Urban Realm - Autumn 2018, issue 35

VOL8 ISSUE35 AUTUMN 2018

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RIVER CITY SCOTTISH DESIGN AWARDS GENDER EQUALITY ENGINEERING REPORT

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Victoria & Albert Museum of Design, Dundee Image courtesy of V&A Dundee

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The city of Dundee has long laboured under the clichés of jute, jam and journalism but in turning east to Japan, for its V&A Museum (pg 28) the city has not just alighted on a new alliteration but a new found sense of internationalism.

The V&A Dundee isn’t the only celebration of home grown design, with the Scottish Design Awards also showcasing the cream of the current creative crop (pg 12). To bring home the quality and quantity of award-winning work we’ve brought together the main winners for you to digest at your leisure.

One of the most significant of these is The Macallan Distillery & Visitor Experience by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (pg 88). One of the largest single private sector investments in recent years it has not only furnished a venerable brand with a modern-day icon but embraced the innovative use of timber.

Peter Wilson addresses this approach in detail and also brings us up to speed with the timber technology behind Multiply (pg 54), the first structure in Britain to be built using CLT it is being touted by the V&A as a potential solution to the UK’s housing crisis.

For every two steps forward it can sometimes seem as though we take one step back however as Mark Chalmers finds upon surveying the ruins of the Glasgow School of Art (pg 48).

We also investigate the glacial progress in achieving gender equality in architecture (pg 68). It is a goal everyone shares but which has lacked leadership.

Now a new generation of women are forcing the issue.

I hope everyone reading can help them.

John Glenday, Editor

West Dunbartonshire Council Offices

Molecular Sciences Hub, Imperial College London

Š Jim Stephenson

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Derby Council Offices

Civils & Structures Transport Planning Environmental Infrastructure Geotechnical Conservation and Heritage Principal Designer

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CONT ENTS QUARTERLY DIGEST 12 SCOTTISH DESIGN AWARDS 28 V&A DUNDEE 38 LEICESTER 48 MACKINTOSH MYTHS 54 MULTIPLY 60 SIXTEEN CHURCH STREET 68 GENDER EQUALITY 76 ENGINEERING REPORT 88 MACALLAN DISTILLERY 96 DIRECTORY 97 PRODUCTS 04

Cover image: V&A Dundee by Hufton + Crow

OUR EDITORIAL PANEL INCLUDES:

John Glenday

Mark Chalmers, architecture writer and photographer

Leslie Howson, director Urban Design

Paul Stallan, director, Stallan-Brand

Jonathan Reeve, architect, Voigt Partnership

Chris Stewart, director, Collective Architecture

Alistair Scott, director, Smith Scott Mullan

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

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 2018 ISSN 2044-7345 Published by Urban Realm Limited, 2G Garnet Court, Glasgow G4 9NT Tel: 0141 356 5333 Fax: 0141 559 6050

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ODE TO SUMMER

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ON THE ISLE OF LEWIS, AN OLD MISSION HALL HAS UNDERGONE A TRANSFORMATION INTO A QUIRKY TWO-BED FAMILY HOME. FIONA AND DUNCAN PORTEOUS OF PORTEOUS ARCHITECTURE TOOK INSPIRATION FROM THE ISLAND’S TRADITIONAL ‘AIRIDHS’, WHICH WERE DWELLINGS WHERE COMMUNITIES WOULD LIVE DURING THE SUMMER The material was ideal in that it MONTHS. provided the right blend of While the Mission hall had thick concrete walls and small windows, the Porteous’ used lightweight timber framing, wood cladding and bright red corrugated iron coupled with large glazed areas to recreate the vibrant creative spirit of the Airidh.

These materials lent themselves to the dramatic curved forms that were created.

Timber is a key feature of the aesthetic. Russwood Scotlarch® vertical board on half board cladding covers the main form of the house, whilst the dramatic curved elements and roof are clad in Siberian Larch rainscreen.

durability, flexibility and warmth.

Russwood also provided the Scotlarch® decking fitted with Gripdeck® to brave the Hebridean elements.

Duncan Porteous said: “The team at Russwood are always helpful when it comes to advice about their products as well as installation and finishes.

I was really happy with the quality of the timber, which represents very good value for money. We design a lot of houses throughout Lewis and Harris and after using Russwood products on my own house, I’m very happy to specify them for my other projects.”

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Q U A R T E R L Y D I G E S T J U L

MAKING AN ENTRANCE Passengers have been given their first taste of a new look Dundee railway station following completion of the £38m build by Balfour Beatty.

Designed by Jacobs and Nicoll Russell

Studios the station has been conceived as a gateway to the city and waterfront with the buildings 2,600 ton weight resting on 188 piles to elevate the structure above the tracks.

BRIEFS A major remodeling of Aberdeen Station’s Union Square front entrance has been proposed by site owner Abellio Scotrail.

The fifth busiest station in Scotland will be remodeled

by Austin-Smith:Lord with a relocated ticket office and lounge, first floor retail and more legible signage to signpost the station entrance, which will sit below a new branded canopy.

Glenmorangie Distillery has embarked on a major expansion to boost export capacity upon completion next year.

At its heart will be two copper stills, the largest yet installed anywhere in Scotland, which will be showcased via a dramatic glass enclosure overseen by engineering consultancy Blyth + Blyth.

UPSIDE DOWN

NEW BLOOD

LBA have won planning consent to erect a terrace of four contemporary townhouses at Baberton Avenue, Juniper Green, designed to nestle within the sloping topography.

The ‘upside down’ design sees living, kitchen and dining spaces located on the top floor behind glass corner picture windows. A partially excavated ‘underground storey’ meanwhile tucks away a double garage and two double bedrooms.

The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service has formally opened its £50m headquarters at Heriot-Watt University Research Park.

The Jack Copland Centre has been designed by Reiach & Hall Architects to consolidate existing services on a single site of stacked office and laboratory spaces.

CABIN FEVER Yotel have won planning consent to convert a disused office building on Glasgow’s Argyle Street into 256 guest ‘cabins’, hot on the heels of similar conversion on Edinburgh’s Princes Street.

The venture will see Westergate House repurposed by Mosaic Architecture + Design with a feature entrance, gym, bowling alley, rooftop bar & restaurant.

URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

Brunton Design are in the home straight of am 18-month journey to planning after applying the finishing touches to their vision for 43 flats above ground floor retail at Marketgait, Dundee, on the site of a former petrol filling station.

The £6m build is the product of protracted discussions with planners for the prominent plot, just yards from the B-listed Henderson Jute Mill.

McLaughlin & Harvey have handed over a revitalised Queen’s Hall in Dunoon to Argyll & Bute Council, completing a £12m revitalisation of the public venue.

Designed by Malcolm Fraser Architects and delivered by Halliday Fraser Munro the project has delivered refurbished main auditorium with retractable seating, all kitted out with new lighting and audio-visual facilities.

The University of St Andrews has begun construction of a £12.5m music centre on Queens Terrace.

The Laidlaw Music Centre has been designed by Flanagan Lawrence to include rehearsal rooms a recording suite, library and a chamber recital hall.

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Q U A R T E R L Y J U L D I G E S T HONEY POT

RIVER BANK

North Lanarkshire Council has outlined plans for an extended visitor centre at Drumpelier Country Park to serve as a gateway to the Seven Lochs Wetland Park.

A design team led by Doig + Smith and Holmes Miller has been appointed to deliver the centre, a key attraction of the 16sq/km urban park.

Barclays have agreed to purchase a 450,000sq/ft office development at Glasgow’s Buchanan Wharf from Drum Property Group to house a new campus headquarters.

Drum is currently working with Barclays and architects Stallan-Brand to finalise designs for the purpose-built campus, which will also include homes and public space, with construction expected to begin by the end of the year.

WATER WORLD Peel Lifestyle Outlets are taking forward plans for a £100m retail-led destination at Glasgow Harbour with the submission of plans for a 350,000sq/ft mixed use development.

Incorporating shops, a restaurant,

cinema and cafes the ADF designed project is being billed as a ‘waterfront destination’ for the west end, with the promise of its own events, activities and performance programme. Completion is expected by 2021.

BRIEFS A mosque in Pollokshields, Glasgow, has submitted plans for a contemporary extension to cater for a growing congregation.

Inkdesign Architecture have been drafted in by Masjid Noor to draw up plans for the Forth Street property, improving the layout and physical condition of the old mosque in the process.

Signifying the new look will be a new double height prayer hall and circulation space, adorned by a striking minaret clad in perforated metal.

NHS Forth Valley have opened a GP and Minor Injuries Unit at Stirling Health & Care Village, part of a £35m campus within the grounds of Stirling Community Hospital.

The centre has been delivered

by Hub East central, Robertson Construction and JM Architects to better integrate local health and social care services.

A 116-bed inpatient facility will be completed later in the year followed by a new ambulance station and workshop in autumn 2019.

West Dunbartonshire Council has completed the migration of 500 staff to a £15.4m town centre headquarters carved out of Dumbarton’s A-listed former Burgh Hall and Academy Building.

In addition to providing a new public service hub the project has been enthusiastically embraced as a means to jumpstart regeneration in the town. (See pg 58 for more).

The National Trust for Scotland has commissioned Denizen Works to build a timber observation tower within Inverewe Garden, Wester Ross, to improve the visitor experience (see cover pg 5).

Combining a vertical gallery and bird hide the elevated space has been modelled on a woodpecker’s nest or a sliced tree trunk and connects to existing footpaths by a dramatic bridge.

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Q U A R T E R L Y D I G E S T A U G

HEALTH CAMPUS

Inverness Campus is set for further expansion with submission of a proposal of application notice to build an 8,500sq/m healthcare and life sciences building.

Backed by NHS Highland, Highlands & Islands Enterprise and the University

of the Highlands & Islands the Centre for Life Sciences 2 is being designed by Oberlanders to maintain momentum from a recently completed Centre for Health Science by maximising commercial opportunities.

HYBRID HOUSING

WHARF VISION

Lucid Architecture and ERZ are pioneering an innovative housing development which blurs the boundaries between tourism and co-housing at Ferry Brae, Kilcreggan.

The scheme takes the form of seven small ‘hybrid’ homes designed with the flexibility to be utilised as tourist accommodation, second homes or cohousing - defined by shared facilities on communal land including a renewable energy system, meeting space, sauna, kitchen, workshops, storage, recycling and outdoor terraces.

Cooper Cromar and Drum Property Group have filed a revised masterplan for three hectares of land off Govan Road at Glasgow’s Pacific Quay.

Revised plans call for 25,000sq/m of office space alongside 450sq/m of leisure uses and 60 homes, each with active ground floor uses. All buildings will be unified through a common use of brick, with regular window reveals to create the impression of a ‘modern wharf’. A visitor centre and microdistillery willalso be included.

BARNSTORMER Thomas Robinson Architects have transformed a draughty barn into one of the greenest homes in the country after securing Scotland’s first EnerPHit certification.

Specially conceived for retrofitted or renovated properties the Passivhaus certification for Auchineden takes account of the different challenges to energy efficiency found within older style buildings.

URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

BRIEFS Glasgow City Council is considering a permanent ban on all traffic from George Square following a series of temporary road closures around the central civic space to accommodate the European Championships.

Those with an interest in the square are being invited to complete a short survey in which respondents can have their say on whether they agree or disagree with a permanent remodeling.

A B-listed Glasgow landmark could be saved following a change of ownership and submission of plans to convert a disused seven storey block on the corner of Argyle Street and Miller Street.

David Narro Associates and ZM Architecture consider that the building can be saved excepting failing brickwork to the rear - which will be rebuilt in a contemporary style.

The future of a B-listed former school in Glasgow’s east end has been secured following the completion of extensive refurbishment and conversion works at the hands of Purcell.

Parkhead School now stands as flexible office space having been rescued from the Buildings at Risk Register by Glasgow Building Preservation Trust with Parkhead Cross Townscape Heritage Initiative and Parkhead Housing Association.

Glasgow transport operator SPT has reopened Partick Bus Station for the first time in 11 months following extensive remodeling work by AustinSmith:Lord.

Integrating with the adjacent rail and subway station the new look interchange will also plug into cycle and footpath networks, with the number of bus stances increased by 20% Public realm enhancements include separation of buses from other vehicles and provision of new granite paving, seating, trees and lighting.

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Q U A R T E R L Y A U G D I G E S T DEVELOPER REJOICES

LEITH WALK

Glasgow City Council has lent its backing to a revised bid to build 27 flats on the site of a former gospel hall in Dennistoun.

Nixon Blue had originally bid to build 31 flats and just eight parking spots, but the newly approved plans will deliver 27 flats and 15 parking places after congestion concerns were raised by neighbours.

Drum Property Group have capped a series of public consultations with submission of a detailed planning application for creation of a £50m mixed-use ‘quarter’ on Edinburgh’s Leith Walk.

The 2.9 acre site at Stead’s Place will play host to a combination of 53 affordable homes, student housing, a 56-room hotel and retail as well as a restaurant, café and live music venue.

Designed by Halliday Fraser Munro it could get underway in 2019.

BRIEFS Grant Murray Architects have filed amended plans for the conversion of the B-listed Glasgow Steiner School to form 14 apartments, together with a new build extension of a further 22 flats.

Revised plans include provision of mezzanine floors and an external courtyard at the heart of the historic building, which has lain derelict since 2013 when a devastating fire ripped through the school.

Comprehensive Design Architects (CDA), acting on behalf of DV4 Properties, have drawn up designs for 19 new build flats at Queensferry Road, Edinburgh.

Orchard Brae will be finished in PPC aluminium cladding above a precast concrete panel base the properties have been purposefully conceived as ‘open and lightweight’ in order to contrast with the heavy brick facades of its neighbour.

NEOCLASSICAL REVIVAL

David Chipperfield Architects, with executive architect Reiach & Hall, have thrown back the curtain to a dramatic new music venue at the eastern end of Edinburgh’s Georgian New Town.

The Impact Centre will house a 1,000seat auditorium and secondary 200 seat performance, rehearsal and recording space and will also double as a new home for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

The RIAS have announced a shortlist of half a dozen practices vying to win a £10m estates development package for Camphill School Aberdeen.

Anderson Bell + Christie, Collective Architecture and Hoskins Architects will go head to head with James F Stephen Architects, JM Architects and Scott Brownrigg for the commission after being chosen from 50 UK-wide submissions.

Clark Contracts have moved on-site for a £6.1m renovation of Blantyre’s David Livingstone Centre by Hoskins Architects and ERZ to better communicate the story of how an impoverished mill worker rose to become a British hero.

The cash will go towards a full revitalisation of the 11-hectare Station Road, including the original tenement in which Livingstone was born and raised, to form a new exhibition, upgraded facilities, a café and shop.

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Q U A R T E R L Y D I G E S T S E P

BOXING CLEVER Reiach and Hall Architects have secured planning approval for a 170sq/m home for the artist Alan Johnston in Edinburgh, enabling an expected start on site to be made early next year.

Taking the form of two overlapping

cuboids the playful geometry allows accommodation to be split between a larger living space and smaller studio, study and library with both elements coming together at a central stair.

Landscape design is by Gross Max.

BRIEFS Scottish Canals have launched a public consultation into plans to create a three-way footbridge spanning the Stockingfield Junction of the Forth & Clyde Canal at Maryhill.

The consultation precedes a detailed planning application for the infrastructure link, prioritised as a means to improve physical connections for both residents and canal users.

DTA Chartered Architects have taken on a difficult site on the banks of the River Clyde through Bothwell with a cantilevered family home arranged over three levels.

The steeply sloping nature of the plot, together with the presence of mature protected trees, constrained developable land to a small triangle at the northern edge of the large site with planning restrictions further constraining options.

CLYDESIDE TOWER

GLASGOW GRID

A slow burning build to rent revolution in Glasgow has taken another step forward with the submission of a 500-home waterfront PRS scheme at Central Quay.

The £90m development is being spearheaded by developer, property manager and investor Platform_ which has selected the Clydeside for the latest stage of its UK expansion.

Work may get underway by the second quarter of 2019.

A former church in Charing Cross could make way for 20 new homes following submission of plans by Holmes Miller Architects and Kelvin Properties.

