi lm. We never got any feedback whatsoever.”

Whilst the aerostat dream may be currently down it is certainly not out and the team still harbour ambition that their aerostatic dream will yet take o� .

75

This mock-up imagines how a war time Glasgow peppered with barrage balloons might appear


S IA GE LS I

T NYCP A

It seems that Scotland is awash with built environment related policies just now. Planning reform, a new architecture policy, a town centres review and an imminent historic environment strategy are just part of the Scottish Government’s cross-cutting policy mix. These are ambitious too, in terms of mainstreaming the built environment, historic and contemporary, across di� erent departments in national and local government; simplifying and speeding up the planning process; and devolving power and decision making to local communities. Throw the Community Empowerment Bill and the big issue of asset (or is it liability) transfer into this policy stew and what do you get? Better buildings and places is the desired result.

The placemaking agenda, which sits at the heart of much of these interconnected reviews, is also being driven by an overriding priority for the Scottish Government – that of sustainable economic regeneration. Whether the two outcomes are compatible is still to be resolved but there is no doubt that there is a genuine attempt by politicians to evolve a culture of joined-up thinking to improve the standard of our buildings, places and spaces.

I can accept that placemaking is about creating high quality places for living and working but I often wonder if, as a nation, we should be more concerned about place protection. Scotland is a country of small towns, many of which have su� ered from decades of investment blight, poor planning decisions, and too many appalling buildings. Places that once

had a distinctive identity, defi ned by their 18th or 19th century plans and intelligently evolving architecture over several centuries, are in danger from a sustained erosion of their fragile relationship with their past. Travel to towns like Montrose in Angus, Peebles in the Scottish Borders, Castle Douglas in Dumfries and Galloway or Campbeltown in Argyle and Bute and you will fi nd a recurring theme – a struggle to preserve the dignity and integrity, forged in a di� erent era of civic pride and social responsibility, which made these places special. Historic buildings, many of them listed, are in danger from neglect and underuse or, worse, lying empty and at risk. Pressures from housebuilders and supermarkets, not minded to being fettered by conservation or design agendas, is returning. Local authorities are struggling with slashed budgets. Expertise and resources needed to maintain and protect the architectural integrity and heritage of our towns are, if anything, shrinking.

Against this arguably over-negative background we should and must engage positively with the Scottish Government’s attempts to tackle the big problems in planning, heritage management and placemaking. The aspiration to empower local communities to have greater responsibility for their places should be encouraged and supported as is the ambition to mainstream the historic environment beyond the desk of beleaguered conservation o� cers.

76 SCOTTISH CIVIC TRUSTJOHN PELAN

THE SCOTTISH CIVIC TRUST IS SEEKING TO DRIVE BOTTOM-UP ENGAGEMENT WITH COMMUNITIES BY ADOPTING SOME NEW TRICKS TO TACKLE OLD PROBLEMS. CHIEF AMONGST THESE IS ENSURING THAT SCOTLAND’S SMALL TOWNS ‘STAY SPECIAL’ BY MAINTAINING LINKS TO THEIR PAST IN A WORLD EXPERIENCING EXPONENTIAL CHANGE. HERE THE CIVIC MOVEMENTS DIRECTOR, JOHN PELAN, OUTLINES HOW THIS CAN BE ACHIEVED.

Right - Pelan has been railing against a sustained erosion of the relationship between small towns and their own past.

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78 SCOTTISH CIVIC TRUST

The organisation that I work for, the Scottish Civic Trust, has been at the vanguard of promoting, protecting and celebrating Scotland’s buildings and places for almost 50 years. Our network of local civic groups and amenity societies share our aspirations, one of which is ‘the elimination of ugliness’. They are a largely unsung army of volunteers who, in many cases, have been the last line of defence standing in the way of aggressive and unnecessary over-development. At our annual conference in Linlithgow on 5 November, many representatives of these groups came together to hear a range of presentations on the theme of ‘Staying Special: Protecting Local Heritage’.

The fi rst speaker of the day, setting the scene, was Derek Mackay, Minister for Local Government and Planning. The Minister talked about the need for grassroots decision-making to support town centre regeneration and emphasised that planning reform was about improving performance but not at the expense of quality. Maggie Broadley, Chief Executive of Craft Town Scotland spoke passionately about the transformation of East Kilbride, from down-at-heel and deteriorating in the 1990s to its rebirth as one of Scotland’s o� cial Craft Towns. At this heart of this is the Barony Centre, a refurbished and dynamically re-imagined B-listed church that provides an exhibition space and focal point for the town’s new industry. Maggie outlined her three keys to success – passion, perseverance and innovation.

