The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

A Policy on Architecture for Scotland
PROGRESS REPORT 2005

2 PROGRESS REPORT
MEETING THE OBJECTIVES OF POLICY

Scottish Parliament
EMBT/RMJM
Photograph: Adam Elder
© Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body 2004

Within this section, reports on progress in meeting policy objectives are set out under each of the 5 key objectives of the policy on architecture

An annual £300,000 grant from the Executive to The Lighthouse has funded a National Programme of exhibitions and events in support of the policy on architecture objectives. A central part of this Programme to date has been three national touring exhibitions developed by The Lighthouse to reflect key themes of policy. These exhibitions were complemented by educational and community programmes:

The Anatomy of the House exhibition examined the historical precedents for contemporary house types in Scotland and highlighted issues of affordability, regeneration, innovation and sustainability.

The Common-place exhibition investigated intimate and expansive public places in Scotland and explored the idea that what is interesting about buildings and places is not just how they look _ but the way they are conceived and developed and how they fit within the city, town or landscape. Common-place won the Scottish Design Awards' Design Grand Prix in 2004.

The Field Trip exhibition explored the variety of marks that, through the ages, we have made on the landscape of Scotland, and explored the idea that much of what we may think of as our natural landscape is often the product of human intervention.

www.scottisharchitecture.com was launched in June 2002, meeting a policy commitment to develop an online, virtual architecture centre as a national educational and public resource for information, communication and outreach. The web site is intended as a central hub for all available information in the field of Scottish architecture. In addition to the wide range of resources provided, it presents a means to co-ordinate the activities of a range of organisations concerned with the built environment. Now in its third year, it has become a valuable resource, with around 5,000 visitors a month utilising the services available on-line.

Common-place exhibition Photograph: Andrew Lee	Anatomy of the House exhibition Photograph: Keith Hunter

Phase 1 of SUST: The Lighthouse on Sustainability, a £600,000 Executive funded initiative which was implemented in 2002-3, involved a programme of 18 projects on sustainability developed by The Lighthouse in partnership with a wide range of organisations who have benefited from the campaign. These include client groups, government agencies, local authorities, professional organisations, academic institutions, architectural practices and other voluntary sector groups. The SUST campaign has now been extended by a further 3 years with an additional £600,000 of investment from the Executive's Sustainable Action Fund. The Key objectives of the SUST programme are as follows:

• to raise public awareness of sustainable design and the contribution it can make in delivering a sustainable future;
• to improve clients' and client organisations' knowledge and understanding of sustainable design and encourage greater commitment towards a 'green' approach when commissioning new buildings;
• to highlight and celebrate achievement in sustainable design in Scotland, whilst drawing attention to best practice internationally;
• to act as a catalyst for a change in attitude on sustainable design, working in partnership with key agencies to mainstream 'green' thinking in the built environment; and
• to provide educational opportunities for young people linking the themes of green design, sustainability and architecture.

The Executive worked with Learning and Teaching Scotland to develop the Building Connections document and CD ROM, which were launched in May 2002. The publication provides guidance for teachers on the use of the built environment to inform curriculum subjects and other national priorities for education. To support and follow up the guidance document prepared with Learning and Teaching Scotland, teaching resource material was developed for delivery through the National Grid for Learning. The Executive provided £144,000 to The Lighthouse to create the Building Connections website, which was launched in December 2002. The site provides practical tools for teachers to download and also practical studies for pupils and is one of the most comprehensive sources of information for schools on architecture in Europe.

Historic Scotland has an educational remit and has worked with us in a number of areas including the NGfL initiative, where it provided material to use the built heritage as an educational resource. In 2002, we co-sponsored a conference on Timber and the Built Environment as part of our commitment to work with Historic Scotland on matters relating to building conservation and traditional materials. In the same year, we co-funded and commissioned a Timber Cladding in Scotland publication and, more recently, the Executive supported the 2004 Building with Scottish Stone publication to inform building designers on availability, selection and good practice in using Scottish stone. European Heritage Days are partly sponsored by Historic Scotland and take place in Scotland under the title 'Doors Open Days'. It has worked to broaden the social range of participants in the initiative through a variety of means including television advertising.