The Kent Road site will give way to a seven storey block finished in buff brick and grey fibre cement cladding, referencing the grid pattern of surrounding roads with a twin volume space designed to mediate in scale between more modern developments and surviving tenements.

LIVING MACHINE A planning application has been drawn up by new practice Carson+Sall for 144 apartments at a gap site on Hydepark Street, Glasgow, next to the Central Quay masterplan.

Rising to 18 storeys the proposed scheme rises above a double-height parking plinth.

URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

Unicorn Properties have completed an unusual development of 13 apartments at 123 High Street on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile by carefully constructing a four storey new build addition atop the remains of three listed stone buildings, including the B-listed Mitre Bar. Sitting on top of a concrete deck the timber extension presented a number of particular challenges, not least the complexity of the plumbing to avoid weakening joists unnecessarily and resulting in the use of pipework specified

by Rehau.

Mosaic Architecture + Design are advancing Glasgow’s International Financial Services District with concept designs for a 200,000sq/ft office block on behalf of Soller Group.

Carrick Square will sit off the Broomielaw waterfront in front of a new public plaza and main entrance space.

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Q U A R T E R L Y S E P D I G E S T RIVERSIDE DALMARNOCK

LANDING PATTERN

McTaggart Construction have launched their ambitious vision for Dalmarnock, further detailing their plans to create a mixed tenure development of 562 homes on ex-industrial land by the banks of the River Clyde.

Riverside Dalmarnock is being backed by Link Group and Laurel Homes and has been designed by Hypostyle to be tenure neutral. Adopting home zone principles, it includes a central park, open boulevards and landscaped riverfront terraces occupying 22 acres of remediated land.

ICA Architects have come forward with plans for a 130-bed hotel serving Inverness Airport as part of a masterplan for a new business hub.

Located within a five-minute walk of the terminal building the hotel will be accessed via a new road connecting to existing infrastructure, adopting a linear form centred on a small ‘tower’ element in order to break the façade into smaller elements.

EDINBURGH PARK A £500m Edinburgh Park masterplan conceived by Dixon Jones, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, Sutherland Hussey Harris and Gross Max is poised to begin construction as we go to press.

Parabola is bidding to build 1,800 homes and up to 1,000,000sq/ft of office space on 42 acres of land on the city’s western fringe, complete with recreation grounds, a civic square, shops and cafes.

BRIEFS Highland Council have settled into an £8m office space in Fort William following handover of the project by main contractor Robertson.

This follows a two-year programme of renovation to repurpose a fire damaged B-listed school on Achintore Road to the council’s own designs, creating premises suitable for the consolidation of administration and public services.

Grant Murray Architects acting on behalf of the Home Group have brought forward plans for 36 flats on the site of a former nursing home in Haghill, Glasgow.

Briefed to create ‘aspirational homes’ appropriate to the prime setting overlooking Alexandra Park the development will adjoin the ‘dead gable’ of an adjoining tenement where the Victorian tenement boom ground to a halt, with a six-storey new build with reduced floor to ceiling heights to sit below the tenement datum.

George Watson’s College have begun a phased redevelopment of their Junior School, commencing with the creation of a Page\Park designed extension to the Upper Primary to improve its modern languages and music facilities.

ISG have been awarded the £4.8m contract will include a reception space, library, a music suite and five classrooms to replace ‘temporary’ accommodation elsewhere on the campus with completion expected by September 2019.

CRUISING AHEAD Inverclyde Council have outlined plans to build a £14.7m cruise terminal at Greenock to capitalise on the burgeoning global cruise ship industry by boosting capacity.

Located on the banks of the Clyde

Greenock Ocean Terminal will benefit from a newvisitor centre, restaurant and gallery dedicated to local sculptor George Wylie as the Clydeside town positions itself as a key destination for passing ships.

The Glasgow School of Art has faced some tough questions at the Scottish Parliament.

An evidence session heard from Malcolm Fraser amongst others, who has voiced alarm at the apparent use of PIR insulation as a ‘cost cut’. Read more on the Mack on pg 48.

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SCOTTISH DESIGN AWARDS JOHN GLENDAY

This year’s award ceremony proved to be a breakthrough event

ME L T I NG URBAN REALM RELAUNCHED THE SCOTTISH DESIGN AWARDS EARLIER THIS SUMMER WHITH A CARNIVAL OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN THAT PROVED TO BE THE HOTTEST SHOW IN TOWN. HERE WE APPLAUD THE AWARD WINNING WORK, STUDIOS AND INDIVIDUALS WHO ALL CONTRIBUTED TO A MEMORABLE NIGHT. URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

POT

Scotland’s architectural and design communities spoke with one voice to name two separate pieces of interior work as the best of the best in their respective fields during a gala dinner and reception held to celebrate the 21st annual Scottish Design Awards.

Over 350 attendees representing the great and the good of Scotland’s architectural and design professions gathered in Glasgow’s Grand Central Hotel on the evening of the 23 August to celebrate the best that the industry has to offer.

On the architecture side it was a full refurbishment of The Glasgow Film Theatre at the hands of McGinlay Bell which > secured the architecture Grand Prix. Commenting on the

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SCOTTISH DESIGN AWARDS

Left & right- McGinlay Bell stole the show, unusually for an interiors project, picking up the architecture grand prix for the Glasgow Film Theatre

winner the judges said: “To class an interior as best building was difficult, but this should be the future of looking at the reuse of existing buildings.”

This decision was echoed on the design-side where judges awarded their own Grand Prix to Studio MB for the Triumph Factory visitor experience in Hinckley.

Elsewhere the chairman’s award for architecture, this year awarded by Denise Bennetts of Bennetts Associates, was awarded to Reiach & Hall Architects for Nucleus, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Caithness Archive, saying: “It’s an intriguing conceptual approach, beautifully realised and sophisticated in how it sits in the landscape. A lot of work went into this, it’s very sharp.”

Rounding off the big wins of the night John Kinsley Architects won the practice of the year accolade for the practices pioneering work at Bath Street Collective Custom Build. The judging panel said: “This is a vote of confidence in a young, emerging practice which has achieved something really

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substantial and is an exemplar of architects not sitting back and waiting for things to happen. This is the future of Scottish practice and shows how we all need to change.”

Urban Realm editor John Glenday added: “In Scotland we are too often coy to shout about our many accomplishments, with many wary of a media which can seem dominated by negative reports; from tragedy at the Glasgow School of Art to a melting Science Centre roof.

“Rather than dwell on such news I believe this strengthens the case for us to pull together through forums such as The Scottish Design Awards to accentuate the many positive stories we have to tell. The GFT refurbishment, Nucleus and Bath Street Collective Custom Build are each worthy of their own headlines.”

This year 44 awards and commendations were handed out to 76 nominees chosen from amongst 126 entries by our judging panel. A selection of award-winning work is presented here.

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SCOTTISH DESIGN AWARDS

© TRICIA MALLEY ROSS GILLESPIE

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Above - Nucleus secured the chairman’s award for architecture for Reiach & Hall Architects Far Right - Do Architecture emerged with a lighting win courtesy of their dazzling work at the British Airways i360 tower in Brighton Right - kennedytwaddle, Lynsey McIntosh, Macfarlane + Associates took to the stage in the public realm category for their delivery of V&A Dundee’s community garden co-design project. You can read more about the V&A Dundee on pg 26.

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© KEVIN MERE

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SCOTTISH DESIGN AWARDS

URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

Š KEITH HUNTER

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Left - John Kinsley Architects were named architectural practice of the year on the night Top Left - Kinsley himself models the latest addition to his trophy cabinet Top Right - Inch Architecture & Design earned a health award for Broomhill Gardens Horticultural Training & Community Centre Bottom - Stallan-Brand walked off with the future building accolade for their work on Jedburgh Intergenerational Community Campus

SCOTTISH DESIGN AWARDS

LUC saw off all challengers to head the regeneration category with their Claypits masterplan for Scottish Canals

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SCOTTISH DESIGN AWARDS

© MARK POWER / MAGNUM PHOTOS

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URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

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Top Left - Bennetts Associates won big in the proposed building category for Citizens Theatre Top Right - McGregor Bowes and the Kirkmichael Trust earned a re-use of a listed building award for Kirkmichael Bottom - Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners walked off with a leisure award for The Macallan Distillery & Visitor Experience while their colleagues at Speirs + Major shone brightest in lighting for the same scheme

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SCOTTISH DESIGN AWARDS

URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

Š ZAC AND ZAC

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Left - Collective Architecture with Malcolm Fraser Architeccts were recognised for their affordable housing at Leith Fort Top Right - RankinFraser Landscape Architecture took to the stage in honour of their public realm work at City Campus for City of Glasgow College Bottom - Izat Arundell landed a low cost award for their work with Porteous’ Studio

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SCOTTISH DESIGN AWARDS

URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

Š KEITH HUNTER

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Left - The speculative Million Seater Stadium saw Reiach & Hall again honoured for best proposed building Right - Elder & Cannon Architects with Renfrewshire Council received the re-use of a listed building award on the night

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V&A DUNDEE JOHN GLENDAY

DUNDEE HAS LONG BEEN SEVERED FROM THE RIVER WHICH GAVE IT LIFE BUT IN TURNING BACK TO THE TAY IT HAS REDISCOVERED THE TIMELESS APPEAL OF BOUNDARIES BETWEEN LAND AND WATER. THIS HAS NOT ONLY ALTERED THE CITY’S GEOGRAPHY BUT PLACED IT FIRMLY ON THE INTERNATIONAL MAP. PHOTOGRAPHY BY HUFTON + CROW.

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COMMERCIAL FURNITURE FOR E V E RY S PAC E W W W . R A K K A U S F U R N I T U R E . C O . U K

The list of the top practices in Scotland - coming soon Nominations now open at urbanrealm.com/ur100nominations

V&A DUNDEE

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Previous Page - A cave-like arch sits at the heart of the scheme Above - Kuma has drawn inspiration from coastal cliffs for the panel facade

Eight years after winning the competition to build a new design museum on the banks of the River Tay and 12 years after the first conversations surrounding a waterfront setpiece began Dundee’s V&A Museum has opened its doors to an expectant public, but is it £80m well spent? Urban Realm was among the first to step through the cliff-like concrete portal to find out.

Still defined by the 19th century jute trade Dundee took a symbolic step back towards its international roots in November 2010 when the Japanese architectural practice of Kengo Kuma & Associates was unanimously declared the winner of a design competition – amidst much angst at the time from the losing teams, who alleged unfairness in the

competition. Despite lingering concerns over process Dundee has since shown remarkable unity in pressing ahead with an expensive public works programme at a time of national austerity, with ordinary Dundonians brought together in common purpose to reconnect the city with its lost waterfront for the first time in a generation.

Addressing journalists at the opening of the waterfront design centre Kuma was inevitably confronted by comparisons with Frank Gehry’s seminal Bilbao confection, with much speculation centring on whether Dundee’s newest edifice can replicate some of the Titanium-clad stardust of the Spanish Guggenheim: “Bilbao is a shiny monument, within the city”, Kuma responded. “With this building we draw people to >

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the river and connect with nature.”

One of the biggest challenges facing Kuma was how to create a building of stature with a relatively modest floor space requirement of just 8,445sq/m. To that end the Japanese architect has balanced the priceless collections on a delicately cantilevered structure, relying on the inherent strength of 30m thick walls and reinforced steel beams to maintain stability of the acrobatic design, even with overhangs which extend as far as 20m beyond the museum footprint. The result is an engineering achievement as much as architectural one, taking the form of two inverted pyramids which separate at ground level and twist to connect to form high-level gallery space with a much larger volume.

The space between forms an open archway, framing views of both the river and city while serving as an oblique reference to The Royal Arch, demolished in favour of an access ramp to the Tay Bridge in 1966. These covered spaces form new and intriguing relationships with the more familiar Dundonian attractions of Union Street, The River Tay and RRS Discovery, all of which can be appreciated anew in a more intimate immediate context. This approach presented particular structural challenges for Arup as Kuma observed: “The tension is very important in the cantilevered sections to create covered spaces, this gives a welcoming atmosphere to the community and is very similar to the cantilevers of Japanese temples, with a large room and covered space.”

Kuma is keen to stress the technological achievements of this approach, which has proven so successful that ideas learned here will be applied to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Stadium. He said: “A combination of new technology and natural materials is necessary for the future of architecture.

Our new stadium will also feature that combination of wood and technology.

Speaking to Urban Realm Kuma added: “The city of Dundee has a very strong basis for the city of design. I like the texture of the stone here. That’s the reason why we used concrete with texture. We added small stones into the concrete that creates a kind of echo to that period of the city.

We also tried to create subtle movement with metal joints.”

The textured concrete doubles as a form of interconnected shell, uniting the roof, walls and floor in one continuous whole.

Asked about the emerging context of this part of the city Kuma added: “I hope the whole area can work together to achieve a new relationship between the city centre and the water. Maybe each new building can work together. The museum itself is very different from a normal rainscreen system and vertical wall. The building is in harmony with nature.” This harmony necessitated that particular consideration be given to the impact of wind and water, ever present dangers on this vulnerable site. Kuma continued: “Individual spaces are protected by the heavy concrete wall, we have limited small openings. The building itself is protected by the retaining wall. We tried to create natural > URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

RRS Discovery

The V&A plays on the boundary between land and water by physically reaching out into the river and reclaiming the former Earl Grey Dock. In doing so the city has reestablished its lost relationship with the sea.

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Riverside Esplanade

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River Tay

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An open plan ground floor space doubles as a public ‘living room’ for the city

flow and the whole shape of the building is against the wind.”

At the heart of the museum sits a recreation of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Oak Room, rescued from obscurity in storage to serve as a reminder of early cultural exchanges between Britain and Japan. Commenting on the interior approach Kuma said: “For the interior we tried to bring warmth and softness by using natural materials, the oak panels are not straight but instead have softness, randomness and rhythm. We thought that a museum in the 21st century should be a living room for the city. It’s not only for art lovers but for people to use as part of their daily life.”

The largest space is the dramatic main hall lined by hanging oak-veneered panels and dominated by a limestone staircase which still includes the visible fossils of sea creatures and plants which died millions of years ago. It is joined by a

café, shop and visitor centre which go a long way to realising Kuma’s vision of a ‘living room’ for the city.

Kuma may have delivered V&A Dundee but the ultimate driving force behind the £1bn waterfront regeneration project has been Mike Galloway, executive director of city development with Dundee City Council. Asked about the transition from pipe dream to reality Galloway responded: “When Tayside House started to come down I think people in Dundee really believed we were serious about all the promises we’d made for the area. People felt it was a good time to happen, the right thing to happen but did they really believe it would get off the ground? Possibly not.

“I studied planning here in the 1970s and have worked throughout the UK in other post-industrial cities such as Glasgow, Manchester and London. When I came back here

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the journey of the city had already started based on the knowledge economy. What I wanted to do was really unleash the potential of the city, which actually has a great quality of life. Externally it had a poor image and even Dundonians had a poor image of their own city. I felt that the raw materials were here to turn the place around in a way which would be quite stunning.”

Gazing out at a Cooper Cromar-designed office block, butt of much media criticism, Urban Realm asked Galloway whether the quality of the V&A can be maintained or if it represents a high watermark? “I’m a planner and an urban designer and I was taught how you make European cities where you have a pattern of background buildings which create spaces and locations for landmark buildings. This is one of the landmark buildings, the station is another landmark building. I would not expect any of the other buildings that make up the background to these landmarks to be of the same style and approach in terms of their architecture but I would expect them to be really well mannered back=ground buildings with quality built into them. The cladding isn’t on the commercial building across the road yet but it’s a limestone building. I think when people see it completed they’ll see we’re providing the museum with an appropriate setting.”

Asked whether the creation of the museum and Slessor Gardens was already shifting the city’s centre of gravity Galloway responded: “It’s much easier for people to come down to the water now and the more attractions we put here to draw them down the better. One of the things we’re trying to do with waterfront developments is give them active

URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

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Left - Mackintosh’s Oak Room takes pride of place at the museum’s heart Right - The V&A assumes many characteristics dependant on the point of view

ground floor uses so there’s cafes, bars and specialist retail so that it feels like a really easy journey down rather than in the past where if you were staying in the Hilton it was a heck of a psychological barrier to head down.”