Dr Peter Burman, Chairman of the Garden History Society in Scotland, spoke eloquently about the role of designed landscapes in uniting cultural and natural heritage together in a seamless whole. He argued that historic gardens and landscapes should be treated as though they were Category A listed buildings. Stuart West of Orkney Islands Council talked about a pilot survey of traditional buildings in one parish – Birsay - as part of a project to compile a Local List of all important built structures across Orkney to assist decision making in the planning process. Ranald MacInnes, principal inspector of historic buildings at Historic Scotland tackled our future heritage, covering issues such as the length of time needed to properly assess a building’s suitability for listing; the expansion of heritage into the post-war era; and the role of the historic environment in sustainable economic development. He argued that the historic environment is a layered series of interventions. The challenges and opportunities of community-led regeneration presented by the development trust and building preservation trust models were outlined by Ian Cooke of Development Trust Association and Anne McChlery of Glasgow Building Preservation Trust respectively.

Luke Moloney from the Dumfries Historic Building Trust, a veteran in the fi ght to save heritage assets, said that, although an excellent policy to protect historic buildings existed, it was too often ignored by local authorities. His presentation included a sobering slideshow of images telling the story of demolition of so many of the important buildings in Dumfries. Finally, Simon Green, chairman of the Architectural Heritage Society of >

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» It is to be hoped that as Scotland edges its way out of austerity it takes a hard look at the pre-recession so called ‘good times’ and challenges some of the decisions made. «

Loch Ken is distinguished by this disused viaduct which once formed part of the Portpatrick Railway


80 SCOTTISH CIVIC TRUST

Scotland, gave an uplifting talk on the future for heritage, which despite the obvious challenges, still presented opportunities for celebration and creativity.

Did the conference change anything? No, of course not, conferences rarely do. However, it was an opportunity to hear a range of voices from di� erent backgrounds – national and local government, community heritage organisations and regeneration and redevelopment agencies – all delivering the same messages that heritage matters, community - led regeneration can work and people make places.

It is to be hoped that as Scotland edges its way out of austerity it takes a cold hard look at the pre-recession so-called ‘good times’ and challenges some of the decisions made. My old boss, Charles McKean, who sadly passed away in September, hit the nail on the head in his 1977 book: “Fight Blight: A Practical Guide to the Causes of Urban Dereliction and what People can do about it” He wrote: “Ironically, a good deal of the mess has not been caused by poverty, but by a� uence. We had so much money that we soon picked up many ways of mis-spending it in a grand manner. We have demolished what was often good, and attempted to replace it by improvements. Instead, we have frequently replaced it with something far worse”.

This chap has observed governments come and go but is still waiting for a facelift

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Above - Eastgate Theatre, Peebles, illustrates adaptive re-use Below - Orkney has moved to tighten development rules


NEW URBANISMJOHN GLENDAY

Seeking to identify recent trends in urban design Adam Architecture have published the results of new research which seem to bear out what some had long suspected; that in terms of urban form, New Urbanism is a global type that is not place sensitive. The fi ndings have stirred a vociferous fi ght back from one of the movement’s chief proponents and so Urban Realm decided to delve a little deeper into the manner in which our changing society is impacting urban design.

Speaking to Urban Realm, Adam Architecture founder Robert Adam, co-author of Describing Trends in Urban Design with Claire Jamieson, explained: “It’s a bit indigestible but the objective was to fi nd out in what direction urban design is headed. The one thing you know for sure is that the way things are now is not the way things are going to be. If you go to any town or village and you’re familiar with urban form, you can date any part

AN OTHERWISE DRY REPORT COMPILED BY ADAM ARCHITECTURE DESCRIBING TRENDS IN URBAN DESIGN HAS SET FEATHERS FLYING WITH ITS CLAIM THAT NEW URBANISM IS NOT PLACE SENSITIVE, AN ALLEGATION STRENUOUSLY DENIED BY DPZ. HERE URBAN REALM DELVES INTO THE PAPER IN A BID TO ESTABLISH WHO IS RIGHT.

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Kincluny is a proposed village of 1,500 homes in Deeside planned by Halliday Fraser Munro


NEW URBANISM

of that pretty much just by looking at the plan. If that was true then, it’s true now and in ten years’ time people will be able to do the same thing.

“Finding trends in urban design is quite di� cult because by the time it is built it’s probably ten years after the design. So we decided fi rst of all to have a look at current urban design and see if we could see any patterns. But then we realised there was no accepted methodology for making the comparison purely on a form basis. That’s what instigated the research.”

Drawing on a sample of 350 plans dated between 1990 and 2010, an arbitrary period which the authors concede may not be representative of current practice but which they insist is valid if the descriptive method could be applied to all examples. From there 39 specifi c descriptive attributes were devised in nine categories ranging from permeability (intensity of connections) to connectedness (the average distance between connections) and density (height and average number of square metres per hectare). Other categories have no comparative measurement but are instead given unambiguous descriptive attributes; namely use, context, block articulation, building articulation, plan type and network articulation.

