Scottish Building News 2018, Architecture Photos, Property Scotland, Images, Architects, Design Links
Scottish Architecture News 2018
New Architectural Developments + Buildings in Scotland – Built Environment + Architects Updates
Scottish Architecture Designs – chronological list
Scottish Architectural News 2018
Scottish Architecture News 2018 Part 1 – June to December
12 Dec 2018
The RIAS / RIBA Awards for Scotland 2019, celebrating the best in Scottish architecture
Entries are now invited for the RIAS / RIBA Awards for Scotland 2019. The deadline for entries is 21 February 2019:
RIAS / RIBA Awards for Scotland 2019 News
30 Nov 2018
Hill House Box, Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute, western Scotland
Construction is officially underway on a pioneering project designed to save the Hill House – regarded as Charles Rennie Mackintosh‘s domestic masterpiece. The ‘Box’ which will envelop the famous building in Helensburgh to protect it from the elements as part of the National Trust for Scotland’s ambitious restoration plans:
26 Nov 2018
Professor McAra-McWilliam appointed Director of The Glasgow School of Art
The Board of The Glasgow School of Art has announced today, 26 November 2018, that it has appointed Professor Irene McAra-McWilliam as Director of The Glasgow School of Art.
Director of The Glasgow School of Art News
15 Nov 2018
Cairngorms National Park Authority’s HQ, Grantown-on-Spey, Moray, Northern Scotland
Design: Moxon Architects
image courtesy of architects
Cairngorms National Park Authority HQ Building
Shortlisted at the Scottish Design Awards 2017 in the Future Building category, the project provides a new public-facing entrance to a nineteenth century building, as well as a new wing of flexible open plan office space and meeting accommodation.
12 Nov 2018
Fruitmarket Gallery Building Refurbishment
photo : Stefan Schäfer, Lich [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
Fruitmarket Gallery Building News
The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh has appointed Reiach and Hall Architects to lead the refurbishment of its existing gallery building and the opening-up of the neighbouring warehouse building. The project will breathe new life into The Fruitmarket Gallery, and bring the adjacent building into active cultural use.
16 Oct 2018
Royal Wharf, Edinburgh, Southeast Scotland
Design: Wilson Gunn Architects
image courtesy of architects
Royal Wharf Edinburgh
Edinburgh Marina Holdings, the developer of the landmark Edinburgh Marina scheme, today announced the launch of the first phase of its luxury Royal Wharf development retirement apartments.
7 Oct 2018
Robin Webster OBE FRIAS RIBA Elected RIAS President
Robin Webster has been elected the next President of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS). Robin will take over from Stewart Henderson at the Incorporation’s AGM on 11th October 2018. As approved at the RIAS Council meeting on 12th September, the newly elected President will serve for 19 months.
More on our Glasgow Architecture news page
20 Sep 2018
A first glimpse inside the newly restored Moat Brae House, where Peter Pan began, has revealed the extent of the work undertaken to save a Scottish architectural gem:
13 Sep 2018
Moat Brae House
Moat Brae House, the wonderful Georgian building, has been restored and new extensions have been created.
Dame Barbara Kelly and Cathy Agnew are the women who have done so much to save this wonderful piece of our heritage, a historic Scottish property.
The building is empty at the moment. It will be fitted out for opening as a centre for children’s literature and storytelling.
12 Sep 2018
Progress of Planning (Scotland) Bill
Survey finds Scottish Government failing in its Original Aims for Planning Review
• 92 per-cent say the Planning Bill would not result in an adequate ‘root and branch’ review of the current planning system
• 84 per-cent felt that the Planning Review will fail to improve housing and infrastructure delivery
• Only 10 per-cent felt that the Planning Review will provide a strong and high-performing Planning System.
Professionals and planners across the Scottish property, development and public sectors have delivered a damning verdict of the Planning (Scotland) Bill, ahead of a debate on its progress this week in the Scottish Parliament.
On Wednesday (12 September) The Scottish Government’s Local Government & Communities Committee will start to consider amendments to the Bill brought forward by MSPs.
But an in-depth survey commissioned by leading planning and design consultancy Barton Willmore has revealed high levels of dissatisfaction with the current direction of the Bill. More than 100 industry professionals from across the private and public sectors, who work day in and day out with the planning system, completed the survey.
Headline findings, released last week, delivered a strong message to the Scottish Parliament with more than 92 per-cent of survey responders believing that the Planning Bill would not result in an adequate ‘root and branch’ review of the current planning system.
A further 85 per-cent said the Bill would not ‘improve delivery of housing and infrastructure’, while a further 90 per-cent of survey responders claimed that the Bill will not provide the industry in Scotland with a ‘strong and high performing planning system.’