Having first joined the council in 1997 Galloway will now retire at the pinnacle of his career but does he feel that today’s reality measures up to his dreams of 20 years ago?

“The physical reality of this building absolutely matches what we were intending to do,” he avows. “It’s amazing when I look at the 3-dimensional visualisations of the main hall and the reality, they are absolutely spot on. What’s important to me now is when I see the faces of people walking into the building because people are genuinely wowed. I know the building so well now that I’m almost blasé about it but the reaction of people when they walk in really makes me emotional.”

Rising from the shattered carcass of Tayside House, Dundee City Council’s unlamented former HQ, unceremoniously dumped into the old Earl Grey Dock the V&A is slaying the ghosts of 20th century failure. In doing so the city can look to the future with confidence by turning to its own illustrious history in the deeper past.

Project: V&A Dundee Location: Dundee Waterfront Client: Dundee City Council Architect: Kengo Kuma & Associates Delivery Architect: PiM.studio Architects Structural Engineer: Arup Services Engineer: Arup Quantity Surveyor: CBA Landscape Architect: Optimised Environments Project Manager: Turner & Townsend Main Contractor: BAM Construct

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LEICESTER JOHN LORD

M I DDL E GROUND BEST KNOWN FOR ITS CHEESE AND PREMIER LEAGUE WINNING FOOTBALL TEAM LEICESTER IS NOW BUILDING A REPUTATION FOR ARCHITECTURE. AS THIS MODEST MIDLANDS TOWN EMERGES FROM THE SHADOW OF ITS LARGER NEIGHBOURS URBANIST JOHN LORD UNDERTAKES A FACT FINDING VISIT TO SEE WHAT LESSONS IT OFFERS TO OTHER STRUGGLING SECONDARY CITIES.

Leicester is an unregarded sort of place.

Pevsner warned that the city “may strike the visitor as drab”, while W G Hoskins’ 1970 Shell Guide said that it “is at first sight a totally uninteresting Midland city…a desert of hundreds of acres of little red-brick terrace houses”.

Hoskins quoted the writer and Leicester MP Harold Nicolson’s description of “that ugly and featureless city”, before grudgingly admitting that “Leicester, which makes so unfavourable a first impression, deserves a couple of days’ exploration on foot”. It certainly does and, if Leicester takes a while to reveal its best features, it proves to be an engaging place and something of a model for the revival of Britain’s struggling medium-sized cities.

It is also an extraordinarily interesting community, the only city of significant scale in Britain that does not have a majority ethnic group. In 2011 just URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

45% of residents described themselves as White British, down from 61% in 2001.

28% were of Indian ethnic origin, 5% were White Other, and 21% were of other ethnic origin. But rapidly increasing diversity does not mean that Leicester is becoming “less British”: researchers at CoDE in Manchester point out that growing numbers of people of nonWhite British origin identify themselves as British.

Leicester has been a popular destination for migrants since the 1950s, especially the Gujarati Indians who came from East Africa to work in the garment industry and light engineering firms like Imperial Typewriters. In 1972 the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin expelled his country’s Asians. About 5,000 came to Leicester, and they are now recognised as one of Britain’s most successful immigrant groups. English-speaking and enterprising, these “twice immigrants”,

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Stirling & Gowan’s Engineering Building takes classic red brick in new directions

LEICESTER

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The Gallery at de Montford University

were confident and adaptable. They proved to be “adroit entrepreneurs, top of educational league tables, unstoppably aspirational”, according to Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, a member of that generation. And immigrants are still attracted to Leicester’s tolerant and welcoming environment: in 2011 more than a quarter of the city’s population was born outside the UK. Diversity is not a guarantee of integration and ethnic Indians, for example, are still concentrated in neighbourhoods in the east of the city, but Census data show that BME residents of all origins are steadily dispersing to suburban locations and into the Leicestershire commuter belt.

What is striking is how successfully Leicester has adapted to change and made a virtue of its diversity. According to the journalist Peter Popham, “Leicester has become the poster city for multicultural Britain, a place where the stunning number and size of the minorities…are seen not as a recipe for

conflict or a millstone around the city’s neck, but a badge of honour”.

Leicester is not especially prosperous, but it is outperforming the other medium-sized cities visited for this series. IBM recently opened a service centre in the city, and the financial services business Mattioli Woods is moving hundreds of jobs from its edge-of-town base to the New Walk Centre. Leicester’s entrepreneurial spirit is reflected in a strong business startup rate and a cohort of fast-growing businesses, the population is youthful, and the city’s continuing manufacturing tradition means that the value of goods exported easily exceeds service exports. It’s just over an hour by train to London, raising the possibility that this corner of the East Midlands will soon be subsumed into the Greater South East labour market. All this may explain why, albeit by a narrow margin, a majority in Leicester voted to remain in the EU, while Bradford, Coventry, Hull and Stoke all chose to leave, in some cases by an

overwhelming margin. If the EU vote was, as Laurie Penny said, “a referendum on the modern world”, it’s not surprising that left-behind places used it to vent their anger and frustration. Leicester’s Yes vote, however slim, suggests that it is a happier and more confident city than many of its peers.

Back to the place itself. While too many developers and politicians (and others who should know better) live in a fantasy world of iconic buildings and transformational projects Leicester is a good example of the value of ordinary things done well. The quality of city life is not defined by the sugar-rush of icons and flashy gestures, but by the accumulation of small daily pleasures.

Leicester offers many of these, and an energetic City Mayor has made placemaking one of his top priorities. It only really stumbles when it loses touch with its essential character and qualities.

We should start by acknowledging an epic blunder: the construction, in slow-motion phases, of the orbital >

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road which encircles most of the city centre with a ring of fast-moving traffic. It’s disastrous, and the St Nicholas Circle/Southgates section is worst of all. Completed in 1967-68, it “shattered the medieval town plan completely” (Pevsner) and isolated the historic Castle-Newarke enclave from the city centre. The road goes a long way towards defining the visitor’s experience of Leicester: there’s what’s within the ring (mostly good), what’s beyond it (also mostly good) and the “uncongenial” experience (Pevsner again) of navigating between the two.

Jones the Planner, in their excellent essay on Leicester, describe the City Mayor’s plans to repair the damage done by the orbital road and some remedial measures have already been taken, notably at Magazine Square. But after 50 years the barrier created by the road has been embedded in Leicester’s urban fabric. FOA’s glamorous 2008 John Lewis store at Highcross is a case in point: it is, of course, infinitely more stylish than anything else in the neighbourhood but it’s a classic drive-in/ drive-out retail destination, situated next to the orbital road and connected by an enclosed footbridge to a car park which is even bigger than the shop. The effects of that are very clear elsewhere in the city centre: the hermeticallysealed Highcross complex – John Lewis, the adjoining mall (currently being expanded), a cinema complex and a street of multiple restaurants – was teeming when I visited, but the rest of the retail zone is visibly struggling and the rambling Fenwick’s store in Market Street closed in 2017.

In recent years two unlikely events have raised Leicester’s proverbially low profile. In 2012, the mortal remains of King Richard III were unearthed in a council car park, cueing a tidal wave of hilarity on social media before the Council stepped in to claim the late monarch as one of their own. In 2015, after a solemn procession through the city, Richard’s bones were interred in Leicester Cathedral. A year later, URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

Leicester City – under their charismatic manager Claudio Ranieri - won the Premier League title, an achievement that united the footballing world in surprise and delight. The “romance” of the Foxes’ unexpected success was mostly “mawkish guff”, according to Janan Ganesh. Rather, it was the result of the application of sports science and inspired talent scouting. The lessons, Ganesh says, go well beyond football. They apply equally “to modest cities adapting to globalisation and… individuals navigating an insecure world”.

The reinterment of a monarch of dubious reputation may seem like an unlikely catalyst for regeneration but Leicester has carried the whole thing off very successfully. The archaeological excavation, conducted by a team from Leicester University, generated a huge amount of interest and local pride. St

Martin’s, a parish church elevated to cathedral status in 1927, was reordered to create the burial site where a fine tomb was installed. Two magnificent new stained glass windows were commissioned, designed by Thomas Denny. The redesigned Cathedral Gardens is a delightful and popular open space, while – just around the corner – Maber Architects’ Richard III Visitor Centre is a discreet intervention which tells the story of the king and the discovery of his remains, and preserves the original burial site. All this has given a boost to cafes and restaurants in the neighbouring Old Town area.

From the Cathedral it is a short walk to the splendid market, “like something you might find in Flanders”, according to Jones the Planner. This is the real thing: a noisy, busy, vital space under a utilitarian roof, which is due for a modest makeover in the coming year as part a

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Left - The Queens Buildings are a unique brick confection Right - The National Space Centre’s 42m Rocket Tower

project which will tidy up the whole area, but hopefully not too much. The market is overlooked by the jolly, Italianate Corn Exchange, with the smart but slightly underwhelming new Food Hall next door. A few yards away is Francis Hames’ Town Hall, which opened in 1876, described by the Leicester-based planner, Michael Taylor, as “calm and civilised…a large house rather than a civic building”.

Heading west from the cathedral you pass through a new public space, Jubilee Square, before encountering the orbital road and St Nicholas Circle, a grim super-roundabout occupied by a multi-storey car park and a Holiday Inn, all overlooked by some wretchedly poor student housing. You have to navigate your way through these horrors to find the impressive Jewry Wall, a remnant of the Roman town, and the neighbouring St Nicholas Church. The Jewry Wall

Museum (currently being refurbished) is housed in the elegant Vaughan College (Trevor Dannatt, 1960-62). For all its historical significance, this area is brutally exposed to the traffic and hard to enjoy. A short distance to the south, the historic Castle – Newarke area merges with the campus of De Montfort University (DMU) to create a much more secluded and rewarding urban quarter. Castle Yard is a delightful space, entered through the half-timbered Castle Gateway, flanked by St Mary de Castro church and overlooked by Castle Hall which stands on a shallow rise. In Castle View there is an idyllic kitchen garden, tucked in beside the Turret Gateway and immaculately tended by DMU. There are more historic buildings on the Newarke before we encounter the university estate. Most of the latter is of no great distinction, but Mill Lane has been upgraded and pedestrianised to

create DMU’s “main street” and both the design and maintenance of the public realm here are outstandingly good. The zany Queens Buildings (Peake Short & Partners, 1993) is good fun and, facing the river Soar – itself an underutilised asset - a fine hosiery factory (dated 1925) has been converted into student housing.

New Walk was laid out by the Corporation in 1785, and has been a traffic-free street ever since. It has been knocked about a bit over the years, but it remains a lovely promenade, unique in England. Building plots were released from the early 19th century onwards, and Museum Square, De Montfort Square and the Oval were subsequently laid out on the south side of the street.

The 1836 Nonconformist School was converted into the Museum & Art Gallery in 1849. Its hidden treasures (typical Leicester) include a small but >

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Left - No corners have been cut at Rafael Vinoly’s Curve Right - Maker’s Yard provides much needed studio space

high quality room dedicated to the Arts & Crafts movement, in which Leicester played a significant part; it features furniture designed by local man Ernest Gimson. There is also an extraordinary gallery devoted to Leicester’s worldclass collection of German expressionist paintings. You can take a short detour here to visit Nelson Street and enjoy Percy Grundy’s 1932 art deco Goddard’s Silver Polish Co factory, and the same architect’s parade of shops on London Road.

New Walk is the best line of approach to the University of Leicester, a mile south of the city centre. Leicester gained university status in 1957, when Leslie Martin produced a plan for a group of science buildings at the north end of the site. James Stirling and James Gowan’s Engineering Building (1959-63) “broke violently away” from Martin’s formal, well-mannered ensemble. In a URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

city where so many of the best things are modest and unassuming, this is the star turn and the only building of international importance: wilful, bewilderingly complex and, according to Pevsner, “inimitably individual”. For once, an authentic “icon”. The Engineering Building was soon followed by other assertive neighbours: Denys Lasdun’s muscular Charles Wilson Building (196267) and Ove Arup’s tall Attenborough Tower (1968-70). Approached from Victoria Park, they form a memorable skyline. The University is the ideal jumping-off point for Leicester’s arcadian southern suburbs: Clarendon Park, where you can see the highly desirable Arts & Crafts White House, designed by Gimson who started out life as an architect, and wealthy Stoneygate, with its big houses, including Inglewood (also by Gimson), university halls of residence and botanical gardens.

Finally, back to the city centre and its intimate streets of brick and terracotta.

Offices, small factories, workshops, churches and pubs jostle together, summoning up the charm and spirit of the English provincial city. It’s very likeable and, of course, vulnerable. The market in these secondary locations is fragile, leaving the door open to “the boorish indifference to scale and context that characterises much of the new building around the ring road…the shoddiness of so much post-war stuff and the silly show-off attention-seeking shininess of so many recent buildings” (Jones the Planner). I would put the oppressive form and bulk of Rafael Viñoly’s Curve Theatre in this category, although JTP quite like it. The City Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, described Curve, which came in at more than twice the original budget, as “the most expensive and disastrous project this city has

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De Montford University meets the River Soar

ever seen”. Either way, the St George’s Cultural Quarter of which Curve is the centrepiece hasn’t quite clicked. The nearby Phoenix Square development, which includes a much-loved art house cinema, has not aged well in its unhappily isolated location. This being Leicester, the small things are better: Makers’ Yard in atmospheric Rutland Street, Leicester Print Workshop and the LCB Depot, a successful creative hub that opened in 2004.

We shouldn’t be sentimental about Leicester. As Hoskins said of the 19th century city, it is “no Paradise Restored” and it has made its share of mistakes in the past 50 years. It has a justified reputation for social harmony and religious tolerance, but there is a dark side. Earlier this year the Financial Times’ investigations team revealed abuses and exploitation in Leicester’s garment industry, with factory owners

and retailers colluding to drive wages below the legal minimum. But it is still an engaging, appealing and civilised place that has proved resilient and adaptable through decades of profound economic and social change. There is a manifest sense of a new-found confidence, optimism and wellbeing, thanks in large measure to sustained investment in the city centre’s streets, squares and green spaces: a thoughtfully designed and admirably well maintained public realm strategy which knits together Leicester’s small pleasures and makes the city much more than the sum of its parts.

Acknowledgements I am grateful to two experts on the architecture and townscape of Leicester for their help. Michael Taylor, author of the invaluable The Quality of Leicester and Chris Matthews, half of Jones the Planner.

Sources Centre for Cities (2012), Cities Outlook 1901 Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity (nd), Geographies of Diversity in Leicester, University of Manchester W G Hoskins (1955), The Making of the English Landscape, Hodder & Stoughton W G Hoskins (1970), Leicestershire: A Shell Guide, Faber & Faber Jones the Planner (2014), Towns in Britain, Five Leaves Press Nikolaus Pevsner and Elizabeth Williamson (1984), The Buildings of England: Leicestershire and Rutland, 2nd edition, Yale, New Haven and London Michael Taylor (2016), The Quality of Leicester: A journey through 2000 years of history and architecture, 3rd edition, Leicester City Council

Glasgow Office & Showroom McKay Flooring Ltd. 8 Harmony Square Govan Glasgow G51 3LW Tel: 0845 602 7694 Email: enquiries@mckayflooring.co.uk Web: www.mckayflooring.co.uk

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GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART MARK CHALMERS

T H E MY T H O F MAC K I N T O S H A SECOND FIRE AT THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART IS THE LATEST AFFRONT TO THE LEGACY OF A GENIUS BUT MACKINTOSH’S REPUTATION ALREADY TRANSCENDS HIS WORK. HERE ARCHITECTURAL WRITER MARK CHALMERS SEPARATES MYTH FROM REALITY BEHIND A CREATIVE FORCE WHOSE REPUTATION HAS ONLY RISEN WITH THE DECLINE OF HIS WORK. Charles Rennie Mackintosh is the only Scots architect whose name everyone knows. He is beloved of Glaswegians, and Glasgow has profited from his legacy, but it’s been a poor custodian of his buildings. Nevertheless, Mackintosh achieved international acclaim and over the decades he’s taken on a mythical status.