As far as possible the research is quantitative in nature; for example the methodology for intensity of permeability which Adam measures by intensity of intersection. “As many as possible of the criteria we’ve

used are quantitative, you can actually count them”, notes Adam. “In the basic urban grid for instance you have to make a decision based on types and looking at it. If everything is exactly at right angles then that’s easy but if everything is slightly o� right angles is that an orthogonal grid or not? You’ve got to make some level of qualitative judgement. They’re not huge but we’ve tried to eliminate all qualitative information if at all possible and keep everything measurable because it’s not about the quality of the end product, it’s about describing the end product.

Of all the samples chosen Adam describes New Urbanism as the only reasonably valid one by testing the di� erence between New Urbanist plans in North America and elsewhere to tease out any local distinctiveness in the American-originated movement. A sample of 40 plans showed very little di� erence based on geography. However one, unexpected, outcome was to observe more mixed street patterns outside the US and narrower street patterns in the US. Commenting on this Adam said: “With the Aberdeenshire developments by Urban Design Associates, some of the British people who were working on it noticed the inclusion of things like boulevards which don’t really exist in small Scottish towns. Taking away all the emotion and all the ‘yes, we are, no we aren’t’ we tried a form based descriptive method; nothing to do with architectural style, and ran it. What it showed is that in terms of urban form new urbanism is a global type that is not place sensitive.”

Kincluny sits on the site of an existing quarry

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» The problem with New Urbanism is it tends towards formula and dogmatism. American’s have this tendency to believe that the rest of the world is America waiting to happen «

American style white picket fences dominate this view of Chapelton


NEW URBANISM

This is an assertion which, naturally enough, causes practitotioners of New Urbanism to bristle, amongst them Andres Duany, co-founder of Duany Plater Zyberk, who cited a number of New Urbanist examples, from Playa Vista in Los Angeles to Chapelton in Aberdeen, to disprove the report. Duany said: “These demonstrate di� erent planning morphologies. There are the two Western American ones, Playa Vista in Los Angeles and Legacy in Dallas, which are rough and ready grids. Another set are the Florida ones of Seaside, Rosemary Beach, Alys Beach, and Windsor. These are rather more formal City Beautiful plans, since Florida was developed (and had its planning heyday) in the 1920s, the best places we have were so infl uenced.

“Then there are Grandhome and Chapelton. They are among our three Scottish new towns. These are circumstantial and responsive to the landscape--as are many of the more rural places of that ancient landscape. The last set--one in Hertfordshire and one in Edinburgh overcome locational infl uence as they are a garden village and garden suburb respectively. The morphology is driven by both function and the polemic of growing food socially as the prime determinant.”

Adam remains unwavering however “We chose an equal number of urban plans from North America and around the world. The thing about New Urbanism is that there aren’t that many people doing it. It’s very well publicised and all the work is published and self-identifi ed, so it’s quite easy to get a reasonable sample. My personal view is that new urbanism is one aspect of the most important urban design phenomenon of the moment, which I call contextual urbanism, the idea that urban design is context related. The problem with New Urbanism is that it tends toward formula and dogmatism. It has a thing like the transect, which is turned into a quasi-religion. It publishes absolute principles. It’s also American and Americans have this tendency to believe that the rest of the world is America waiting to happen. These factors tend to make it a more stereotyped version of what is actually a very widespread urban design type.”

Ultimately the merits of New Urbanism won’t be played out in the lecture halls of academia but in the green fi elds of rural Britain which the movement is steadily colonising. With people voting with their feet (and wallets) in ever greater numbers the semantics of the urbanists are increasingly relevant.

Phase one of Ayrshire’s Knockroon has proven to be a commercial success

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This is certainly an interesting piece of work though it will have limited appeal beyond academics, new and traditional urbanists. How many di� erent kinds of turkey are there? Is that the question?

There is a certain superfi cial sameness in many New Urbanism projects simply because they have developed from the same set of criteria - from regional principles through the neighbourhood to the street and then fi nally to the building.

It is easy to knock this design process as it seems to eradicate any sort of innovation in favour of a procedure and set of rules which create a certain kind of predefi ned urban environment.

In fact this very predefi ned environment is a considerable market success in the US which is why there are so many of them to examine. Some of these projects have been designed expressly around existing landscape features and have benefi ted greatly from that whether they have incorporated distinctive topography, water courses, old quarries, woodland, individual trees or small ponds.

The early evidence from traditional urbanism in Scotland and Knockroon in particular is that it is also a success in market terms - selling out neo-traditional new build mixed use development in the property blackhole of Cumnock in the midst of a recession is no mean feat.

The promoters of similar developments in Scotland - for example at Tornagrain, Grandhome or Chapelton of Elswick - know fi ne well from their fi nancial advisers and marketeers that while they will pay a premium in design and building costs for New or Traditional Urbanism, it will sell, in circumstances where contemporary design may not. Of course volume builder stu� will also sell but these landowner/developers do not wish to go down that route - for now anyway.