Barton Willmore’s full research findings focuses on responses for four areas surrounding the content and aims of the Bill, examining the impact of its proposed changes on: delivery, inclusion, simplifying the system and the cost and resources involved. In all, the survey covered a wide range of topics relating to the Bill with in-depth questions geared to understanding key issues such as greater community involvement during the planning process and how the introduction of Local Place Plans will impact on local development.
The survey revealed that 82 per-cent of responders felt that Local Place Plans will make the system more complex, with 87 per-cent adding that this would also become a resource burden for local authorities. More than two-thirds of responders thought that the introduction of Third Party Rights of Appeal would hinder delivery, with the same number believing this would lead to a more complex planning system.
And while 85 per-cent of survey responders thought that an ‘Infrastructure First’ approach and the setting up of a national Infrastructure Agency would improve development delivery, more than three-quarters thought that this would be another significant cost and resource burden for hard-pressed local authorities.
Stephen Tucker, a Partner with Barton Willmore’s Scottish operation, said: “This is the first survey of its type to be published on the Scottish Government’s planning review. We wanted to take an initial industry pulse on the Planning Bill as a whole while it is being debated in Scottish Parliament.
“What is overwhelmingly clear from our analysis of survey responses is that the Scottish Government is failing in following through with its original aims for the Planning Bill – especially in the key areas of improving housing delivery and the introduction of an ‘infrastructure first’ approach.
“And with a further raft of amendments from MSPs expected this week, we can anticipate a further watering-down of the planning rationale that should be driving the Bill. Local Place Plans and the increased use of Local Review Bodies is leading to an increase in the role of community engagement, whilst improving delivery of development, stimulating economic growth and making the system simpler are clearly falling further down the priority list for politicians.
“Time and again, our survey responders used the phrase “missed opportunity” in relation to the Bill, which is exactly what it is fast becoming.
“It’s clear that the direction of the planning review is now moving away from its initial aims of enabling housing and infrastructure delivery, and our survey findings see to confirm our view that such fundamental considerations are now less of a focus. Although the Scottish Government have stated that they are looking at infrastructure delivery through separate processes, this is something that we feel needs to be urgently and directly addressed in the later stages of the Bill’s progression through the Scottish Parliament.”
Barton Willmore will continue to discuss the survey findings with clients and organisations such as the Scottish Property Federation, Homes for Scotland and RTPI Scotland.
Planning (Scotland) Bill – Trends Against Topics
The Barton Willmore survey asked for the opinion of respondents on 18 of the 28 topics that the Planning Review process has looked at, and categorised in the firm’s ‘Direction of Change’ Table. Four key areas were analysed:
DELIVERY:
• The majority responses revealed that respondents felt 61% of the changes (relating to each topic) would improve the delivery of development overall.
• Therefore, it was felt that 39% of the suggested key changes would hinder the delivery of development overall.
INCLUSION:
• The majority responses revealed that respondents felt 61% of the changes (relating to each topic) would result in no change with regards to inclusion for the community overall.
• 39% of the changes were seen to result in greater inclusion for the community overall.
• Not one suggested change was considered by the majority to result in less inclusion for the community.
SIMPLIFYING THE SYSTEM:
• The majority responses revealed that respondents felt 50% of the changes (relating to each topic) would result in a more simplified planning system overall.
• 39% of the changes were seen to result in a more complicated system overall.
• Two topics had no majority verdict and were tied to two answers – one Yes/No and one No/Don’t Know.
COST / RESOURCES:
• The majority responses revealed that respondents felt 61% of the changes (relating to each topic) would require more cost / resource from councils in order to be delivered.
• Respondents felt that 17% of the changes would require less cost / resources from councils, while no change was the majority response for 22% of topics.
THE FIVE KEY QUESTIONS:
• 92.7% (101/109 respondents) felt that the Planning Review will fail to be a root and branch review.
• 84.4% (92/109 respondents) felt that the Planning Review will fail to improve housing and infrastructure delivery.
• Only 10.1% (11/109 respondents) felt that the Planning Review will provide us with a strong and high-performing Planning System.
• Only 4.6% (5/108 respondents) felt that the Planning Review will re-establish the profession as a leader and innovator.
• 33% (36/109 respondents) felt that the Planning Review will result in a move towards a more plan-led system. This means that 67% felt that it would not.
7 Sep 2018
Damning Verdict on Progress of Planning (Scotland) Bill
Professionals across the Scottish property, architecture and planning sectors are highly sceptical of any future impact of the Planning (Scotland) Bill – according to a survey conducted by leading planning and design consultancy Barton Willmore.