Mackintosh belongs to Glasgow, it’s true, but also to Scotland, to the architectural professional and to everyone who loves spindly chairs and watercolour flowers. Today, with his Glasgow School of Art building reduced to ashes for a second time, it’s time to confront the Myth of Mackintosh.

The fire on 15th June 2018 was the latest in a line of misfortunes. On 23rd May 2014, the western end of the School of Art, including its world-famous library, was badly damaged by fire and the thousands of gallons of water which quickly followed. That was particularly bad luck, since the building was due to be fitted with a fire suppression system shortly afterwards.

The effects of the 2018 fire were much worse, gutting the entire building when restoration work had reached an advanced stage. At first it looked like the external walls could be saved, but by early July it was clear the wallheads were unstable.

Demolition work began in August, and today the shell is being URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

deconstructed in the hope that some masonry can be saved for the future.

Mackintosh’s other remaining buildings have also suffered.

Scotland Street School, Queen’s Cross Church and the Martyr’s School were almost devoured by roads schemes. The Tenement House’s interior was rescued from the bulldozers and transplanted into the Hunterian Gallery. The House for an Art Lover was a stillborn competition entry, although it was eventually built on a different site to serve a different role. The

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The intensity of the Mackintosh building blaze was sufficient to shatter glazing on the Reid Building

Oak Room from Ingram Street Tea Rooms has lain in crates for the past 50 years, and beyond Glasgow, the Hill House was rescued in the early 1980’s and is again in need of major restoration work.

Paradoxically, the decline of Mackintosh’s work paralleled the ascent of his reputation. Mackintosh’s career was first re-assessed in the 1933 Memorial exhibition, followed two decades later by Thomas Howarth’s book “Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Modern Movement” and the 1953 exhibition

which Howarth organised for the Saltire Society. How we see Mackintosh today is strongly coloured by Howarth’s book: he is portrayed as a Romantic figure who stands above and apart from his peers. He’s a prophet without honour in Scotland, who went into exile in Suffolk then the south of France. Howarth also suggested that Mackintosh could have been as prolific as his contemporary Frank Lloyd Wright, had he been given the breaks.

The next milestone was Robert Macleod’s book “Charles >

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GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART

After 2014 fire – the undamaged entrance

Rennie Mackintosh”, published in 1968 to accompany an exhibition on the centenary of Mackintosh’s birth. Macleod admitted his debt to Howarth’s scholarship, without which Mackintosh might still be seen as a minor Glasgow architect.

However, he also pinpointed that the popular myth growing around Mackintosh – “a lonely genius whose work suddenly emerged out of context, out of time, as a prophecy of the new century” – had outstripped the reality.

By 1977, what Howarth himself acknowledged as a Mackintosh cult was flourishing, and a reaction against the Myth had begun. The late Isi Metzstein stated 35 years ago that he wished people would leave Mackintosh alone and stop commercialising and “messing around” with his work. Metzstein labelled the results “Mockintosh” – yet soon afterwards, his former architectural partner Andy MacMillan helped to resurrect the House for an Art Lover!

By the 1980’s, Mackintosh had become a brand. It’s a sad irony that Mackintosh and his wife Margaret MacDonald left Scotland in relative poverty, but today they would be millionaires many times over thanks to the prices their original watercolours and furniture reach at auction. Mackintosh’s favourite motifs – squares, grids and stylised roses – are ubiquitous on t-shirts, jewellery and tea towels. The Mackintosh URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

typeface has been appropriated countless times, sometimes at the behest of Glasgow School of Art Enterprises or the trustees of the Mackintosh Estate, mostly not. If only Mackintosh’s “trademarks” had been trademarked.

The reaction against the Myth continued with Alan Crawford’s book “Charles Rennie Mackintosh” of 1994 – “Howarth’s book and the popular image of Mackintosh are both informed by stereotypes of the genius, rooted in 19th-century Romanticism, and of the pioneer, rooted in 20th-century progressivism. Howarth’s Modernist version of Mackintosh may have lost academic credibility, but it lives on in the popular imagination.”

Given Macleod’s, Metzstein’s and Crawford’s attempts to debunk the Myth of Mackintosh, what continued to fuel it?

Most obviously it is his skill as an architect. At the School of Art, Mackintosh had to manage a difficult site on a steep slope, a restricted budget and an ambitious client. He surmounted those problems, and the building became an integral part of the city, combining Scots, Japanese, Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau architecture into a synthesis which anticipates some aspects of Modernism.

Few architects properly understand how to manipulate light, particularly the watery light of Glasgow, as well as

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Left - The day after – A lone finial survives on top of the eastern elevation Right - The day after – Firefighters pump water into the building’s shell

Mackintosh did. The enfilade of rooms in the Hill House, the grand reveal as you enter the Tenement House, and especially the sequence which leads you into the School of Art’s library all demonstrate Mackintosh’s mastery of light. When you walk into one of those spaces, the birse on the back of your neck stands up and you stand there silently, head swivelling, as you figure out how Mackintosh achieved it.

Mackintosh created a modern architecture which was intrinsically Scottish – without pastiche or the kind of ersatz baronialism which has consigned attempts from Abbotsford to the Scandic Crown Hotel to the dustbin of history. Many have built Modern buildings in Scotland; few since Mackintosh have built a convincingly modern Scots building. James Shearer, Robert Hurd, Page & Park and Crichton Wood tried; Robert Matthew came closest. Crucially, though, James MacLaren pioneered this approach and he was the most significant contemporary influence on Mackintosh.

At the same time, Mackintosh has a well-developed persona. He created his best-known architectural work when young, in a decade of intense creativity. His departure from Glasgow came at the height of his creative powers, and the hyperbolic curve of his career – from a 25 year old with a louche moustache and floppy neck-tie, to exile wrapped in a dark

cape, then an early death – granted his Myth immortality, as with other Romantic heroes like Lord Byron and the singer Jim Morrison.

Another key to the Myth’s power is Mackintosh’s mutability.

The early Modernists such as Hermann Muthesius saw him as a pioneer of Modernism. Glasgow’s tourism chiefs enlisted him to re-brand Glasgow as a post-industrial city which was all about art and design. Post-Modernists seized on the plurality of Mackintosh’s influences. Feminists asserted the powerful influence of his wife, Margaret Macdonald, and viewed him through the prism of gender politics. Alan Crawford framed him as an “ordinary working-class Glaswegian”, which appealed to the socio-political view of Glasgow as a workers’ city.

We’ve projected the pre-occupations of our own time onto Mackintosh.

Perhaps the strength of the Myth explains the extreme reaction to the second School of Art fire. Within hours, opinions were flying about who to blame. A few suggested on social media that it was somehow Muriel Gray’s fault, that she should stand down and the Board of Governors should resign. Almost immediately, they put forward plans their own to replace the Art School rather than restore it. Funnily enough, well-known Scottish architects suggested that a well-known Scottish >

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architect should get the job; up-and-coming Glasgow architects asserted that an up-and-coming Glasgow architect should get the job…

Given that firemen were still pouring water into the smouldering shell, that was sheer hubris. Roger Billcliffe, who has published several books about Mackintosh and his work, was more measured.

He pointed out that Dundee’s Morgan Academy, which is similarly Grade A-listed and beloved of thousands of people, was successfully rebuilt after a devastating fire in March 2001.

Debate about whether to rebuild or not was whisked out of the Twittersphere’s reach soon after, when the School of Art’s Director, Prof. Tom Inns, announced that the Mackintosh building would be rebuilt.

Nonetheless, internet voices decided to conduct a thought experiment. What would Mackintosh do now? Some claimed he wouldn’t simply reconstruct the building: his restless creativity would impel him to create something radical and new.

However, even if Mackintosh was still alive, he might still be in exile in the south of France going through a lean patch with no commissions. His great supporter and patron was an earlier Director of Glasgow School of Art, Fra Newbery, yet when the contemporary School commissioned the Reid Building a few years ago, they didn’t appoint a Glasgow graduate. So if Mackintosh was to get the rebuilding job, Newbery would also have to be in a position of influence.

In the absence of Mackintosh and Newbery, the School of Art was laser-scanned following the first fire in 2014, but we can’t claim to have preserved it, just the image of it. In 21st Century fashion, perhaps we could recreate it from a Time Machine back-up of the 3D point cloud file, creating a virtual School of Art like the holograms at the start of Martin Pawley’s book, “Terminal Architecture”.

That doesn’t give you an authentic Mackintosh; but authenticity in a building is different to that in a work of art. A reproduction Van Gogh is considered a fake, because it wasn’t painted by Van Gogh himself. But Mackintosh didn’t build the School of Art with his own hands: he designed it then directed others to construct it. We have excellent records now, so we could rebuild faithfully to Mackintosh’s design.

On one hand, the Art School remained a working building throughout its life and on that basis was arguably more authentic than Mackintosh’s other surviving work. The Tenement Flat is just a stage set within The Hunterian, as is the Tearoom currently being erected inside the V&A in Dundee.

The Hill House is preserved as a museum rather than a dwelling house, and the Queen’s Cross Church is no longer a church.

On the other hand, the School of Art just before the fire isn’t as Mackintosh left it in 1909. Changes were made all through its 110 year life, for example when the oriel windows on the Scott Street gable were reconstructed in 1947. As Thomas Howarth notes, the original iron frames were considered too slender and were replaced by bronze in a heavier section. The hot air ducts URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

which contributed to the 2014 fire were abandoned at that time, too.

Ultimately, the debate about what to do with the School of Art was short-lived because there was only ever going to be one answer. Standing on the sidelines of an Andy & Isi crit in Glasgow School of Art’s Bourdon Building during the late 1990’s, I reflected on why we train architects in an ugly, dismal and badly-put together building, when the Mackintosh Building next door was the best teaching aid a student could have.

Today, on the 150th anniversary of Mackintosh’s birth, there’s a powerful reason why the Myth endures, and why Glasgow School of Art will be reconstructed.

Mackintosh was the best Scots architect of the past century and the “great grey School of Art hanging over Sauchiehall Street” as Robert Macleod puts it, is his masterpiece. It was a wonderful building and deserves to be recreated, because we have nothing else like it.

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Left - The day after – Western elevation Right - Unstable elevations have been painstakingly dismantled

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MULTIPLY PETER WILSON

A UNIQUE COLLABORATION BETWEEN WAUGH THISTLETON ARCHITECTS, THE AMERICAN HARDWOOD COUNCIL AND ARUP HAS DELIVERED BRITAIN’S FIRST LARGE SCALE STRUCTURE BUILT FROM MODULAR CROSS LAMINATED TIMBER. BUILT BY THE CONSTRUCTION SCOTLAND INNOVATION CENTRE IT IS ALSO A HARBINGER OF BIGGER AND BETTER THINGS TO COME. PETER WILSON, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF TIMBER DESIGN INITIATIVES, TELLS US MORE.

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A year on from the opening of its factory facilities in the Hamilton International Business Park near Blantyre, the first really visible evidence of what the Scottish Construction Innovation Centre is there to do has hit the design community’s global headlines. Yes, the Centre has held numerous seminars and conferences at its premises in this generally less visited corner of Scotland, but for architects, engineers and other construction professionals as well as contractors and manufacturers around the country, awareness of its activities and purpose is still not widely enough recognised. Readers of the previous issue of Urban Realm have, of course, had the benefit of an introduction to the resources and support the Centre offers to those with innovative ideas likely to bring new business and employment opportunities to the industry in Scotland. For those less familiar, it does this by providing the hub that aims to link industry initiatives with the research, development and testing experience and skills within 13 of Scotland’s 19 universities (the other six have no involvement in construction) and is one of eight Innovation Centres covering different sectors that have been established by the Scottish Government to more closely focus academic knowledge and experience on new business opportunities that will add value to Scotland’s economy. With its open door to all parts of the country’s construction industry, the Centre is beginning to make its mark and, with its most recent large-scale involvement, extending awareness to the wider world of its capacity - and potential - to deliver transformational projects.

In what has been very much an international collaboration, the Centre’s role in the manufacture of the ‘MultiPly’ structure that was on display in the Sackler Courtyard of the V&A Museum during the 2018 London Design Festival in September deserves to be highlighted. The Festival has had a long tradition of providing a home to temporary projects initiated by the American Hardwoods Export Council (AHEC), with previous structures such as ‘Sclera’ (2008) by (now Sir) David Adjaye, ‘The Endless Stair’ (2013) by dRMM Architects and ARUP engineers and ‘The Smile’ (2016) by Alison Brookes Architects (again with ARUP) and complemented by the Maggie’s Centre in Oldham (2017, also by dRMM): all intended to explore the structural - and thus the commercial - potential of Tulipwood, an extremely fast-growing hardwood abundant all along the Appalachian range the runs north to south on the east side of the USA. This year’s project was, therefore the culmination of a decade of applied design research seeking to create a high added value construction product from a timber traditionally used for low value carcassing, furnituremaking and plywood production. It is the physical properties of the species, however, that have underpinned this ongoing investigation: a very stiff and strong material, Tulipwood is - for a hardwood - low density and thus unusually light in weight, making it an interesting candidate to manufacture cross laminated timber from.

CLT is, of course, almost entirely produced from softwood URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

species, with large format panels being relatively light in weight and manipulable when compared with other structural products. Hardwoods, being high density timbers, are generally too heavy to be used for this purpose and the Central European epicentre of CLT production has primarily concentrated its endeavours on maximising value from the pine and spruce resources abundant in the forests there. So, to Tulipwood and its potential not only to provide an alternative to softwood CLT, but to deliver a unique engineered timber product that offers new avenues for architects and structural engineers seeking to design larger, taller buildings using thinner panels than has been the case to date with softwood CLT products.

The latest iteration in the Tulipwood CLT investigation has aimed to move the production possibilities to the stage where commercial manufacture can be seriously discussed. The two previous London Design Festival projects (‘The Endless Stair’ and ‘The Smile’) were, each in their own way, milestones on this journey: the former was the first attempt to make CLT from Tulipwood and, albeit using very small, tread-width lengths of timber, unquestionably pushed the boundaries of timber engineering. The Smile, in a very different way, demonstrated new engineering possibilities, the large scale Tulipwood panels that formed the entire structure connected only by

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Left - MultiPly is the merest tip of a cross laminated iceberg Top Right - Showcased in London the pavilion was born in Hamilton Bottom Right - American tulipwood was sent to the CS-IC for fabrication before being transported south

very long screws. The downside of these two projects, being temporary structures, was that they had limited further lives: The Endless Stair was reconstructed in slightly truncated form in Milan and then Zurich, whilst The Smile simply had to be demolished at the end of its stay in the courtyard of Chelsea Art College, it being impractical to extract the self-tapping screws. The concept for ‘MultiPly’, whilst again taking timber engineering and engineered timber into new and highly experimental zones, emphasised the need for the structure to be demountable and re-usable.

A significant challenge in this ongoing investigation was the need to collaborate with European CLT manufacturers in the production process in order to get these innovative products made. Two issues arose from this approach - first, that of interrupting to the flow of work in commercial production facilities with experimental projects and, second, the question of who owned the intellectual property rights to the technical information arising from the product development. This year’s project therefore sought to obviate both problems and to find a way of prototyping and manufacturing the required panels in the UK. The extent of the structural challenge became clearer following the commission by AHEC of Waugh Thistleton

Architects and ARUP to design this year’s structure: a threestorey, three-dimensional maze that could be traversed by the general public and which was to be sited within the Sackler Courtyard to the V&A designed by Amanda Levete Architects: a stunningly beautiful public space but also the roof to galleries below - a structural challenge in itself for the designers of the MultiPly structure.

A suggestion by this author to AHEC’s European Director, David Venables, in mid-September 2017 that the facilities shortly (then) to be available at the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre - particularly its vacuum press for timber lamination - made it possibly the only place in the UK capable of prototyping the necessary panels. This proposition was subsequently extended by the need to grade, saw, plane and finger-joint the imported material - a range of services available at the Glenalmond Timber Co, Ltd’s premises at Methven in Perthshire. The other fundamental issue to be addressed was that of structural testing, a service provided by one of CS-IC’s academic partners: the Centre for Offsite Construction and Innovative Structures (COCIS) at Edinburgh Napier University.