It is the case that these New or Traditional Urbanism projects have adopted and worked with the landscape characteristics of their distinctive Scottish sites. They have also used traditional Scottish urban forms as a basis for at least some of the layouts - particularly the widening High Street - and have also taken elements of planned settlements in the North East as foundations to build on. But of course choosing these elements as a basis for design doesn’t necessarily result in something worthwhile. DPZ’s appropriation of elements of the C R Mackintosh’s Artists Cottage and Studio appearing in early work on Tornagrain was particularly cringe-worthy. So it isn’t strictly fair to say that New Urbanism is not place sensitive because the Scottish experience is that it certainly is.

Part of me fi nds this sort of classifi cation and analysis used by Adam to be quite interesting yet for most practitioners, the decision to have pheasant or partridge is fairly irrelevant as sausage - in the form of volume builder housing - will already be on the plate.

Expert view: Willie Miller, WMUD

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A planned new ‘Garden District’ for Edinburgh has been criticised for prioritising greenfi eld over brownfi eld development


ARCTIC FRONTIERLATERAL NORTH

N HR RE SP R

O ET NX UO E

On the night of 24th October over 100 individuals packed into Lateral North’s New Northern Frontiers exhibition. The event night attracted speakers from across Scotland to discuss the country’s potential and strategic positioning within an economically emerging Arctic region.

Lateral North investigated a potentially productive landscape and seascape within Scotland, exploring the relationship between people, culture, places, industries and economies through a series of polemical statements as catalysts to discuss.

With a shift in approach

WITH THE INDEPENDENCE VOTE AND CLIMATE CHANGE LOOMING EVER LARGER NOW IS AN AUSPICIOUS TIME TO LOOK AT HOW SCOTLAND MIGHT REORIENT ITSELF TO THE NORTH. AMIDST THE CALAMITY AND UNCERTAINTY OF THIS POTENTIAL FUTURE LIE MANY OPPORTUNITIES IN TOURISM, OIL AND SHIPPING - AS RESEARCH AND DESIGN COLLECTIVE LATERAL NORTH EXPLAIN.

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Today’s frigid North Sea could become balmier if climate scientists predictions come true


90 ARCTIC FRONTIER

and traditional ideology, Lateral North engages in cross-sector, multidisciplinary design and research and encourages discovery, investigation and testing of previously over-looked opportunities to engage people in long-term, strategic, holistic visioning.

The Arctic has much potential considering China’s increased economic power and capabilities, greater access to the West could prove hugely advantageous. Tellingly, China has asked for Permanent Observer Status on the Arctic Council, dealing with issues in Arctic shipping, energy, environment and security. Canada and Russia are circling, testing and drilling and the EU is beginning fi rst step to creating a policy on Arctic issues.

However, how prepared are the northern nations for a gold rush of 21st century proportions? In 2011

» It is estimated that up to 13% of the world’s oil and 30% of undiscovered gas resources lie hidden, and thus far undisturbed, under the Arctic ice cap. «

(Reuters, 26 June 2013)

» Shipping along the northern Arctic sea route, past Russia’s northern coast, is expected to rise 30-fold in the next 8 years, possibly accounting for a quarter of cargo traffic between Europe and Asia by 2030. «

(Reuters 29 May 2013)

» We have the resources: what we need is the drive, determination and political will to make it a reality. “We can’t remain impassive in the face of the alarming developments affecting the Arctic climate «

(Joe Borg, EU commissioner for maritime affairs. (The Guardian, Nov 2008)

Left - Shipping will be a major benefi ciary of melting sea ice Middle - With growth prospects stronger in the North Scotland would be a very di� erent place Right - Far fl ung locales could become energy hubs

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in marine services, fabrication and production in local communities.

Lateral North initially investigated the potential of the Highlands and Islands concentrating on two academic projects; From the Water and Possible Orkney. These projects looked at both local and international infl uences on the particular sites.

The From the Water master plan attempted to strengthen the fragile and fragmented rural communities of the Outer Hebrides, using its existing infrastructure and knowledge. An archipelago chain of 130 miles, fragmented physically, economically, socially and through religious a� liation, the islands have long been divided. But, their proximity to the sea and communitarian tradition resulted in a shared, intrinsic connection to the marine environment, lasting for thousands of years.

It is this shared connection that

it was announced that Russian authorities allocated 21.8m Euros to the construction of 10 centres for search and rescue along the Northern Sea Route, expected to be completed in 2015. What may prove critical, will be Scotland’s pre-emptive moves to establish its position on a future frontier for wealth and energy. Focus may shift from an east coast-centric industry, to an emphasis on the north and west.