Barton Willmore Architecture News
29 Aug 2018
RIAS/Saint-Gobain Emerging Architect Award 2018 Winner News
The RIAS/Saint-Gobain Emerging Architect Award recognises the crucial role architects play in delivering a better world and encourages the great architects of the future at the outset of their careers. This year, the award went to Eilidh Henderson of Page\Park Architects for her inspiring work on St. Cecilia’s Chapel in Edinburgh.
We spoke to Eilidh to find out a bit more about her winning project and her role at Page\Park Architects.
28 Aug 2018
Barton Willmore urge planners and developers to have their say and complete survey on the Planning (Scotland) Bill
Barton Willmore, a leading Planning and Design consultancy, are urging planners and developers to have their say and complete a survey to help influence the Planning (Scotland) Bill.
Barton Willmore, who recently expanded its operation in Scotland with the opening of an office in the centre of Glasgow, have been monitoring, along with their clients, the Planning (Scotland) Bill at all stages of the process in order to gain an understanding on how changes emerging from the Bill may affect the delivery of development in Scotland.
Colin Lavety, Planning Director at Barton Willmore, said: “Whilst monitoring the progress of the review, it came to our attention that fundamental changes have occurred through the key stages of the Planning Review to what is now being proposed through the Local Government & Communities Committee Stage 1 Report in May this year. The direction of the review seems to be moving away from some of the key aims – such as enabling housing and infrastructure delivery – and it is disappointing that such fundamental considerations seem now to be less of a focus, in our view.”
“To highlight these fundamental changes, we have identified those topics which we consider to be key to the discussion on the Planning Review in our survey, as well as those which now seem subject to less focus as the Bill progresses. Whilst we acknowledge that the debate is moving fast (currently, more than 90 proposed amendments to the Bill have now been proposed) and therefore the system may end up being fundamentally different to that reflected in our survey, we feel it is important to analyse how the emerging Bill (at this current time) sits against the stated aims and intentions at the start of the process.”
The survey, sent to professionals working in the property, architecture and planning industry as well as local authorities, tackles a series of issues that relate to the Bill focusing on, for example, the questions of greater community involvement during the drafting process compared to the current system and how the introduction of Local Place Plans will impact on local development.
Barton Willmore aim to use the survey to gather as many opinions as possible in order to use the information to formulate a robust industry response to the Scottish Government, and plan to discuss this further with organisations such as Homes for Scotland and RTPI Scotland.
The survey can be found on Barton Willmore’s website. The deadline for submitting your answers is on Monday, 3 September 2018.
3 Aug 2018
16 Church Street, Dumbarton, western Scotland
Design: Keppie, Architects
photo : Jim Stephenson
West Dunbartonshire Council Office Building
West Dunbartonshire Council’s flagship office building at 16 Church Street, Dumbarton, designed by Keppie, is now complete and operational.
27 Jul 2018
Scotland’s Retirees Facing Significant Property Shortfall
10 Million People Across The UK Are Approaching Retirement With Too Little Housing Provision, Says Barton Willmore Research
People approaching retirement in Scotland are facing a significant financial property shortfall, according to new research published by leading UK planning and design consultancy Barton Willmore:
21 Jul 2018
Doors Open Days News
Doors Open Days is Scotland’s largest free festival that celebrates heritage and the built environment, new and old. Every September, you can explore hundreds of fascinating buildings across Scotland for free. Some open up once a year, some just once in a lifetime.
20 Jul 2018
Women into Construction News
hub Southwest concludes highly successful Women into Construction course held at New College Lanarkshire
hub Southwest, the construction and infrastructure-focused partnership which works with local authorities and private sector enterprises in Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway, has concluded its first highly successful eight week introductory course aimed at getting more women into the construction industry.
More info on the Glasgow Architecture website news page.
20 Jul 2018
Undersupply in Scottish Housing Market
New reports highlight need for more new homes to meet aspiration and rising number of new households
The potential for increasing social inequality as a result of undersupply in the housing market was highlighted today in the wake of the publication of two new reports.
That was the projection of industry body Homes for Scotland as new research suggests that half of Scots no longer believe they will buy their own home and official forecasts predict a 13 per cent rise in the number of households across the country in the next 25 years.
Director of Policy Karen Campbell said:
“With First Time Buyers right across the country finding it a challenge to get on the housing ladder, the single biggest pressure on house prices and rents remains lack of supply.
“Whilst there was a welcome increase in the total number of housing completions last year, this remains 30% down on pre-recession levels and equates to just 806 extra new homes on 2016 – a drop in the ocean in relation to the number of new households that are now projected to be formed, particularly by older people.