With these three agencies in place, the scene was thus set for the elements needed to form the entire structure to be fabricated in Scotland. >

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MULTIPLY

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MultiPly could tackle Britain’s housing crisis from a different angle

Three containers of Tulipwood arrived into Liverpool docks in early June this year and transported to Methven. From there, with the necessary processing completed, timber was trucked daily to CS-IC to comply with ARUP’s requirement that gluing should take place within 24 hours of the material being planed. The initial panels were then manufactured and sent to COCIS to be successfully tested, at which point CS-IC, effectively a prototyping facility, found itself having to become a manufacturing plant since nowhere else in the UK had the necessary equipment to continue production, never mind meet the extremely tight timescale now available to deliver the finished panels. It is to the credit of the CS-IC staff that not only the Centre’s technical team, but all of its employees took part in the intense physical labour required over only a few weeks to lay the thousands of pieces of timber into the press to be glued into the lamellae of the 120 x 2.4m square panels required to form the 17 cubes of the MultiPly structure. Two types of panels were produced in this way: 100mm thick (five lamellae) structural panels and 60mm thick (three lamellae) nonstructural panels. The finished panels were then transported to the Stage One company in Leeds for the final prefabrication of the cubes and their internal stairs and from there to London.

The finished structure is both spectacular and popular.

Andrew Lawrence, head of ARUP’s timber engineering division, is clear that what at first sight might appear to be a relatively unassuming assembly of boxes, is one of the most difficult engineering challenges he and his team have faced. The

thinness of the panels, combined with significant cantilevers and the need to provide connections that can be dismantled without damage to the lamellae, have all contributed to the complexity of the project. As a demonstration of advanced timber engineering that anyone - irrespective of their knowledge or otherwise of construction - can understand from the visible character of the component parts - is a triumph, For the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre, it is a manifestation of what it was established to do: resource and support innovation, in this instance in the development of a new form of cross laminated timber. That it is also the first ever large scale manufacture of this hardwood product and the first serious manufacture of CLT in the UK is testament to the vision that underlay the establishment of the Centre - a vision that sought to provide Scotland with a facility that could deliver world class innovation.

The message from this project to Scotland’s architects, engineers and construction sector is clear: CS-IC’s raison d’être is to bring industry and academia together to research, develop and commercialise new processes, products and systems and it is there to help develop your ideas into commercial reality.

The Multiply project clearly demonstrates there need be no limit to the ambitions it is designed to service. So, it’s use it or lose it: get in touch, explain your thoughts, arrange a meeting: the first step is yours. You may not have a clear idea yet but, after a visit to its excellent facilities, I’m prepared to bet you are far more likely to.

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SIXTEEN CHURCH STREET JOHN GLENDAY

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DUMBAR T ON ROCKS

WITH HIGH STREETS UNDER GREATER PRESSURE THAN EVER WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL ARE SEEKING TO TURN THE TIDE BY RELOCATING HUNDREDS OF STAFF TO DUMBARTON TOWN CENTRE. IN DOING SO THEY HAVE NOT ONLY REJUVENATED A LOCAL LANDMARK, BUT SHORED UP THE TOWN CENTRE AND GIVEN FRESH IMPETUS TO ITS WATERFRONT REGENERATION. WE DISCOVER WHY CONTRACTION CAN BE THE BEST FORM OF EXPANSION. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM STEPHENSON.

At a time when some towns are experiencing the movement of public institutions to their peripheries, such as Hamilton’s loss of the University of the West of Scotland to its outskirts, West Dunbartonshire Council has laid down a symbolic and physical statement of intent by relocating 500 staff from its crumbling 1960s outpost at Garshake to the heart of the town, with knock on effects already being felt on the once struggling High Street.

The most immediate symbol of rejuvenation is the full restoration of the facade of the A-listed former Burgh Hall and Academy, which was realised in consultation with Historic Environment Scotland. The rejuvenated stonework and painstaking recreation of lost carvings has enabled the team at Keppie Design to create a building with a split personality with this civic set piece serving as a fairytale public stage to the front and with private modern offices to the rear. Unfortunately the main entrance to the front was also one of the worst areas for water staining although it has now been dried out with a new retaining structure behind the façade correcting an alarming lean.

One concession to modernity is a heavy-duty screen designed to obscure a substation and bin stores, the latter having been beefed up to handle an unexpected mass of cartons, packets, cans and bags generated by staff popping out for a lunchtime sandwich or morning latte and deliberately encouraged by the absence of a staff canteen.

Reflecting these unforeseen consequences architect Fraser Davie remarked: “We didn’t want bins as the first sight when approaching the building and this conceals it to a certain level but it still gives you transparency with the old

and the new.”

Euan Tyson, capital projects manager at West Dunbartonshire Council, is the man responsible for making all this happen and is at pains to stress that the historical parallels do not end at front façade. Taking a decorative gothic rose as their cue the team have taken a modern riff on its design within new glazing as a subtle link with the historic facades.

Littering the front porch is a forbidding assortment of bone fragments but Tyson is swift to absolve staff of any responsibility for the killing spree, laying the blame squarely at feasting gulls which have taken to nesting in the exposed central tower despite repeated efforts to dislodge them. Tyson recalled: “When it was a construction site we frequently found crab shells and shellfish from the Clyde.”

Finding no date stone on the building stonemasons have carved out 1865 and 2018 markers to flank the front entrance and acknowledge history having come full circle. Stepping between these you are transported two centuries in two steps, to find the bearded visage of provost McAusland, in power at the time of the original construction and recorded as passing on condolences from the people of Dumbarton to the people of America following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Picking up on the shock of this transition Tyson remarked: “We don’t have the dropped ceilings and when people come in they think, ‘oh, it’s quite industrial’ but after being here a couple of times your eye level comes down to the level of the light fittings, enabling the historic floor heights to be brought through to the new build sections.” >

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Left - The old Burgh Hall facade has been painstakingly preserved Middle - Dumbarton is now less rotten burgh and more ripe for investment Right - Gothic gloom gives way to uncompromisingly bright and modern interiors

More intimate meeting spaces sport suspended acoustic baffles that give the impression of a standard ceiling height, while still allowing floorplates to tie-in with the front.

New build elements are faced in brick with large format frameless windows maximising views and light as Davie’s colleague, fellow architect Neil Whatley, explained: “The extension is a really simple and restrained building. One of the key gestures is a recess at the upper floor. If we’d gone in at three storeys it would have been a very awkward junction with the old building. The whole building is very frugal and honest in terms of exposing the concrete frame.”

A thumb print security system serves as the frontline defence for the inner private core of the build while panic alarms provide staff with a sense of security should anything go awry in their dealings with the public. Tyson remarked: “You’ve got a public space, an invited space in the base of the atrium and public gallery with a second line of security to the private space. In Garshake we had URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

separate receptions at every far-flung corner and security issues with members of the public able to meander through the building.”

The project almost came unstuck before it began when Dunne Group, who had previously been awarded the superstructure package, went into administration just prior to the signing of contracts, delaying works as this element was re-tendered to Careys. Davie continued: “We worked very closely with the concrete subcontractor to create chamfer corner details to accentuate the columns and floorplates. It’s a post tension frame so there are tendons running through the concrete so it’s quite a specialist system but it keeps the mass of the concrete down.”

On the back of the hottest summer in half a century the naturally ventilated building faced a literal baptism of fire but has largely accredited itself well in the face of rising temperatures. Fraser said: “As part of the natural ventilation strategy incoming air from the automated and manual

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opening windows is expelled through exhaust louvres to the north and south, with one set closing depending on the wind direction. It’s a perforated acoustic ceiling but also we got the felt backing removed to allow the air to flow through.”

Acoustic panels, designed by Danish practice 3XN, are a feature throughout, helping to absorb stray sounds within the open plan spaces. Tyson observed: “You’ve got a timber balustrade and glazed screen with people working the other side but you don’t actually hear any background noise.”

A secondary rear entrance offers direct access from the car park where the office component steps out in order to maximise views of Dumbarton Rock, which is in process of being integrated with the town by means of a riverside walkway. These views are framed by deepset walls with perforated metal panels to minimise heat gain. Weather permitting outdoor benches carved from

historic roof trusses provide a secluded spot from which to soak in the surroundings and is already a popular spot for skateboarding.

Learning lessons from their experience at Ronald McDonald House in Govan Keppie were quick to allocate a laborer solely to mixing incoming palettes of bricks to ensure an even appearance across the facades. Whatley said: “The deep piers are a pragmatic response to the orientation and keep as much glazing as we can without overheating. Internally we’ve accentuated by pulling the piers in. New stone ties in with the brickwork. In four years, it will be almost indistinguishable from the old.”

Gesturing to some newly acquired silver hair Tyson recalled a second major incident which threatened to quite literally sink the project, the unexpected discovery of a forgotten gas tank beneath the present car park. “We were removing trees and one came down and punctured the lid of a 14m diameter gas tank full of contaminated >

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SIXTEEN CHURCH STREET

Staff have already warmed to the convenience of their new home

hydrocarbon gunk”, recalled Tyson. “It took about 16 tankers to empty.”

A key requirement of Historic Environment Scotland was the recreation of rooftop dormers, despite the fact that the attic floor is not utilized but rather extends the volume of the main council chamber. Whatley explained: “It was important that we didn’t have any dummy features, so the dormers have been positioned to bring light into the building and provide an active frontage. We wanted to

express the volume but also had to be quite pragmatic with structural issues as well, acoustically it works really well.”

Each office floor is a close mirror image of the floor below with a slight setback on the upper level. Organised with a ratio of ten staff to six desks, with individual lockers provided, the spaces are arranged logically with desks rubbing against solid elements, with gangways opening to glazing. It contrasts with many fully glazed city centre > offices where desks abut directly against glass. This

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Left - Open plan spaces unite staff in common purpose Middle - This colonnade builds civic presence Right - Acoustic baffles help reduce noise propagation

economical allocation extends to the chief executive herself who is based at a spartan open plan table which doesn’t even have monitors installed. Tyson added: “The transom on the windows is 1,100 high but we made it 800 so you can see out while sitting down.”

Evidencing the sort of random encounters fostered by an open plan layout Richard Cairns, strategic director for regeneration, environment and growth, appeared for an unscheduled chat. A favoured conversation piece of Cairns is a time lapse video charting construction of the new HQ but it is the background demolition of a 1930s distillery tower which gets him truly animated. Now earmarked for 155 homes Cairns is proud to have played a role in felling the landmark, noting that the project was only confirmed after the council confirmed its move.

Added to the opening of a new Costa Coffee it seems that Dumbarton’s fortunes are now on the turn. As Cairn said: “In one sense you’re here too early. I’ve asked the planning department to do an annual High Street census.

There have been three new lets since we moved in and one of the café’s has been completely refurbished. We could have built a less expensive building more quickly and easily almost anywhere else in Dumbarton but we took the decision to come here because the value add for

us wasn’t the operational costs in here but the benefits out there.

“We were in a not fit for purpose, oversized, poorly located property. We’d built up a backlog of maintenance which ultimately would have crippled us. We’ve moved out into a building that’s a third of the size, saving £400k a year which allowed us to roll out a range of modern working practices. Electric pool cars outside have reduced our petrol mileage by 40%.

It changes people’s perception of who they work for and their understanding of who they work with, because they can see them. In Garshake you knew there were people all over the place but you didn’t know who they were or what they were doing. Not only can you see people working in the new offices but you can now see groups of people, giving you a different understanding of who interacts with who.”

Openness and transparency are the watchwords of any public authority and with their move to the heart of Dumbarton West Dunbartonshire Council lead the way on both fronts. Having come full circle the move has already seeded development far beyond Church Street, indicating the nurturing role the public sector can still play in these times of austerity.

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GENDER EQUALITY JOHN GLENDAY

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WITH THE ME TOO MOVEMENT ELEVATING SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS EMBOLDENED VOICES DEMANDING GENDER EQUALITY IN ARCHITECTURE ARE BECOMING IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE. WE SPEAK TO SEVERAL SIREN VOICES TO ESTABLISH THE EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM AND ASK WHAT CAN BE DONE TO ACHIEVE A GENUINELY LEVEL PLAYING FIELD.

© PAWEL_LOJ_FLICKR

BUILDING

AN AGEING POPULATION CHALLENGES FOR THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT Following a trend across much of the developed world, the population of the UK is growing, and ageing. The UK population is projected to continue growing, reaching over 74 million by 2039. The population in the UK is getting older with 18% aged 65 and over and 2.4% aged 85 and over. In 2016 there were 285 people aged 65 and over for every 1,000 people aged 16 to 64 years (ONS, 2017).

The WHO’s (World Health Organisation’s) global network of age-friendly cities and communities has identified the crucial role of the physical and social environment on health and wellbeing across the life course. Against this background, it is increasingly recognised that the built environment, enriched by new opportunities from digital innovation, matters crucially in defining favourable conditions to transform ageing into an opportunity for economic growth and personal wellbeing.

It is well recognised that our built environment needs to adapt to the changing needs of society. UK Government have recently supported an investment “into developing new technologies that will revolutionise the way we age and provide everyone with the best possible chance to grow old with dignity in their own home.” This investment is positive but how do we consistently apply new approaches to adaptation and development that will achieve the desired outcomes?

Current housing models, and related standards, design codes and associated certification schemes do not readily align with the changing needs of the population. With these insights it is important to not solely focus on developing new technologies that support healthy ageing without simultaneously taking account of the urgent need to reimagine housing and the built environment. This challenge needs a crosssector approach, recognising and harnessing the knowledge of the healthcare sector, whilst seeking the inspirational input from the development community.

The collaborative approach undertaken by BRE in the development of their ‘Dementia Friendly Home’

© HALSALL LLOYD PARTNERSHIP.

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https://bregroup.com/ipark/parks/england/buildings/ dementia-friendly-home/ is an example of this multidisciplinary approach to home adaptation for an ageing population.

Perhaps the biggest challenge is to encourage and incentivise greater collaboration between the development community and healthcare professionals.

Critical to this successful collaboration will be to determine ‘what good looks like?’. What should our homes and communities look like in the future if we are to accommodate the changing needs of our society?

BRE is working with Government, public sector, healthcare professionals and technology providers to create consistent approaches to these significant societal and development challenges. Whilst taking a lead, BRE recognises that expertise in this field exists across industry sectors. Given the inevitability of us all ageing at home and within our communities, these challenges also present great opportunities to build new partnerships and develop commercial opportunities.

For more information, contact: Dr David Kelly, BRE Group Director – Innovation Park Network at david.kelly@bre.co.uk

Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride, Glasgow, G75 0RD Tel: 01355 576200 Web: www.bregroup.com

GENDER EQUALITY

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Mairi Laverty, Catherine Houston and Jude Barber of Collective give their views on gender equality

Successive attempts to modernise the architectural profession have been met with indifference at best and active resistance at worst but with the RIAS itself in the throes of change progress might finally be on the cards One of the loudest voices championing change is Collective director Jude Barber, a founding member of campaign group A New Chapter. Explaining her motivations Barber said: “As a feminist I believe in equality for men and women. We don’t yet have a healthy gender balance, or a level playing field for women in architecture, which is why a degree of campaigning and activism is still required. The reason I’ve become more vocal in this field is because when I looked out over the parapet I was struck by the pervasive sexist, at times misogynist, behaviour within the industry at large.

Women have been swimming against the tide in many areas of their professional life for too long.

“Recent statistics and growing evidence indicates that women’s work is less valued financially, less well documented and women are less likely to be invited to speak publicly about their work.”

In an effort to turn the tide Barber is speaking out as co-host of Voices of Experience, an Architecture Fringe

project aimed at sparking informed discourse on the range, depth and output of female architects. Barber suspects that the deep rooted notion of the ‘singular voice, author and designer’ is at the heart of much of this under representation, a self-fulfilling bias that pervades architectural training, literature, archives and the press to such an extentand is so deep rooted in our psyche that it is exceedingly difficult to break out of, particularly in a society in which men still claim the greatest media authority. Leading by example Barber points to the team accomplishments of Collective where the office has striven to shatter the myth of the singular genius. Barber explained: “There is no such thing. Any idea is born from coming together, listening, reading, talking and chance opportunities.”