In 2013 the Scottish Government set up the Energy North Oil and Gas Taskforce, aiming to establish the Highlands and Islands as an energy hub, to benefi t from the current oil and gas boom in Aberdeen. However, if North Sea oil dissipates, focus will instead move to northern and western resource fi elds. Implementing a strong network of infrastructure in these regions will not only support current industry but will future-proof industry

creates a network: of knowledge, tradition, history, culture and infrastructure - close to being forgotten and helping to mend the fragmented archipelago. In one of the most economically fragile areas of Scotland, the maritime network strengthens old and new: to encourage sustained, balanced and well managed prosperity for the local communities.

Similarly Possible Orkney investigated maritime industry and local communities within the projects context. The largest container terminals in Europe including Rotterdam and Antwerp must continually dredge the relatively shallow river beds to function successfully. Proposals for shipping container terminals at Hunterston and Scapa Flow, Orkney, have previously been illustrated in the Scottish Government’s National Planning >


ARCTIC FRONTIER

Framework (Scottish Government, 2009). Investigating the potential to be exciting new international ports, Hunterston and particularly Orkney would accommodate Triple -E class container ships without the need to dredge the sites.

Orkney’s strategic positioning within a new Arctic shipping region has created enormous economic potential for the northern archipelago. Lateral North believes this infrastructural development will require a population infl ux where Scots will move north from the central belt to Orkney to support the increasing workload.

The container terminal will be an integral part of a light rail loop wrapping around Scapa Flow bay. This light rail will connect new industries will develop over a 50 year period as Orkney harnesses its strategic location within the emerging

explained that a number of new jobs could be created for people living in the Western Isles. “The vision long-term is for Stornoway to become a European Arctic gateway hub for shipping. ..We are bang in the path of any ship that is coming from China or the Far East across the Arctic.” (BBC News, 11 July 2013)

Conversely, promises of fortune and a scramble for energy security might also increase tension and instigate political confrontation. In August 2007 Russian explorers planted their tricolor on the seabed 4200m below the North Pole. This rust-proof, titanium-clad expression of claim stirred Canadian o� cials (who share geographical proximity to the Pole), “This isn’t the 15th Century...You can’t go around the world and just plant fl ags and say ‘we’re claiming this territory.” (BBC News, 3 August 2007)

Tension, confrontation and melting

Arctic region. UNESCO world Heritage Sites are made more accessible with the introduction of the Scapa Loop and Pentland Line. Industries, population centres and recreational sites are all an integral part of the new northern landscape - Scapa Network City.

All of Lateral North’s research and development has been the result of working in collaboration with people from every walk of life, but the ideas are based on fact. Something which is highlighted by Stornoway Port Authority and the feasibility study that they are currently investigating as to whether Stornoway could potentially provide a major refuelling hub, in 20 years becoming a key destination for freighters, supporting the new Arctic shipping routes – tying in to Lateral North’s vision for Orkney.

Jane MacIver, chief executive at Stornoway Port Authority also

Peering beyond the horizon the future is still hard to fathom

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polar ice caps also leave Europe more vulnerable. A UN study recently highlighted possible security threats to the European community. New international trading shipping routes around the North Pole, Eastern Sea Route and North West Passage, create a double edged sword of access and connection. “The rapid melting of the polar ice caps, in particular the Arctic, is opening up new waterways and international trade routes,” the report noted. “The increased accessibility of the enormous hydrocarbon resources in the Arctic region is changing the geo-strategic dynamics of the region.” Piracy, more commonly concentrated in equatorial regions, may become a feature of northern waters. What Scotland needs, to maximise our potential, is an holistic, coherent, strategic approach. Instigating discussion is the fi rst step to achieving this.

Some polemics are probable, some are farcical, but all are plausible. The most rural regions of Scotland are recognised by Highlands and Islands Enterprise as critically economically fragile, but ironically the north and west of Scotland are vitally important and some of the richest landscapes in terms of natural resources.

Despite the disparity and disconnect with the more densely populated Central Belt, it is critical to grasp opportunities, and begin to put in place infrastructure in order to achieve its potential, and ensure not just sustained communities in the future, but successful and prosperous communities. Moreover, it will be vital to fi nd harmony in the complex relationships between local cultures, people, and national and international politics and development issues.

Historically, development in the more sparsely populated regions of

Scotland have illustrated that often government-led proposals can quickly lose momentum if interest or funding falters, resulting in a bureaucratic minefi eld. As Jonathan Charley stated pointedly at the Lateral North launch night, “The creative design is there: what we are lacking is the political will to make it happen”.

Given the current political climate, asking ourselves what we want for Scotland has hardly been more pertinent. Cynics may detract from fanciful hypothesising. This is not about fi nding a strictly defi ned solution, rather liberating imagination and people’s aspirations.