Landforms exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale Photograph: Chris Rogers	Re:Motion exhibition in Rotterdam Photograph: Renzo Mazzolini

A number of exhibitions were staged to take forward the international promotion of Scottish architecture including:

• Landforms, developed by The Lighthouse, was shown in Barcelona in September 2003 as part of the Scotland with Catalonia programme, working with the British Council. The exhibition, accompanied by a seminar, featured 17 Scottish projects constructed, or in construction, over five years from 1999 to 2004, chosen to reflect the new spirit and sense of identity emerging in Scottish architecture following devolution. Landforms has also shown in Utrecht as part of the Scotland in the Netherlands season, and in Marseille as part of the Made in Scotland season. Made in Scotland was a major showcase of Scottish architecture within the Entente Cordiale celebrations in France in 2004. Scotland was separately represented through Landforms for the first time at the Venice Architecture Biennale in September 2004.
• Re:Motion:New Movements in Scottish Architecture was a touring exhibition curated by The Lighthouse and Graven Images. It was developed as part of the SUST campaign devised on behalf of the Executive and was shown at the inaugural Rotterdam Architecture Biennale in 2003, the theme of which was mobility. The exhibition invited eight Scottish architectural practices to consider how mobility and transport impact on our environment and sustainable design thinking.

THE LIGHTHOUSE'S OWN EXHIBITIONS HAVE COMPLEMENTED THOSE OF THE EXECUTIVE. AN EXAMPLE OF THIS IS THE MAGGIE'S EXHIBITION WHICH ACCOMPANIED NATIONAL PROGRAMME EXHIBITIONS IN MARSEILLE IN 2004 AS PART OF ENTENTE CORDIALE. THE MAGGIE'S EXHIBITION LOOKS AT THE WAY IN WHICH ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN CAN CREATE ENVIRONMENTS THAT IMPROVE LIVES. THE ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN OF EACH OF THE MAGGIE'S CANCER CARE CENTRES IS FUNDAMENTAL TO THE SUCCESS OF THAT CENTRE. THIS EXHIBITION SHOWS HOW THE MAGGIE'S PHILOSOPHY AND THE ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN OF EACH CENTRE COMBINE TO CREATE ENVIRONMENTS WHICH ALLOW PEOPLE TO FEEL SUPPORTED AS THEY ADJUST TO LIVING WITH CANCER.

Maggie's Centre, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee Gehry Partners, LLP
Executive Architects: James F Stephen Architects Photograph: Dougie Barnett

OBJECTIVE
To foster excellence in design, acknowledge and celebrate achievement in the field of architecture and built environment, and promote Scottish architecture at home and abroad.

An Turas, Tiree Sutherland Hussey Architects Photograph: Arrabella Harvey

The Executive has been involved in the creation and support of a number of awards for architecture as follows:

• An award for exemplary achievement in the field of architecture was launched by The Lighthouse in June 2004. The award acknowledges contributions to architecture in its broadest sense and may be awarded to architects, clients, educationalists, filmmakers or other eligible individuals. The first of these awards went to Glasgow Letters on Architecture and Space (GLAS). GLAS is a workers co-operative of architects, designers, and activists who, through design activity, graphic works and writings, question and suggest alternatives to the dominant way in which our built environments are put together. The annual award event also involves a talk by a leading figure in world architecture each year, and the first of these was given by Peter Cook.
• A Designing Places award was created for students of planning.
• An architecture student award scheme SIX was created as a joint venture between the National Programme and the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) incorporating the existing RIAS Silver Medal and reconfiguring Scottish student architecture awards to provide an enhanced public profile. The first annual exhibition of the students' work was held in 2003 in The Lighthouse.
• A Prospect magazine supplement provides a further media showcase for the work of students. The single focus and increased profile of the Awards offers an excellent opportunity for the public and businesses to view the standard of student work.

In 2003, The Lighthouse published Scottish Architecture 2000-2002, the first of our bi-annual reviews of Scottish architecture and urban and landscape design. The Executive aims, through these reviews, to identify and explore developing themes in Scottish architecture and to encourage debate. The second review, published in September 2004, was developed in collaboration with the RIAS. Its launch was also marked by the launch of an accompanying exhibition at The Lighthouse.