“We therefore need to better enable the delivery of new homes and avoid further widening the gap between the housing “haves” and “have nots” so it is crucial that local authorities and industry work together to ensure communities get the full range of homes of all tenures they need to sustain themselves and their economies. This requires ensuring the viability of development and, in relation to meeting the needs of our younger and older populations, ensuring that smaller homes are not disproportionately more expensive to build.”
19 Jul 2018
Statement from The Glasgow School of Art on the progress of the dismantling work
Work to dismantle the dangerous parts of the Mackintosh Building has been going to schedule it was confirmed today, 18 July 2018. Three cranes have been on site working from 7.30am – 7.30pm Monday- Thursday and 7.30am – 5pm Friday – Sunday.
Work began on the central section of the South façade, above Sauchiehall Street, on Tuesday afternoon (11 July) and this section has now been lowered to the bottom of the parapet.
Glasgow School of Art dismantling work
6 Jul 2018
Glenmorangie New Still House Building
Glenmorangie New Still House Building
The new still house will allow Glenmorangie to increase its capacity in line with ever-greater demand from discerning drinkers around the world.
29 Jun 2018
Ayr Grammar Primary School
image courtesy of BM
Ayrshire Buildings News
Proposals to deliver a new home for Ayr Grammar Primary School are now taking shape. The first steps in the South Ayrshire Council project to refurbish the old Ayr Academy have now been taken, with the 1930s extension at the back of the building being demolished.
Former Tullis Russell Paper Mill Site
29 Jun – Land at former paper mill to be recycled in to home for new community
Plans to build a major new housing development that will transform the old Tullis Russell Paper Mill site between Glenrothes and Markinch have been submitted to Fife Council.
Glasgow School of Art Restoration News
29 Jun – statement released by GSA regaridng restoration contract ending.
Glasgow School of Art Fire Update
22 Jun – Comment from Glasgow architect Alan Dunlop:
“At the moment, the future of Mackintosh’s School of Art remains uncertain, whilst the cause of the fire is being investigated and the structural integrity of the little that remains is confirmed. There is anger and disbelief that such an internationally renowned, Category A listed building, designed by Scotland’s greatest architect could have caught fire twice in four years and much talk about rebuilding as before, stone by stone.
Mackintosh believed that “creative imagination is the most important” and wrote that the artist “cannot attain to mastery in his art unless he is endowed in the highest degree with the faculty of invention”.
We should now accept that Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art is now gone for ever and in its place create a new school of art, worthy of the master. That is how we best celebrate his memory and honour him as an architect of extraordinary invention.
The call to create a Glasgow School of Art replica should therefore be resisted. I believe instead that there should be an international competition organised to design a new art school.”
Professor Alan Dunlop
www.alandunloparchitects.com
22 Jun 2018
Museum für Franken
Consortium of Hoskins Architects (Glasgow / Berlin), Ralph Appelbaum Associates and Wenzel+Wenzel to design the new Museum für Franken at Marienberg Fortress, Würzburg, Franconia, northern Bavaria, Germany
Museum für Franken, Marienberg Fortress
Glasgow School of Art Fire Update in June
19 Jun – Why was a fire supression system not fitted after the 2014 fire? Temporary sprinkler systems can be installed in active construction/refurbishment projects, so why weren’t they?
Hopes have been raised that Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh building, which was gutted by fire on Friday, can be saved as it emerged a new sprinkler system had not yet been fitted as part of the restoration following an earlier blaze, reports The Guardian.
On Sunday, as fire crews used thermal imaging cameras to identify any remaining hotspots, conservation experts argued that a fresh recovery project could build on the detail, skill and knowledge accumulated during the restoration of the treasured Mackintosh Library, led by Glasgow architects Page\Park, which was almost entirely destroyed by fire in May 2014.
The GSA completed a detailed digital modelling of the entire building after the last fire.
But there were also warnings of the scale of the task. One expert estimated that even if any such work was possible, the cost would be at least £100m, compared to the approximate £35m for rebuilding after the first fire.
The building’s stonework may not have survived a second round of intense heat, sufficient to avoid demolition.
The worst damage is on the East side of the building (the older part, but away from the key space, the Library), which had been far less affected by the previous smaller fire.
The building is so important both architecturally and to the pride of the city (not forgettign tourist revenues) that it will almost definitely be fully restored, but at a huge cost yet again to a city that is not overly prosperous.
Glasgow School of Art Fire Update – article in The Guardian
‘Don’t rebuild the Mac: We need to accept it’s gone’
Scottish architect Professor Alan Dunlop calls for design contest for entirely new building, reports BD.