Lateral North’s creative ideology concerning a future Scotland resulted in a position within December’s Reactivate! Exhibition hosted in Glasgow’s Lighthouse building.

Lateral North is calling for strategic thinking now to reap future rewards

94 DIRECTORY LISTINGACOUSTIC CONSULTANTS

RMP - acoustic consultantsContact: Richard MacKenzieTel: 0845 062 0000Email: [email protected]: www.rmp.biz

ARCHITECTS

Anderson Bell + ChristieContact: Bruce BebnerTel: 0141 339 1515Email: [email protected]: www.andersonbellchristie.com

Boswell Mitchell & JohnstonContact: Stewart DrummondTel: 0141 271 3200Email: [email protected]: www.bmjarchitects.co.uk

Cameron Webster ArchitectsTel: 0141 330 9898Contact: Miranda WebsterEmail: [email protected]

CDP ArchitectsTel: 0141 445 3974Contact: David Watson or Catherine LambEmail: [email protected] Web: www.cdparchitects.com

JamstudioTel: 01467 641670Email: [email protected]: www.jamstudio.uk.com

JM ArchitectsTel: 0141 333 3920Email: [email protected]: www.jmarchitects.net

John Renshaw ArchitectsTel: 0131 555 2245Fax: 0131 555 5526Email: [email protected]

HLM ArchitectsTel: 0141 226 8320Contact: Lorraine RobertsonEmail: [email protected]: www.hlmarchitects.com

Gareth Hoskins ArchitectsTel: 0141 553 5800Email: [email protected]: www.garethhoskinsarchitects.co.uk

Neil Sutherland ArchitectsTel: 01463 709993Contact: Sarah JohnstonEmail: [email protected]: www.neilsutherlandarchitects.com

McLean ArchitectsTel: 0141 353 2040Email: [email protected]: www.mcleanarchitects.co.uk

ARCHITECTURE & MASTERPLANNING

Hypostyle ArchitectsTel: 0141 204 4441Contact: Gerry HenaughenEmail: [email protected]: www.hypostyle.co.uk

BUILDING CONTRACTORS

CCGContact: Natalie DawsonTel: 0141 643 3796Web: www.c-c-g.co.uk

MuirTel: 01383 416191Web: www.muir-group.co.uk

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION ANDTECHNICAL SUPPORT SERVICES

Drew Elliot AssociatesTel: 07769 670 080Email: [email protected]: www.drewelliot.co.uk44 Broomieknowe Park,Bonnyrigg, Midlothian EH19 2JB

CONSULTING STRUCTURAL& CIVIL ENGINEERS

Buro HappoldTel: (0) 141 419 3000Contact: Stuart MunroEmail: [email protected]: www.burohappold.com/The Hub, 70 Pacifi c QuayGlasgow G51 1EA

David Narro Associates Tel: 0131 229 5553 and 0141 552 6080 Contact: Amanda Douglas (Practice Manager) Email: [email protected] Web: davidnarro.co.uk

Hulley & KirkwoodTel: 0141 332 5466Fax: 0870 928 1028Email: [email protected]: www.hulley.co.uk/Watermark Business Park305 Govan RoadGlasgow G51 2SEPrincipal Contact: Jim Costello

Morgan Sindall Professional ServicesTel: 01698 738601Contact: Stuart ParkerEmail: [email protected]: www.professionalservices.morgansindall.comTrilogy One, 11 Woodhall, Eurocentral, Holytown, Motherwell ML1 4YT

Scott Bennett AssociatesTel: 1383627537Contact: Robert StoreyEmail: [email protected]: www.sbascotland.com19 South Castle DriveCarnegie Campus KY11 8PD

Will Rudd DavidsonTel: 0141 248 4866Contact: Brian WalkerFax: (0)131 557 2942Web: www.ruddconsult.com/43 York PlaceEdinburgh EH1 3HP

CLADDING

RHEINZINKTel: 01276 686725Fax: 01276 64480Email: [email protected]: www.rheinzink.co.ukWyvern House, 55-61 High StreetFRIMLEY GU16 7HJ

HEALTHCARE/HOUSING

Armitage AssociatesTel: 0141 221 7304Contact: Jeremy Armitage. Email: [email protected]: www.armitageassociates.comINTER

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

City Design CooperativeTel: 0141 204 3466Contact: Chris RankinEmail: [email protected]: www.citydesign.coop

ERZ ArchitectsTel: 0141 552 0888Contact: Rolf RosherEmail: [email protected]: www.erzstudio.co.uk

LDA Design Tel: (0)141 222 9780Contact: Kristin TaylorEmail: [email protected]: www.lda-design.co.uk

rankinfraserContact: Chris RankinTel: 0131 226 7071Email: [email protected]: www.rankinfraser.com

LIFTS

STANNAH Tel: 0141 882 9946 Contact: Graham Barr Email: [email protected] Web: www.stannahlifts.co.uk