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) is an executive NDPB which surveys and records Scotland's built heritage under international convention. It compiles and maintains a public built heritage archive, and its activities provide support to the policy on architecture, the promotion of tourism and the work of Historic Scotland. The resources of the RCAHMS archive and specialist staff knowledge are frequently used by other organisations and in creating exhibitions and producing publications in support of the policy on architecture and the work of Historic Scotland. RCAHMS and The Lighthouse were jointly commissioned to prepare a series of architecture tourist maps, identifying key historic and contemporary buildings of interest in Scottish cities. The first of these, the Edinburgh Map, was launched in 2003 and the Glasgow Map followed in 2004. Work on maps for Aberdeen and Dundee is now underway and it is our intention to extend the series further. The maps have been distributed to tourist information centres across Scotland. RCAHMS has contributed material to on-line itineraries available through scottisharchitecture.com and has also contributed educational material to buildingconnections.co.uk. The Executive provided support enabling RCAHMS to bring the 'Culture 2000' exhibition 'One hundred houses for one hundred European architects of the twentieth century' (three of whom were Scottish) to Scotland to The Lighthouse.

Filling Station, Causewayside, Edinburgh Exhibition drawing by Sir Basil Spence, 1993
© Crown copyright RCAHMS (RIAS Collection)

The Lighthouse has developed a community programme with a series of projects aimed at achieving a wide geographical coverage, reaching different types of communities and engaging with a wide range of issues. Each of the three touring exhibitions curated by The Lighthouse was also accompanied by community based seminars, exploring ideas and issues raised by the exhibitions in depth. Local cultural organisations have been encouraged by The Lighthouse to include architecture in their programmes, and the touring exhibitions have enabled a number of venues in a wide range of places across Scotland to do this. The community programme has included projects such as:

• The Girvan masterplan project, in which architects were commissioned to develop a catalogue of ideas to enable local residents to envision the potential for their town.
• The Campbeltown community project, which involved workshops with architects, artists and local groups to build a small scale intervention to improve a public space.
• The Big Issue community project, which comprised a series of activities/ workshops allowing Big Issue vendors a voice in Glasgow City Council's consideration of possible alternative accommodation for 2,000 people in Glasgow following a hostel closure.
• The At Home in the City project explored ways for schools of architecture to engage with local communities in their teaching programmes. A year long competition project involving senior students from the Strathclyde and Mackintosh schools of architecture addressed housing issues in the Gallowgate area of Glasgow. The project involved a 'live' site, identified by Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), and the outcomes fed into the GHA's strategy for the area.

Innovation Fund grants were managed by The Lighthouse to encourage built environment related projects within communities and to encourage new architectural initiatives and the development of an architectural network at local level. Eighteen projects have been awarded funding to date. The grant awards have had a wide geographical spread and have included projects set in Peterhead, Dundee and St Andrews, projects with regional impact across the Highlands and North East Scotland, and projects having a national basis.

RCAHMS makes on-line access to the Commission's heritage database available through a system called 'Computer Application for National Monuments Record Enquiries' (CANMORE). It contains details of around 250,000 archaeological sites, ancient monuments, buildings and maritime sites in Scotland and also provides an index to the catalogued collections of RCAHMS. CANMAP, an on-line map searching service for the Commission's computerised heritage database was launched in 2002, allowing anyone with access to the web to zoom in, through various mapping scales, to any geographical area in Scotland. Users are able to see the distribution of archaeological sites and buildings of historical interest located in their chosen area, and are then able to find out more about any selected site by using the in-built link to CANMORE. An Images on CANMORE enhancement, making images directly accessible through the internet, was launched in 2004, greatly increasing its value as a worldwide public resource. Over 60,000 images are already available for download, and additional images are constantly being added. PASTMAP, which provides links with scheduled monuments and listed buildings was also added in 2004.

There has never been a clear guide to each archaeological site and historic building in Scotland, and a new initiative Accessing Scotland's Past (ASP) aims to address this by providing a short descriptive account of many sites and buildings, and a guide to where further information can be discovered. Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, RCAHMS is currently running ASP as a 'proof of concept' for one year in a limited geographical area. The target areas chosen are the Cairngorms, in Aberdeenshire and Moray, and the Merse, in the Scottish Borders. The project is being run in partnership with the local authority archaeologists for Moray, Aberdeenshire Council and Scottish Borders Council.

Architecture policy contains a commitment to work to ensure that design quality is properly taken into account in the guidance, training and advice made available to Executive clients for construction projects. Policy and procedural guidance for construction works projects, which promotes design quality and value for money for Executive Departments, Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies is contained within Building Division's Client Pack. The Executive recognises that true value for money is a mixture of both tangible and intangible benefits and that sound, creative building design is an essential part of this equation.