Far from an improving situation Barber believes that social mobility is actually getting worse, with serious consequences not only for women but also ethnic minorities as financial pressures constrain routes into the profession. For now though there remains a steady stream of women graduating from our architecture schools. As Collective architect Mairi Laverty, pointed out: > “It doesn’t seem to be a challenge attracting women to

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study architecture. When they leave as young graduates its actually still well balanced, it’s what happens ten years later. That’s where there’s a big drop-off.”

Of course these issues shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone with Barber clearly recalling a 2012 mission to the RIAS with her colleague Cathy Houston in a bid to break the logjam, only to return despondent after meeting not just indifference but active ‘resistance’ to their reform agenda. Barber continued: “While the RIBA has championed ‘Women in Architecture’ and ‘Architects for Change’, our institutions haven’t yet taken a lead on the issue of representation. Instead, media-led activity such as the Architect’s Journal campaigns Putting forward her own manifesto for change Houston said: “The only way to true equality in the workplace is to equalise rights across the board that includes the amount of parental leave both men and women are entitled to. You still hear of people losing their jobs during maternity leave and I find it really odd that that can still happen in this day and age.”

As well as official channels frustrated women have

at City Building Engineering Service, said: “We advise businesses on recognising unconscious bias which is often entrenched in an organisation. We help businesses understand the challenges women face around midcareer, which is when many of them drop away from the industry, the benefits of mentoring and providing a clear career path. But this is not just about women; very many of the issues that affect women are very real for men too, not least of which are flexibility, work-life balance and career progression.”

An oft-cited requirement to bridge the gender gap is a greater number of role models and flexible working, Brydson said: “This is about a pipeline, from school, right through to the board and change needs to happen at a very early stage. Primary school children are already starting to form gender judgements. Take this forward a few years and we have a generation of school children who are very likely not to have encountered the many and varied disciplines our industry offers, unless they have a parent or family friend who can advise them.

“In Building a Better Workforce (a survey compiled

by Women in Property, Gapsquare and Rosemont Our language is still geared towards accrediting one sole Partnership in 2017 from (usually male) architect for the realisation of a project. property and construction industry respondents in the This has never, and will never, be the case.

South West of England), only 16% said that their role been forced down more modern avenues of protest, was flexible, yet it was cited as being the overwhelming as evidenced by The Shitty Architecture Men list work benefit of choice. Having this flexibility, alongside which has been doing the rounds online. It may seem a clear training and development programme makes the shocking, but Barber is far from surprised: “One of the employee work more efficiently and productively as well items I found interesting thing about the AJ Women in as strengthening their loyalty to their employer.”

Architecture survey was that women faced greater levels Isabel Garriga, newly elected president of Glasgow of harassment in their studio environments over their Institute of Architects, has pledged to use her mandate experiences on site.” to champion ‘true equality’. Born in Spain Garriga arrived Nicola McLachlan, also of Collective, added: “I am a in the UK to study in 1995, welcoming the tolerant young female architect, and I now ask myself questions university environment where the only barrier she faced regarding the nature of our profession which I wish I had was language. Speaking to Urban Realm Garriga said: “I pondered sooner: Who are architecture’s role models? found it really hard because my English was bad. But I Who are we taught to respect, and aspire to be, over the like working and I like working with people who are very course of our architectural education? The answer is male opinionated. I am very sociable but also very opinionated architects: more often than not, exclusively so. and some people don’t like that. I’m really loud, you’ll hear “I have noted as a practising architect that our me. Making me shut up is the hardest part. language is still geared towards accrediting one sole Outlining her equality crusade Garriga added: “I’ve (usually male) architect for the realisation for a project; had issues where I’ve gone to building sites and I’ve this has never, and will never, be the case.” heard something slightly inappropriate like ‘knickers’ One organisation seeking to make a difference is and I’ve looked at the guy and said ‘don’t call me that Women in Property, which aims to increase the number ever again’”. Despite such instances Garriga believes the of women in managerial roles via mentoring and its own working environment here is politer and more respectful ‘mid-career task force’. Outlining these initiatives Lynsey than back home, saying: “There are less arguments. There Brydson, chairman of the Central Scotland branch of were only three of us working together in Spain and you Women in Property and head of business development could hear the screaming from outside the office! One of

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Lynsey Brysdon is a chair of Woman in Property and a key proponent of change

the reasons I’ve stayed here is the working conditions are much better.” Illustrating that difference Garriga points to a recent scandal in her home country: “In Spain there was a huge scandal because a woman was raped. It went to trial and they got a guilty sentence but got it reduced because apparently she looked like she enjoyed it. That caused people to go crazy and take to the streets to point out that rape is rape. I think the #MeToo movement is important for all women.”

Asked what measures she would like to see introduced to help level the playing field further Garriga said: “I wouldn’t like my boss employing people based on gender. Women should have an equal chance but they should be selected on the contribution they can make because then we’d go back to being flower pots or decorations for the table. We’ve got to be talented to get the job. More flexible working would help, we have a level of that in our office. Sometimes with the pressures of

deadlines and big projects it does not help when people work part time, one day a week in the office.”

Despite the challenges Garriga has observed real change during her career, saying: “Compared to when I first started in work 15 years ago there are now way more women not just in architecture but across the construction industry. In the future I would like to see women have not just equal chances of getting the job but equal pay. Nobody ever knows what someone else is earning or why you’re an associate director and not earning the same. I would like more transparency.”

Architects take pride in belonging to a liberal profession selflessly toiling for the betterment of society but in projecting this idealism into their work the danger is there is little left to tackle the internal schisms which are now all too painfully apparent. If that altruism is to truly build a better society then the bridge building must begin at home.

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GENDER EQUALITY

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MISSING IN ACTION When I studied architecture back in the early 1990’s the proportion of women in the architectural profession was 13%. Three decades on and that figure has risen, but only slightly to 25%. As a profession we need to be taking a long hard look at ourselves and questioning why this figure is so low?

If other countries can achieve a gender balance in architecture, why can’t we? There are clearly still deep-rooted problems which are causing woman to drop out of pursing a lifetime career in construction. I have heard men trivialise this by saying, “well woman have babies”, but it is about much more than just the child bearing years. It is about a culture of sexual discrimination, harassment, bullying, having your intelligence and technical ability questioned, lower pay than male colleagues for the same job, lack of career opportunities and advancement. For anyone who doubts how bad things really are, the AJ 2018 Woman in Architecture survey makes a sobering read.

I teach first year studio at ESALA where the proportion of female students commencing architectural studies is equal to male. Each September we meet a new group of bright, intelligent, talented female designers, with high aspirations of a future career as architects. Nationally by the time students are working towards their part 3, female numbers start to drop. These are woman in their twenties, not necessarily thinking about parenthood yet, who are deciding that architecture is not for them. Why? Such a loss of talent and aspiration. A loss to society as a whole.

Much can be done to prevent this happening. I would like to see the Scottish profession collectively launch a 50:50 campaign with a target to achieve gender equality in architecture. Bullying and misogyny in the workplace needs to be called out.

Colleagues need to actively speak up if they witness this behaviour, and an environment needs to be created where help can be sought without career persecution.

The logical driver for a 50:50 campaign is our national professional body the RIAS. For many years nick named “the old boys club”, where 91% of those awarded the special accolade of Fellow are male, the Incorporation is going through a process of reform.

For the first time, three out of the six RIAS Chapter

Presidents’ are woman (myself included). Female voices are getting heard, although many more are needed.

The RIAS should look to set up a mentoring scheme, similar to the RIBA Fluid programme developed to address under-representation within management and leadership structures. Students and newly qualified architects should be provided with support to learn how best to thrive in a competitive, commercial environment. Mentor help for female architects, at critical turning points in their careers, to encourage them to continue in the profession, or to return to work after extended leave, should finally see the 25% figure start to rise.

Scotland’s built environment can only benefit from retaining all that creativity, enthusiasm and talent, that I see each September with the new intake of young female students entering the first-year studios.

Julie Wilson is a Partner at Brennan & Wilson Architects, part-time design tutor at ESALA and President Edinburgh Architectural Association

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ENGINEERING REPORT

RA I S I NG T HE BAR SCOTTISH ENGINEERING IS RENOWNED THE WORLD OVER BUT HOW DO WE MAINTAIN THAT EDGE IN AN INCREASINGLY COMPETITIVE GLOBAL ECONOMY? URBAN REALM GATHERS LEADING LIGHTS FROM THE PROFESSION TOGETHER TO DISCUSS HOW WE CAN INSPIRE A NEW GENERATION TO CARRY THE BATON, WHILE CASTING AN EYE OVER SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT WORK TO HAVE EMERGED OVER THE PAST YEAR.

Laura James Head of Scotland BakerHicks What work best demonstrates your practice philosophy?

HMP Highland is a step-change from traditional prison design. It takes what is often an oppressive building and creates something that sits sympathetically with its surroundings, generating a sense of place in the community. This epitomises our approach at BakerHicks; as a multi-disciplinary agency, we believe in working collaboratively with the client team from start to finish to deliver facilities that work. The latest technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Virtual Reality allow us to share information in new ways and make the best decisions about the design.

What work has inspired your own approach?

For me it comes back to my university degree which focused on a multi-disicplinary approach to designing a building. This has been reinforced through the specialists I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with, especially in terms of custodial design where I’ve learnt how you design an environment can really impact not only how a facility is used, but the lives of those who use it. I’d add to this studying the real architectural presence in Scandinavian prison design and how these models have helped reduce crime rates.

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ENGINEERING REPORT

How is new technology affecting your ways of working?

Virtual Reality is the most notable in terms of how technology is driving change in our way of working. We’ve been actively using VR headsets and touch controllers to give our clients the ability to walk through their facilities before they are even built. It enables them to visualise how the facility will look and work, meaning they can be confident that the design will work operationally. Our specialist BIM team is working on further exploring VR and Augmented Reality’s uses; there is a huge amount of potential for this technology to make an impact on our industry.

Isla Jackson Director Civic Engineers Are we living in a golden age of engineering?

Our cities are experiencing a renaissance, city dwelling is rising and City administrations are grappling with the need to reorganise urban environments to attract and retain talent, jobs and inward investment. Engineers have a huge role to play in how the associated urban infrastructure responds to that pattern, thinking about how we move around cities, how we deal with water and green spaces.

Engineers need to evolve the way we practice to lead on these discussions and drive value into the decision making of city administrations. From a market perspective, there is still some anxiety as a result of Brexit implications and discussions around Scottish independence but we’re optimistic the market will recover and it hasn’t stopped us from working on some fantastic, high profile projects. For us, it’s great that clients seem to recognise the knowledge, skills and flexibility that working with smaller engineering practices like Civic Engineers brings.

What work best demonstrates your practice philosophy?

Our philosophy is about creating inspirational structures and places that have a positive impact on the environment, enabling people to lead healthier and happier lives. We believe we can’t achieve this on our own and collaboration is at the heart of this philosophy. The Glasgow Avenues project is a great example of us working to achieve this philosophy. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to influence the design of the streets of our own city, transforming them to improve connectivity, encourage active travel and create a platform for economic growth for the city by providing sustainable solutions for adjacent development sites.

How can we inspire a new generation of engineers?

To inspire the next generation, we need to make the URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

profession more accessible and build the understanding that being a civil or structural engineer means you play an important part in helping to shape people’s lives in the built environment. We need to clarify and showcase what engineering is and the impact it has on every aspect of people’s lives. We must promote different ways to get into the industry such as apprenticeships, not just the traditional exam based routes and once in the industry we must ensure our working practices enable people to continue after having kids or career breaks. We must build partnerships with schools and showcase the brilliant projects that we get to work on. Embracing technology in terms of use of social media to promote our industry and how we design ‘smart’ infrastructure will also enable us to improve our communication with the next generation.

Ben Adam Managing Director David Narro Associates What work has inspired your own approach?

I have always been inspired by design that makes places which delight and instil joy in the user and I have always tried to think how I would react to being presented with my solution or end product. Knowing there is appreciation for the application of your skills and hard work encourages greater effort and this has always driven me to perform my best for those I work with and who I work for. Building relationships with similar-minded designers creates better

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Left - BakerHicks have been early adopters of VR technology Middle - David Narro Associates pursue ideals of delight and joy in all that they do Right - Civic Engineers meanwhile have embraced soicial media to communicate their work to the next generation

design, and I have always found the natural world to be the most consistent source of inspiration.

How is new technology affecting your ways of working?

Although new technology has benefits and can help push new innovations in design, at present it comes at a cost. BIM is already changing the traditional design process, requiring much more attention to detail and corresponding effort at the outset of the project. This has implications on the quality of design as there is less and less time for the architect to test theories and refine design through traditional iterations. Modelling and specifying using 3D software is great for producing coordinated information early in the project, but it is also costly to make changes later in the design process.

In what ways will engineering evolve over the years ahead?

There are few ways engineering could evolve over the years ahead, with technology at the fore of innovation in design techniques and providing new materials which will allow engineers to push boundaries further. Although BIM is beginning to become the norm there are many advances in compatibility between software platforms which will make this much easier to manipulate. The role of the engineer may evolve too as advances in computer modelling make design and analysis more automated – the need for skills such as engineering judgement based on experience and understanding will be tested over time.

Scott White Director Design Me What work best demonstrates your practice philosophy?

Design Me has completed many new build projects but our practice philosophy is best represented by our involvement in some challenging refurbishment projects on listed and old buildings such as the transformation of a 1934 Glasgow cinema into innovative new office space.

Our use of thermal & dynamic modelling software and in-house Low Carbon Energy Assessor qualified engineers allowed us to be an integral part of the design team, helping the project architect investigate the best ways to make this old building function energy efficiently using enhanced U-Values, improvements to the building fabric and the introduction of renewable technologies. This type of project sums up our practice philosophy of “no one design fits all’.

What work has inspired your own approach?

As one of the founding Directors my vision for Design Me and our resultant approach to business is very much influenced and inspired by my background as a qualified contracting electrician. This experience has been a key factor in making me a more practical design engineer and ensure that our graduate engineers understand that every element of the design has to not only function as

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ENGINEERING REPORT

Left - Design Me are delivering the Royal Albert Dock masterplan and have dedicated an employee to keep tabs on the latest tech Middle - City of London Primary Academy by PBA reaches the next generation of engineers Right - The Allermuir Centre by Will Rudd Davidson, the team are very active on social media

designed, but also be designed in a way that makes it easy to build. This has inspired me to create our unique apprenticeship style training where staff attend university on a part time basis while learning on live projects in the office.

How is new technology affecting your ways of working?

Design Me is not only committed to understanding and utilising the latest design and production technology, the whole team enthusiastically embraces any new development that allows us to offer our clients enhanced value and service. In keeping with this commitment we utilise the latest thermal simulation packages and modelling software, CFD Analysis, BIM and 3D CAD among many others. We have a nominated member of the team whose role it is to investigate and trial every technological breakthrough as soon as it appears to ensure we are always ahead of the curve in engineering design technology.

Dougie McDonald Director PBA, now part of Stantec What work best demonstrates your practice philosophy?

PBA, now part of Stantec, uses a combination of planning and engineering technical skills to deliver land development and infrastructure projects. Our philosophy URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

is to provide an integrated planning and design team working together to take projects from conception through to delivery.

Our teams based in Edinburgh and Glasgow work as one to deliver projects that support the growth of communities around Scotland. Our projects range from providing planning and infrastructure advice to local authorities and universities, to delivering high profile multidisciplinary projects such as the remediation of the former Carless Oil Refinery on the banks of the River Clyde where we are providing a full land remediation, planning and EIA service as well as designing a major manufacturing building.

How can we inspire a new generation of engineers?

There is a looming skills shortage in the development and infrastructure industry, so we launched the Peter Brett Foundation in 2015 to inspire, inform and prepare the next generation of engineers.

The Foundation works with schools and businesses to support the uptake of STEM subjects and encourage young people to pursue careers in the industry.

We’ve established a nationwide STEM Ambassador network and share our knowledge by mentoring STEM Ambassadors outside our organisation. We also support Constructionarium.

We also welcome the next generation of engineers into our consultancy to develop while on-the-job. We have apprenticeship and graduate programmes that are

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continually updated to give young engineers the best opportunities for mentoring, training and coaching.