PHOTOGRAPHY

NEALE SMITH PHOTOGRAPHYTel: 7919000448Email: [email protected]: www.nealesmith.com

Tom Manley PhotographyTel: 07729 202402Email: [email protected]: www.tommanleyphotography.comSRAINSCREEN CLADDING PANELSAND SYSTEMS

MSP(Scotland)LtdTel: 01236 729591Contact: Tom Carey, Sales and Marketing DirectorEmail: [email protected]: www.mspscot.co.uk

LIGHTS/ROOFLIGHTS

Glazing VisionTel: 01842 815581Contact: Jon ShooterEmail: [email protected]: www.glazing-vision.co.uk

SPECIALIST SUPPLIER OFSUSTAINABLE TIMBER

RusswoodTel: 01540 673648Email: [email protected]: www.russwood.co.uk

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

BRE Scotland Tel: 01355 576200 Contact: Laura Birrell Email: [email protected] Web: www.bre.co.uk

TILING

Porcelain PlusTel: 01236 728436Contact: Moira PollockEmail: [email protected]: www.porcelainplus.co.uk

WORKPLACE INTERIORS

Steelcase SolutionsTel: 0141 225 5170Fax: 0141 225 5171Email: [email protected]: www.steelcase-solutions.co.uk119-121 West, Regent StreetGlasgow G2 2SD

A MAGAZINE ABOUT THE STREETS IS ON THE STREETSTo advertise contact Kasia Uliasz on 0141 356 5333 or email [email protected]

Architecture Scotland Annual 2014

For more information contact Urban Realm team at 0141 356 5333 or email [email protected]

ASA14

The�Architecture�Scotland�Annual:��the�client’s�guide�to�building�design.�

Please�submit�your�building�at:�urbanrealm.com/buildings/submitbuilding

We�look�forward�to�showcasing�your�work.

Now�open�for�submissions

96 PRODUCTSTO ADVERTISE YOUR PRODUCT OR COMPANY IN THIS SECTION CONTACT KASIA UlIASz ON 0141 559 6082

NEXT GENERATION INSULATION FOR EXCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT

A purpose built development of three houses in Buckingham Road, leeds is the latest project to benefit from OPTIM-R - an optimum performance Vacuum Insulated Panel (VIP) from Kingspan Insulation. The Kingspan OPTIM-R Balcony & Terrace System ensured an even transition between the indoor and outdoor levels onto the balcony without losing space from the bedrooms below.

Tel: +44 (0) 1544 387 384 Email: [email protected] Web: www.kingspaninsulation.co.uk/optim-r

AyRShIRE hOUSING’S LATEST PROjECT SUPPORTS NEw APPRENTICEShIPS

Ayrshire Housing is pleased that its longstanding relationship with Prestwick based builder Ashleigh (Scotland) ltd continues to create new training opportunities. In part due to its current housing contract for the association, three apprentices have been recruited. This builds on Ashleigh’s longstanding support for the Access Construction Ayrshire training project. This Ayrshire Housing promoted scheme supported over 30 young people into apprenticeships.

Tel: 01292 880120

RESIDENTIAL SAFETy UPDATED

The latest issue of ‘Residential Safety Update’ - looking in-depth at topical issues surrounding fire and carbon monoxide safety in housing - has been published by Kidde Fyrnetics, the world’s largest smoke, heat and CO alarm manufacturer.

Intended for all those involved with safe housing, Residential Safety Update looks at the continuing growth of Regulations demanding carbon monoxide alarms.

Email: [email protected] Web: www.smoke-alarms.co.uk

VIVIX® EXTERIOR FAçADE PANELS USED IN hARThILL hOUSE

VIVIX® exterior façade panels have been used to clad the Harthill House, a new social housing project in Wolverhampton. Architect Richard Peterkin from BM3 Architecture specified VIVIX® panels in Storm and Paprika to complement the existing red brick buildings in the area.

The VIVIX® range is available in plain colours, patterns and woodgrains.

LOMAX + wOOD TIMBER GEORGIAN wINDOwS FOR ‘TIRED’ COUNTRy hOME

Made-to-order timber windows by specialist manufacturer lomax + Wood have been architecturally specified for an extensive refurbishment project in rural Gloucestershire. The replacement windows designed by lomax + Wood (formerly Ambass-A-Door) were made to bespoke sizes and some 26 large, Georgian-style double glazed sliding box sash windows from the Kensington & Chelsea collection were produced.

Tel: 020 8616 2187 Email: [email protected] Web: www.lomaxwood.co.uk

EPIC wARNS OF ADL2014 ShORTFALL

EPIC believes that the government has considerable ground to make up in order to achieve net zero carbon construction by 2019 for non-domestic buildings. An aggregate improvement of 9% over 2010 standards will be required by ADl2A 2013, ranging from around 3% for industrial/warehousing to 13% for commercial/offices, achieved largely through better air tightness, lighting controls and services.