Strategies for improving quality in health and school buildings are presently a matter of high priority in the Executive's own thinking, and the Architecture Policy Unit is currently in discussion with the Executive's Health Department regarding the promotion of design quality issues in health sector procurement. Given the high level of investment by the Executive in new school building, we are determined that the building programme should deliver high-quality, inspiring and well-designed learning and teaching environments. A number of initiatives to drive up the design quality of our new schools have been carried out as part of the school estate strategy as follows:

Flora Stevenson Nursery, Edinburgh
Arcade Architects Photograph: Paul Zanre

• Conferences on school building design were held in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
• The Executive's School Design booklet, published in 2003 as part of our school estate strategy, provides guidance on school design for local authorities and other stakeholders with an interest in school building design.
• A seminar on a sustainable approach to the design and operation of schools was held in July 2004, and this was followed in December 2004 by a Sustainability booklet as part of the school estate strategy.
• Guidance on the preparation of output specifications for school Public Private Partnerships (PPP) projects was published in 2004 as part of the school estate strategy.
• Guidance on evaluating and learning from completed school projects was published in 2004 as part of the school estate strategy.
• The Sustainable Schools Project funded by the Executive's Future Learning and Teaching (FLaT) Programme explored new design scenarios for school buildings through a workshop based model centred on real schools, with collaboration between local authorities, international and local design professionals, teachers and young people themselves. Schools design workshops were held in January 2003 involving Scottish and international architects and led to the publication of a booklet and CD-ROM, later in 2003.
• The FLaT project Design for Learning _ The 21st Century School is a 3 year £750,000 programme presently underway (2003-2006) to help generate ideas for school buildings which will inspire and motivate teachers and pupils to maximise their individual and collective educational potential. Two publications, Design Strategies and From Consultation to Design have been produced as part of this work to date.

A focus on good design is increasingly recognised as an prerequisite in strategies for the future development of our cities. This is evidenced by the recent appointment of Sir Terry Farrell as the City Design Champion for Edinburgh City Council and the intention of Glasgow City Council to create a similar post.

INSPIRING
HIGH-QUALITY, INSPIRING AND WELL-DESIGNED LEARNING AND TEACHING ENVIRONMENTS

As a non Departmental Public Body, the Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland (RFACS) was included in the Executive's 2001 Review of Public Bodies. The review concluded that, whilst RFACS carried out an important and necessary function, a more fundamental review was required to consider the status, organisation and remit appropriate for a modernised design review body in the context of the policy on architecture. In October 2002, Ministers announced the outcome of the second review and their intention to set up Architecture and Design Scotland; extending the remit of RFACS to create a more proactive organisation which will act as the national champion for good architecture, design and planning in the built environment. The legal, organisational and locational issues have been addressed and the new body will come into operation in April 2005.

• Designing Places was published in November 2001, and sets out the Scottish Executive's policy on design quality in new development. It sits alongside the Policy on Architecture and seeks to demonstrate the value and importance of good design. Its publication marked the determination of the Executive to raise standards of new urban and rural developments that are considered by the planning system. It also provided the foundation for a series of related and more detailed documents:
• Planning Advice Note (PAN) 67: Housing Quality, published in February 2003, sets out the Executive's aspirations for Scotland's housing and explains how Designing Places should be applied to new housing.
• PAN 68: Design Statements, published in August 2003, emphasises the value and importance of design statements in support of planning applications.
• PAN 71: Conservation Area Management This PAN identifies good practice for managing change. It provides a checklist for appraising conservation areas and provides advice on funding and implementation. Conservation areas are living environments where change must be carefully managed.
• PAN 72: Housing in the Countryside focuses mainly on urban housing. PAN 72 supersedes, updates and replaces PAN 36 on the Siting and Design of Housing in the Countryside. New developments in the countryside, if properly planned, sited and designed, should contribute to the quality of a landscape.

Further related publications are proposed.

The Scottish Executive continues to promote the Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning, which in 2005 will achieve its 9th annual event.

The new Scottish Building Standards Agency was established in 2004 and the Agency will be seeking to spread understanding of the new building standards system, and to take in ideas for continuous improvement. A new act, the Building (Scotland) Act 2003, has been passed with the aim of introducing a new building control system in May 2005. The new system is designed to be more flexible and faster in response. It is intended to be a system that is more responsive to the needs of industry and the public, while supporting the Executive's aims of providing excellence in public services and encouraging sustainable development. The new form of building regulation will allow designers greater freedom to innovate and tailor designs to specific sites. Existing buildings, including historic buildings, will also be treated in a more flexible way.

« Previous | Contents | Next »