How is new technology affecting your ways of working?

PBA offers clients the best advice based on exemplary technical services. To do this, we embrace new technologies, and this inevitably changes the way we work.

We have a digital strategy framework that guides our investments and we are currently implementing multiple new technologies across the consultancy, including advanced Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Building Information Modelling (BIM).

BIM is significantly impacting how we operate, especially on projects like the Advanced Forming Research Centre in Inchinnan. Here, BIM enabled detailed co-ordination, provided time savings, increased collaboration, improved communication and, most importantly, enabled the client to visualise the work at every stage of the project.

Gillian Ogilvie Director Will Rudd Davidson Ltd What work best demonstrates your practice philosophy WRD as a practice is a very broad church. We do a variety of work from domestic extensions to multimillion

pound commercial or educational developments, and everything in between. We also do a lot of survey and inspection work, a forensic approach to engineering, to try and assess why things have gone wrong. It’s hard to identify one type of work which best describes us, but as a philosophy I would say we were problem solvers!

How can we inspire a new generation of engineers?

I am amazed and inspired everyday by projects happening at the moment and engineers are getting much better about publicising their work, for example through social media. Hashtags like #thisisengineering on twitter has been great at showcasing the variety of work that engineers are doing in the world. Social media seems to be the weapon of choice in the battle for the attention of the next generation, so if we can harness that we can inspire a whole new generation of engineers.

What work has inspired your own approach?

I started my working life as a contractor working on site. The very real feeling of seeing the hospital I was working on materialising out the ground bit by bit every day was really inspiring. On the flip side, the issues that arise are very real! When the reinforcement doesn’t fit and you are on site it’s an immediate answer you need.

When I moved to the consulting side after a few years the challenges were different but the approach needs to be the same. At the end of the day we are all problem solvers and that’s what I aim to do every day.

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ENGINEERING REPORT

Trilogy One, 11 Woodhall, Eurocentral, Holytown, Motherwell ML1 4YT (Other offices in London, Manchester, Warwick, Heathrow, Derby, Basel and Zurich, Switzerland) Tel: 01698 738111 Email: contact@bakerhicks.com Web: www.bakerhicks.com Twitter: @BakerHicks_1957 Principal Contacts: Laura James, Head of Scotland Year of Incorporation: 23 May 2007 (trading commenced 27 July 2007) BakerHicks is a design and engineering company that specialises in complex infrastructure, process and built environments across the full project life cycle. Its disciplines range from initial architecture to civil and structural, building services, specialist high voltage and process engineering services, programme management and CDM consultancy, using the latest innovations in Building Information Modelling (BIM) for the most efficient and cost-effective design.

Recent Projects: • HMP Highland • Eastwood Health & Care Centre • Glasgow Airport Terminal Remodel • Carrongrange ASN Secondary School, Grangemouth Awards: • RIAS Award, European Healthcare Design (under 25,00m2) Award, Health Facilities Scotland NHS Design Excellence and Paul Taylor Award Eastwood Health & Care Centre Project Team • Women in Construction and Engineering Awards Winner - Lifetime Achievement in Engineering Award, Geoff Cox; Finalist – Best Woman Electrical and Mechanical Engineer, Lauren Jones; Best Woman Facilities Manager, Melissa Lee-Cox • BREEAM Award (Shortlisted ‘Education’ finalist) for Carnegie Primary School – first “Outstanding” primary school

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HMP Highland, Inverness, Scotland A radical departure from traditional prison design, HMP Highland is the first new prison in the Scottish Highlands for more than a century. Visually and aesthetically appealing, it combines innovative design with the practical, operational needs of accommodating and managing up to 200 offenders at any one time.

Working closely with the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), BakerHicks is providing multi-disciplinary design services for the project, including architecture, building services, civil and structural and principal designer services. The new building takes inspiration from the nearby River Ness, using a long winding wave to soften its outward appearance. A central Roundhouse acts as a focal point for visitors, the family centre and staff facilities.

The project is being developed taking full consideration of the Highland Council’s stringent Sustainable Design Guide, which favours buildings designed to respond to the local landscape and climate. Working with SPS through a series of workshops, BakerHicks has maximised the use of space and ensured the designs are appropriate for how the prison is managed and interacts with the local community.

HMP Highland will serve the Highlands, Islands and Moray areas and is sized to meet the area’s demand, tackling the overcrowding issues experienced by the existing HMP Inverness.

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Civic Engineers Ltd Tel: 0141 370 1829 Email: isla@civicengineers.com Web: civicengineers.com Twitter: @civicengineers Contact: Isla Jackson, Director Year of incorporation: 2013 No of staff: 78 across 4 studios Civic Engineers are civil and structural engineers with a passion and expertise in creating inspirational structures and places that have a positive impact on the environment and enable people to lead happier and healthier lives. With studios in Manchester, Glasgow, London and Leeds, the practice employs over 70 people. The Practice was established in 1997 and became Civic Engineers in 2013, with the Glasgow Studio established in August 2017.

Glasgow Avenues Client: Glasgow City Council, Location: Glasgow We’ve been appointed to lead a multidisciplinary design team for the first phase of the £115 million Glasgow Avenues Enabling Infrastructure Integrated Public Realm (EIIPR) commission which seeks to dramatically improve the quality of the city centre environment, putting people at its heart. Block A of the EIIPR project focuses on seven key city-centre thoroughfares; Argyle St west, Argyle St east, St Enoch’s Square, the Underline (a pedestrian and cycle route linking Great Western Rd with the city centre), Sauchiehall Precinct, Cathedral St and North Hanover St.

Eden Mill Distillery Client: Eden Mill / Alexander Project Management, Location: St Andrews As Structural and Civil Engineers on this project we are working with Opfer Logan Architects on the refurbishment and extension of a listed paper mill to house a new visitor centre and distillery on the Guardbridge Estate.

Recent Projects: • Glasgow Avenues, • St Paul’s Primary School and Foxlea Early Learning, • Eden Mill Distillery and Visitor Centre St Andrews, • Sentinel Building Refurbishment, • Hillhouse Road Assisted Living Accommodation in Hamilton.

Awards: • NCE Trending 20 2018 • NCE Top 100 2018 • NCE Excellence in Urban Living – Winners 2018 • NCE Excellence in Climate Resilience – Finalist 2018 • New London Awards – Transport & Infrastructure Winner 2017

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ENGINEERING REPORT

34-36 Argyle Place, Edinburgh, EH9 1JT Tel: 0131 229 5553 24 James Morrison Street, Glasgow, G1 5PE Tel: 0141 552 6080 Horizon Scotland, Unit 1, Forres, IV36 2AB Tel: 01309 678155 5B Viewfield Place, Stirling, FK8 1NQ Tel: 01786 449562 Email: mail@davidnarro.co.uk Web: www.davidnarro.co.uk Twitter: @DavidNarroAssoc Principal Contact: Ben Adam, MD Year started: 1986 Employee Owned: 2014 Total Number of staff: 59 David Narro Associates was established in 1986 with the purpose of providing a high-quality consulting structural & civil engineering service with a focus on architectural engineering. The practice has expertise in such varied fields as conservation, commercial and industrial, housing, hotels & leisure and the public sector. In 2014 the company became employee owned enabling employees to play a vital role in the long-term success of the practice.

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEITH HUNTER

Awards: Scottish Design Awards 2018: • Re-use of a Listed Building Award – Kirkmichael, with McGregor Bowes • Low Cost Project Schemes Award – Porteous Studio with Izat Arundell • Leisure/Culture, Highly Commended – Playful Garden with Hoskins Architects • Education Building/Project Category and Public Building Category, Highly Commended – The Engine Shed with HES EAA 2018: • Regeneration & Conservation Award – St. Cecilia’s Hall with Page/Park Architects • Small Projects Winner – Porteous Studio with Izat Arundell Architects • Ambassador Award Commendation – An Crubh with WT Architecture RIAS Award 2018: • The Engine Shed with HES • St. Cecilia’s Hall with Page/Park Architects Saltire Awards 2018: • Milbuies & Due West with Cameron Webster Architects • The Coach House with :That Studio

The Borders Distillery, Hawick Client: The Three Stills Company Ltd. The Borders Distillery based in Hawick is the first new distillery in the Scottish Borders to be built in over 180 years. The distillery is housed at an early 20th century industrial site in listed buildings which were on the ‘at risk’ register. Led by Gray Macpherson Architects the buildings were fully renovated to accommodate the distillery. Whiskey production began in March 2018 and the distillery opened its doors in May 2018.

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Design Me Waterloo Chambers, 19 Waterloo Street, Glasgow, G2 6AY Tel: +44(0) 141 221 6575 Email: glasgow@designmeconsultants.com Web: www.designmeconsultants.com Twitter: @designmeglasgow Instagram: designmeconsultants Principal Contact: Scott White Year of Incorporation: 2005 No. of total staff: 14 Design Me have more than 12 years’ experience across all industry sectors, both nationally and internationally, incorporating every aspect of construction, property development and management, ensuring the right solutions and technologies are applied in every case. We are continually pushing the boundaries with innovative concepts and strategies and strive to promote and develop strong and open working relationships with all our clients and suppliers– a key element to any development. We are currently working on projects of varying size from individual residential dwellings to hotels and NHS projects to large-scale commercial & industrial developments in excess of £150 million.

Royal Albert Dock – Phase 1 Client: Multiplex / Mercury Engineering Location: Royal Albert Dock, London Royal Albert Dock is set to become London’s third financial and business district. This ambitious project will be unique as it is set to become the headquarters of leading Chinese and other Asian companies, giving them a base to reach into new markets across Europe.

The development comprises 4.7m sq. ft. 70% of which is Grade A office accommodation, 20% residential and the remainder retail/leisure, car parks and public realm spaces. The £1.7 billion investment will result in more than 20,000 jobs and generate £6 billion to the London economy.

The first phase comprising 600k sq. ft. of office, leisure and retail is currently progressing on site and is on programme for 2018 delivery at a cost of £222m.

Design Me have been appointed to carry out a full peer-review of the MEP design for the 21-building phase 1 works. In addition to peer-review duties, we have also been commissioned to progress the detailed design to Construction status using Autodesk BIM software.

Recent Projects: • The Reel House, Glasgow 15,000 sq. ft. Grade A office Refurbishment of listed building • 2-4 Blythswood Square, Glasgow 27,000 sq. ft. Grade A office Refurbishment of listed building • Sterlings Restaurant The Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Park • The Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall Refurbishment of the Great Gallery, Cocktail Bar and main function suite commercial kitchen areas.

Awards: • ISO Design Studio – Best Commercial / Office Building or Project at the Scottish Design Awards • Marie Curie Hospice, Edinburgh – Building Better Healthcare Awards – Highly Commended • The Spanish Butcher – Most Stylish Restaurant • Glasgow Harbour, GH20 – Scotland’s best waterfront development and Grand Prix Award

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ENGINEERING REPORT

160 West George Street, Glasgow G2 2HG Tel: 0141 352 2360 Email: glasgow@peterbrett.com Randolph House, 4 Charlotte Lane, Edinburgh EH2 4QZ Tel: 0131 297 7010 Email: edinburgh@peterbrett.com Web: www.peterbrett.com Twitter: @peterbrettllp Principal Contacts: Dougie McDonald: Director, Scotland Janice Smith: Structural & Civil Engineering Thomas Brady: Mechanical & Electrical Engineering Jim McGuire: Civil Infrastructure Year of Incorporation: 1965 No. of total staff: 713 PBA, now part of Stantec, is an industry leading development and infrastructure consultancy. We provide trusted advice to create value from the land and buildings owned or operated by our clients. Together, we create better places for the communities in which we work. We have recently joined forces with international consultancy Stantec, allowing us to offer a broader set of services to our clients and even better career development for our people. We have regional offices throughout the UK, and an associated company in Prague. Established for 50 years, we provide the full breadth of multidisciplinary services including Buildings, Environmental services, Transport, Planning and Civil Engineering.

Recent Projects: • The University of Edinburgh, George Square Library • Wildernesse House • Strathclyde University, Advanced Forming Research Centre • Ochiltree Community Hub • Heriot-Watt University, Cameron Smail Library • University of St Andrews, Fife Park Student Residences • Former Carless Oil Refinery • Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC) • Abertay University, Kydd Building

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Class Act At PBA, we believe few things are more important than education. We’ve engineered bespoke buildings for a number of schools throughout the UK, and are currently working with Heriot Watt University, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Strathclyde to solve complex building challenges.

We were appointed to the University of Strathclyde’s Framework Agreement for Civil and Structural Engineering Services after an extensive submission and review process. We have since been appointed to five different commissions, including the Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) extension.

Following a successful refurbishment at The University of Edinburgh’s George Square Library, we were asked to work with the architect and wider design team on the latest refurbishment and extension. We are also assisting the University with smaller refurbishment projects at Charles Stewart House and recently provided temporary works design for the refurbishment of the iconic McEwan Hall.

Further afield, our mechanical and electrical design team are delivering the proposed City of London Primary Academy development in Islington, which is being designed to BIM Level 2. We are also providing engineering design solutions on the Strand East development in Stratford, the new Chart Wood School in Dorking, and Hasmonean High School in Barnet. To create value and savings in both cost and programme, we have identified and maximised opportunities for improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions and optimising visual and thermal comfort.

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Will Rudd Davidson Ltd 43 York Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3HP Tel: 0131 557 5255 Email: edinburgh@ruddconsult.com 100 Brunswick Street, Glasgow, G1 1TF Tel: 0141 248 4866 Email: glasgow@ruddconsult.com Web: www.ruddconsult.com Twitter: @ruddconsult Principal Contacts: Gus Roxburgh in Edinburgh & Brian Walker in Glasgow Year of Incorporation: 1982 No. of Total Staff: 75

Lothian Bundle Partnership Centres, Edinburgh Will Rudd Davidson were commissioned by Hub South East to carry out the Civil and Structural Engineering services for the combined (bundle) development of three new build partnership centres. The ultimate Clients are a combination of NHS Lothian, City of Edinburgh Council and West Lothian Council, and the projects are spread across three sites with a total value approaching £25.0m.

Our involvement followed our successful completion of a very similar facility in Dunbar, which was completed on budget and programme.

The aim of bundling three projects together is to achieve a consistency of approach in terms of design and also to seek efficiencies in the delivery of all three projects for Hub South East.

Following a number of scheme designs, concrete was chosen as the most effective solution for the majority of the structures, in combination with a steel fame, where this was found to be economic.

One of the complications of the project is having to liaise to agree the drainage and SUDS attenuation requirements on all of the sites. Each has required a different assessment, but nonetheless early discussions carried out to ensure that the needs and requirements were fully understood and appropriate designs and cost risks included within the budget.

Will Rudd Associates was formed in 1982 and has grown steadily since that date, operating now as Will Rudd Davidson from offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Today, the Practice has become a very successful and respected Company of professional Consulting Structural and Civil Engineers, with a staff of over 70.

We offer our Clients an extended and consolidated comprehensive service, both technically and geographically. Economy of design and consistent Client attentiveness, at senior level, from conception to completion is fundamental to company ethos.

Completions Examples: • The Mill House Student Living, Gorgie • Shore Street, Inverclyde • McDonald Road, Edinburgh – New Apartments • The Partnership Centres, Edinburgh at North West Edinburgh, Firrhill and Blackburn New Appointments: • Edinburgh Future’s Institute at Quartermile • Edinburgh College of Art South Buildings • Straiton Retail Park Development

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THE MACALLAN DISTILLERY PETER WILSON

THE ROLLING ROOF OF THE MACALLAN DISTILLERY AND VISITOR CENTRE HAS ALREADY ESTABLISHED ITSELF AS A TOURIST DESTINATION BUT BEHIND THE BEAUTY LIES A STRUCTURAL MARVEL. PETER WILSON, AN ARCHITECT AND MANAGING DIRECTOR OF TIMBER DESIGN INITIATIVES, REPORTS ON THE UNDERLYING TECHNOLOGIES WHICH MAKE THE MACALLAN’S SWEEPING SPEYSIDE HOME SO SPECIAL.