Tel: 020 8786 3619 Email: [email protected] Web: www.epic.uk.com

KINGSPAN TEK® DELIVERS PERFORMANCE wIThOUT COMPROMISE

A new home in Suffolk has shown that conservation zones need not obstruct the construction of new, more efficient buildings by using the Kingspan TEK® Building System to help gain planning permission.

To achieve this, the Kingspan TEK® Building System of structural insulated panels (SIPs) was specified for the property’s walls and roof.

Tel: +44 (0) 1544 387 384 Email: [email protected] Web: www.kingspantek.co.uk

A hOUSE BUILT ENTIRELy By PUPILS - AND A LITTLE hELP FROM MAKITA

Over one hundred 14-year-old pupils and staff at the Burlington Danes Academy, White City,West london have volunteered to be involved in a first-of-its-kind project to build a fully-functioning timber frame house on the academy’s grounds. The challenge provides a practical and alternative approach to education with the students gaining a wealth of valuable hands-on experience.

Twitter: @MakitaUK.

MUMFORD & WOOD TAKE A TECHNICAL APPROACH TO SECURITY

Mumford & Wood, the specialist manufacturer of fine timber windows and doors, offers many products that are Secured by Design accredited, a police initiative to design-out crime.

Design enhancements to the period-style Conservation™ range include internal glazing which improves aesthetics and security. Glazing from the room side increases the difficulty to gain access to a building.

Tel: 01621 818155 Twitter: @mumfordwood Web: www.mumfordwood.com

BIM FILES FOR WINDOW PRODUCTS FROM NORDAN WILL SEE gREATER OPTIMISATION OF gLAzINg

BIM (building information management) files for use with Autodesk Revit software are now available to download from www.nordan.co.uk to enable architects to insert NorDan window and door product information directly into their drawings. Still a fairly new concept in the UK, this approach to architectural CAD provides parametrically defined interacting building objects.

Web: www.nordan.co.uk

PFPF PRAISES FIRE SAFETY INITIATIvES

The Passive Fire Protection Federation (PFPF) is highlighting a number of initiatives from PFPF members which have served to raise the profile of fire safety in the built environment.

The PFPF is also offering its support for a proposal to create a National Fire Safe Register, for manufacturers and installers with proven competence.

Web: www.snapsurveys.com/wh/s.asp?k=138305640937

KINgSPAN FIRST INSULATION TO gET BES 6001

Kingspan Insulation is proud to announce that it is the first insulation manufacturer to be certified to the demanding BES 6001: Responsible Sourcing of Construction Products standard. All Kooltherm, KoolDuct and Therma insulation products and cavity closers manufactured at Kingspan Insulation’s British manufacturing facilities are now certified to BES 6001 ‘Very Good’.

Tel: +44 (0) 1544 387 384 Email: [email protected] Web: www.kingspaninsulation.co.uk

TOP MARKS FOR KOOLTHERM CAvITY CLOSER

Kingspan Insulation’s premium performance Kooltherm Cavity Closer has been installed as part of a new £5 million primary school in Kidderminster. The product, installed by main contractors Kier Construction, is manufactured in thirteen sizes from 50–150 mm. This range allowed it to be specified to tightly fit the school’s 140 mm wall cavity in a single thickness.

Tel: +44 (0) 1544 387 384 Email: [email protected] Web: www.kingspaninsulation.co.uk

ROMAN’S BRITISH MADE SHOWERS gO DOWN WELL AT SLEEP EvENT

UK Shower manufacturer and designer, Roman, have reported that, alongside their specialist range of products designed specifically for the project market, Made in Britain was a key talking point amongst visitors to their Sleep Event stand.

This year was the company’s 7th time exhibiting and it marked the official launch of their Decem range of enclosures.

Tel: 0845 050 7611 Email: [email protected] Web: www.roman-showers.com

To adverTise in urban realm please conTacT kasia uliasz on 0141 356 5333 or [email protected]

NorDan windows at Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo

The Light Choice Singlepart

Multipart

Ridge

Eaves

Flushglaze®

Fixed Rooflights

Up to 5.2m² as one pane of glass

No internal framework

Standard or bespoke design

Various shapes and sizes & wall abutments

Walk on & Fire Rated also available

Double glazed overall U-Value from *1.4W/Km²

Tripleglazed overall U-Value from *0.6 W/Km²

Overall U-Values can be provided

Air Permeability figures provided

BIM Revit Models available upon request

Buy online for immediate delivery

Independently tested by the BBA

*based on a 5.2m² rooflight

www.glazingvision.co.uk

Telephone: 0333 8000 881

Urban realm Sep 2013 1 11/09/2013 09:21

urban realm winter2013

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