Glasgow art school blaze: Expert warns it may have to be demolished
The fire-ravaged structure of the Glasgow School of Art may have to be demolished, a leading construction expert has warned, report BBC Scotland.
Billy Hare, a professor of construction management, said there was a “growing consensus” the globally-significant building may have to be pulled down.
Stone has splintered on the East side of the building, where the fire is believed to have started, but it is probably too early to make definiteive statements.
Fire crews spent a second day working to extinguish the blaze, which also damaged the O2 ABC venue.
Many of the restored fixtures and fittings for the Mackintosh Library are believed to have remained in storage thankfully, so undamaged.
Glasgow School of Art Blaze – article on the BBC Scotland website
Glasgow School of Art Fire
16 Jun – The Glasgow School of Art suffers a catastrophic fire for the second time in four years, with more than 120 firefighters sent to fight the blaze on Friday night. The Scottish fire and rescue service said the fire in the Mackintosh building had spread to neighbouring buildings including the O2 ABC nightclub.
aerial photo courtesy of Police Scotland
19 June 2018
FitHome Village, Dalmore, Alness, Speyside, Northeast Scotland
A Saltire Award-winning concept that unites the priorities of healthcare, housing provision and tenant welfare is welcoming its first tenants in the Highlands today.
Fourteen people can now call the ‘FitHome’ village in Dalmore, Alness, their home, as the pilot development delivered by Albyn Housing Society, in partnership with Carbon Dynamic and NHS Highland, welcomes its first residents ranging in age from 18 to 90 years old.
15 Jun 2018
SNH urges new developments ‘Get green from the ground up’
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) is launching a ground-breaking new approach that makes nature a key factor at the ‘idea stage’ of successful building projects.
To inspire developers on the benefits of nature from the outset, SNH is launching its innovative approach – Planning for Great Places. The aim is to help Scotland become the best place to live, work and visit, by directing development to where it is needed, and is the best fit.
Mike Cantlay, Chair of SNH said: “We know that living and working in great places brings huge benefits for physical and mental health. But in some areas, there is little or no opportunity to access the fundamentals of nature – grass, trees, bees and insects.
“Getting green from the ground up is a crucial way that developments can support communities for generations to come. It can make for beautiful places to live, work and visit, as well as being great for business.
“SNH has a pivotal role here, and key to our fresh approach will be talking to and supporting development interests as early as possible. We want to understand aspirations and challenges at the ideas stage, and before planning applications are in place. Working together, we can build capacity to look after nature, and make the most of the opportunities it offers.”
The Planning for Great Places approach recognises many places in Scotland can accommodate development without significant impact on the nature of the area and the benefits it brings. But some parts of our country are less suited to buildings, roads, wind farms and other types of types of development. SNH wants to help make any developments as good as they possibly can be – to invest in and sustainably use nature.
Key elements of the Planning for Great Places approach include:
• Sharing knowledge about Scotland’s nature: Helping developers, planners and other interests make use of nature-based solutions; making it easy for people to see the benefits nature gives us all.
• Supporting investing in nature Scotland’s nature is a shared resource and we all have a responsibility for it.
• Supporting plan and place making: working with planners, other key agencies, communities, developers and others to support a plan-led approach, also providing guidance and support for communities to help local place plans make best use of nature.
• Providing advice that helps achieve the right development in the right place by talking to major development interests as early as possible – before they have prepared planning applications.
Background:
Case study: Dangle cards for the environment
SNH and the Civil Engineering Contractors Association worked together, sharing ideas on construction good techniques that benefit the environment. SNH illustrated what this could mean in practice by putting some of these good ideas onto ‘dangle cards’ that a digger operator can use in his cab – quickly seeing what to do in any given situation. Tips include, ‘When cutting turf lay with grass upwards, not downwards’; ‘If you cut a scar, re-seal it’; ‘Use big stones for cross drainage, so you don’t have to replace in the future’. As a result, The Association has have set up an environmental forum to continue sharing and learning from each other’s good experiences. This is one way to help ensure SNH can intervene less as civil engineering work progresses, and instead give positive feedback.
The Planning for Great Places approach can be accessed via this link: https://www.nature.scot/planning-service-statement
Scottish Natural Heritage is the government’s adviser on all aspects of nature and landscape across Scotland. Their role is to help everyone understand, value and enjoy Scotland’s nature now and in the future. For more information, visit www.nature.scot. SNH is also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nature_scot
Scottish Architectural News 2018 Part 1 – January to May
Scottish Building News 2018 – Part 1 : January to May
photo © Speirs + Major
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