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© MARK POWER

THE MACALLAN DISTILLERY

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Previous page - The roof is inspired by the rolling hills of Speyside Above - Rows of copper sills are protected by the timber canopy above

Recent years have borne witness to a significant expansion in the Scotch Whisky industry: a global export success and a huge contributor to the country’s GDP, the bulk of the country’s distilleries are owned by a handful of international drinks conglomerates (e.g Diageo, Campari, Pernod), but there are still many successful ones that remain independent, such as Macallan, part of the Edrington Group and owned by the Robertson Trust. Outwith this core of existing producers, a plethora of new distillers have emerged over the past few years, some housed in previously mothballed premises bought out from larger operations within whose business URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

plans these smaller facilities no longer have a role; some established in converted premises as ‘boutique’ distilleries; and a handful in entirely new buildings designed most often to be modern interpretations of the traditional appearance of a whisky-making enterprise. Few of these are large in scale and output, so when an existing and already large operation has the aspiration to produce substantially increased volumes of its internationally recognised spirit and decides to eschew the time-honoured look of a distillery in its new facilities, it’s perhaps time to review our preconceptions of how such an industry should, or could, represent itself to us and to the

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world.

So, to the aforementioned Macallan and its new distillery and visitor centre located alongside its existing facility on the 390 acre (158 hectare) estate, Easter Elchies House near Craigellachie on Speyside. What makes the Macallan development different is both its sheer scale and a design that unquestionably departs from the conventional form and image of a traditional distillery. That, and the fact that the new facility has cost ÂŁ140 million - part of a much larger overall investment of ÂŁ500 million on the site by the Edrington Group - is not only a massive display of confidence in the future of the

brand, but is also one of the biggest private sector investments in industrial property development seen in Scotland in recent years. This same confidence is immediately apparent in the choice (through competition) of Rogers, Stirk, Harbour and Partners as the architects for the new development, along with ARUP as the project’s engineers.

But first some background to the design. The Macallan single malt whisky was first produced in 1824, since when it has established itself as one of the most famous whiskies in the world and the reason Edrington wished to develop a contemporary distillery that would reveal the production >

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Left - The Macallan Distillery is at one with the surrounding landscape Right - Structural gymnastics result in a theatrical temple to Scotch

processes and welcome visitors whilst remaining sensitive to the beauty of the surrounding countryside. The new development is, in fact, sited in a designated ‘Area of Grand Landscape Value’ amid farmland used for growing barley, one of the key ingredients of this famous spirit. The gently undulating surrounding hills are now mirrored in the form of the building, even to the point of having turf covering the linear sequence of its five, timber grid-shell roofs.

Whilst the design team’s track records in the design of engineered timber buildings are perhaps not so well-known as their other, more usually described as ‘high-tech’, built outputs, their experience in this field is considerable, with the architects’ own portfolio of innovation in the use of wood dating from the Bordeaux Law Courts (1992-98) and including The National Assembly for Wales (1998-2005) LAs Arenas, Barcelona (1999-2011) and the Bodegas Protos winery at Penafiel in Spain (2004-08). ARUP has been no less prolific, its latest groundbreaking success in timber engineering and the development of new forms of engineered timber detailed elsewhere in this issue. Their joint competition success in this instance cannot therefore be considered to be either accidental or inappropriate.

Diagrammatically, the internal planning of the distillery is URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2018 URBANREALM.COM

quite straightforward: designed to be capable of increased production and allow for easy expansion in years to come, the layout of the building is set out in a linear sequence of production cells within an open-plan arrangement that reveals all stages of the process at once. These cells are reflected externally in the building’s undulating roof silhouette. So far, so simple, but the installation of the glulam and LVL facetted 3m x 3m waffle grid structure and timber roof decks supporting the green roof above was by no means a walk in the park. This type of engineered timber construction is specialist work, and Wiehag GmbH is world-renowned for its expertise in this field - the glulam used in the canopy to the Canary Wharf station in London being another notable UK example of the company’s design and large-scale manufacturing abilities. In this instance, working with the locally-based main contractor, Robertson Construction, Wiehag elected to use its preferred installer L&S Baucon GmbH due to the roof’s complexity.

Timber grid-shell roofs, of course, are not an especially new engineering phenomenon, but one that is 207 metres long and covering an area of 13,620 m2, is undoubtedly unusual and, with five undulating domed volumes and an external canopy, is not based upon simple, repetitive construction: this is an extraordinarily sophisticated

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demonstration of advanced timber technology employing 1,798 separate beams and 2,447 roof decks within an overall roof package comprised of 350,000 pieces (including fixings), almost all elements of which are different. Given the logistical challenges inherent in these statistics, it is to the credit (and the experience) of the installation contractor, that the whole assembly was completed within six months of the March 2016 start date, using only 20 installers and two cranes to carry out 4,245 separate lifts.

Six Wiehag engineers and draughtsmen used state-ofthe-art parametric design software to design the roof, working closely with the distillery’s principal architects and engineers to ensure the building physics associated with green roofs were all resolved satisfactorily to allow the grassed domes to perform with minimal maintenance for decades to come. This in itself would be complicated enough, but even more so when coupled with a required level of construction precision that meant no tolerances to work to, since the 3m x 3m cassettes had to fit together in such a way as to allow an even shadow gap to appear consistently throughout the waffle structure.

All of the timber elements were fabricated in Wiehag’s factory in Austria, using advanced CNC machines to meet the design team’s high quality and finish requirements. This, together

with the company’s ultra-sophisticated barcode system, ensured that each individual timber item came to site exactly when needed as part of a precision programme involving 130 separate deliveries.

If simply constructing the roof was a complex exercise, it was made considerably more so by the fact that it had to be assembled over the pre-installed whisky stills and other distilling equipment and machines. As a result, innovative propping solutions were developed to work around the delicate copper structures, an ongoing process for Baucon, with the Wiehag team calculating the forces through the props and designing connections for them that, with the use of hydraulic rams, allowed the beams, once installed, to be lifted into their exact locations. The whole roof therefore required to be temporarily supported until all the beams were in position a highly complex operation since the beams had to be capable of adjustment within a 150mm range.

Understandably, as a result of disasters such as at Grenfell Tower, increased attention has been placed upon the fire performance of timber construction, albeit that the material had no part in that tragedy. Nevertheless, the same level of care and concern given to the construction process was applied to site storage and fire prevention throughout the >

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© MARK POWER

© MARK POWER

Top - The historic Easter Elchies House remains at the heart of The Macallan Estate Bottom - The curves continue inside for the visitor experience

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The Macallan has built the ultimate bottle bank

distillery’s roof assembly. First, a programme was devised to limit the amount of timber on site at any given time, thereby reducing the risk of fire and any other damage to the material itself, whilst the delivery programme was also coordinated to ensure site staff were ready to receive each of the aforementioned 130 deliveries and that space was available to offload and store the engineered timber components safely.

For many visitors to the completed building, much of this attention to detail will not be immediately apparent, nor the way the building sits so naturally within its landscape: all will seem as it should be, even to the way in which the lighting progressively alters along the length of the building interior to reflect the changing colour of the spirit as it matures. The

overall impression however, is of a design that not only draws successfully upon its geographical and cultural context but which is also a superb demonstration of advanced timber engineering and engineered timber products. The processes undertaken in the design and construction of the new Macallan distillery also highlight the extent to which the properties and characteristics of engineered timber products and systems need to be fully understood to ensure the most appropriate technologies available are employed in the delivery of beautifully constructed buildings that are as safe during their assembly as they are intended to be throughout their life. The lessons to be gained about these products and systems by architects and engineers working in Scotland are immense.

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DIRECTORY LISTING 3D VISUALISATION Max Maxwell Tel: +44 (0)141 370 3500 Email: info@maxmaxwell.co.uk Web: www.maxmaxwell.co.uk Studio, 80 Nicholson St, Laurieston, Glasgow G5 9ER ARCHITECTS & BUILDING CONSULTANTS AHR Tel: 0141 225 0555 Email: glasgow@ahrglobal.com Web: www.ahr-global.com Savoy Tower, 77 Renfrew Street Glasgow G2 3BZ jmarchitects Tel: 0141 333 3920 Email: gla@jmarchitects.net Web: www.jmarchitects.net Michael Laird Architects Tel: 01312266991 Fax: 1312262771 Email: marketing@michaellaird.co.uk Website: www.michaellaird.co.uk 5 Forres Street, Edinburgh EH3 6DE ARCHITECTURE & MASTER PLANNING Hypostyle Architects Tel: 0141 204 4441 Contact: Gerry Henaughen Email: glasgow@hypostyle.co.uk Web: www.hypostyle.co.uk CONSULTING STRUCTURAL & CIVIL ENGINEERS David Narro Associates Tel: 0131 229 5553 and 0141 552 6080 Contact: Amanda Douglas (Practice Manager) Email: mail@davidnarro.co.uk Web: davidnarro.co.uk

Will Rudd Davidson Tel: 0141 248 4866 Contact: Brian Walker Fax: (0)131 557 2942 Web: www.ruddconsult.com/ 43 York Place, Edinburgh EH1 3HP CLADDING RHEINZINK Tel: 01276 686725 Fax: 01276 64480 Email: info@rheinzink.co.uk Web: www.rheinzink.co.uk Wyvern House, 55-61 High Street Frimley GU16 7HJ FIRE ENGINEERS Astute Fire Ltd Tel: 0131 4458607 Contact: Adam Bittern Email: adambittern@astutefire.com Web: www.astutefire.com FLOORING BONA Tel +44 (0)1908 525 150 Fax +44 (0)1908 311 677 Email: info.uk@bona.com Web: www.bona.com 6 Thornton Chase, Linford Wood, Milton Keynes MK14 6FD LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS LDA Tel: +44 (0) 141 222 9780 Email: kirstin.taylor@lda-design.co.uk Web: www.lda-design.co.uk Sovereign House, 158 West Regent Street, Glasgow G2 4RL

rankinfraser Contact: Chris Rankin Tel: 0131 226 7071 Email: mail@rankinfraser.com Web: www.rankinfraser.com LIFTS Stannah Tel: 0141 882 9946 Fax: 0141 882 7503 Email: contact@stannah.co.uk Web: www.stannahlifts.co.uk 45 Carlyle Avenue, Hillington Industrial Estate, Glasgow G52 4XX NATURAL SLATE Cupa Pizarras Tel: 0131 225 3111 Email: uk@cupapizarras.com Web: www.cupapizarras.com 45 Moray Place Edinburgh EH3 6bQ PHOTOGRAPHY Niall Hastie Photography Email: niall@niallhastiephotography.com Web: www.niallhastiephotography.com 567A Great Western Road Aberdeen AB10 6PA SPECIALIST SUPPLIER OF SUSTAINABLE TIMBER Russwood Tel: 01540 673648 Email: mail@russwood.co.uk Web: www.russwood.co.uk STONE Denfind Stone Tel: 01382 370220 Fax: 01382 370722 Email: sales@denfindstone.co.uk Web: www.denfindstone.co.uk Pitairlie Quarry, Denfind Farm Monikie, Angus, DD5 3PZ

Dunedin Stone Tel: 01875 613075 Fax: 01875 615236 Email: info@dunedinstone.co.uk Web: www.dunedinstone.co.uk 17a Macmerry Industrial Estate, Macmerry, East Lothian EH33 1RD Tradstocks Natural Stone Tel: 01786 850400 Fax: 01786 850404 Email: info@tradstocks.co.uk Web: www.tradstocks.co.uk Dunaverig, Thornhill, Stirling FK8 3QW TILING Porcelain Plus Tel: 01236 728436 Contact: Moira Pollock Email: moira@porcelainplus.co.uk Web: www.porcelainplus.co.uk TIMBER ENGINEERING Scotframe Tel: 01467 624 440 Email: inverurie@scotframe.co.uk Web: www.scotframe timberengineering.co.uk Inverurie Business Park Souterford Avenue Inverurie AB51 OZJ Contact: Gillian Murray TOILETS/WASHROOM CUBICLES Interplan Panel Systems Tel: +44 (0)141 336 4040 Email: contact@interplansystems.co.uk Web: www.interplanpanelsystems.co.uk Unit 2/2 Brand Place, Glasgow G51 1DR

A MAGAZINE ABOUT THE STREETS IS ON THE STREETS To advertise contact John Hughes on 0141 356 5333 or email jhughes@urbanrealm.com

PRODUCTS

TO ADVERTISE YOUR PRODUCT OR COMPANY IN THIS SECTION CONTACT JOHN HUGHES ON 0141 356 5333 ANCON LAUNCHES IMPROVED IHR HEAD RESTRAINT TO ACCOMMODATE 75MM GAPS

BONA BACKS FLOORING OFFER WITH TECHNICAL SUPPORT Swedish wood floor finish manufacturer, Bona, supports its high performance products with expert technical support on the correct specification of finishes (oils and lacquers), adhesives and maintenance systems. Bona is a RIBA approved CPD provider and offers a range of products to meet the performance and aesthetic requirements of wood floors installed in historic, commercial and domestic environments.

ANCON, has re-engineered its IHR internal head restraint to accommodate gaps at the wall head of up to 75mm.

The sliding top section is available in two lengths; ideal where a fire or acoustic barrier is being installed or greater deflections are expected in the primary structure.

Tel: 0114 275 5224 Email: info@ancon.co.uk Web: www.ancon.co.uk/IHR

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Tel: 01908 525 150 Email: info.uk@bona.com Web: www.bona.com

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?pc=topnav-about-en#inbox/165612f4ae6f0016?projector=1&messagePartId=0.1

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NORSE STONE PAVE THE WAY FROM QUARRY TO HOME

TECHRETE OFF-SITE SOLUTIONS REDUCE PROGRAMME TIME

Norse Stone Ltd specialise in the production of Caithness Flagstone.

A versatile stone, it is suitable for a variety of uses including building stone, hearths, paving and worktops. From the quarry to your door, our team creates stunning products perfect for any project whether smaller residential or large commercial design.

The use of Techretes composite brick faced panels on University College London Hospital Centre has led to significant programme time savings.

The handmade bricks panels with integrated triple glazed windows has reduced the façade build time to 13 weeks as opposed to an estimated 40 weeks for traditional methods of construction.

Tel: 01955 467 000 Email: sales@norsestone.co.uk Web: www.norsestone.co.uk

Tel: 01162 865965 Email: estimating@techrete.com Web: www.techrete.com

WEBEREND ONE COAT DASH DESIGNED FOR SPEED OF APPLICATION AND ONSITE EFFICIENCY

KINGSPAN OPTIM-R MAKES THE GRADE IN GLASGOW

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Saint-Gobain Weber has launched high performance weberend one coat dash, a one coat render that can receive a dry dash finish without the need to apply a base coat or a second pass. Designed to achieve a durable and weather resistant finish weberend one coat dash is especially suitable for the challenging Scottish climate where dash finish is commonplace.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?pc=topnav-about-en#inbox/165e6d6d7df6eeb0?compose=165e6d72461f4c06%2C165e6daedb3ce2a2&project…

Tel: 08703 330 070 Twitter: @SGWeberUK Email: enquiries@netweber.co.uk Web: www.netweber.co.uk

TO ADVERTISE IN URBAN REALM PLEASE CONTACT JOHN HUGHES ON 0141 356 5333 OR EMAIL JHUGHES@URBANREALM.COM

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A Grade B listed primary school in Glasgow has had three rooms refurbished to offer optimum thermal performance. Built in 1878, the enhancements offer pupils at Pollokshields Primary School a new interactive games area, a quiet room, and a flexible space for activities such as performances and exhibitions.

85.29 m2 of the Kingspan OPTIM-R Flooring System was specified to achieve outstanding thermal performance.

Tel: +44 (0) 1544 387 384 Email: info@kingspaninsulation.co.uk Web: www.kingspaninsulation.co.uk/optim-r

S TONE S URFAC E S , FLO ORIN G & FI REP L AC E S .

Established in 1981, Stonecraft Edinburgh specialise in the supply and installation of natural stone surfaces, bathrooms, flooring, cladding and fireplaces into commercial and residential properties.

Stonecraft Edinburgh Ltd 3 Lower London Road Edinburgh EH7 5TL www.stonecraftedinburgh.co.uk info@stonecraftedinburgh.co.uk