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5. BUILT HERITAGE

UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING CHANGE IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT - LINKING OUR PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE HERITAGE

RECOGNISING THE VALUE OF THE BUILT HERITAGE

Our promotion of good architecture and design is not simply about having a concern for the quality of new-build developments whilst cherishing our built heritage. It is about having a concern for the development of Scotland's built environment as whole - a continuum where past, present and future are carefully considered in their relation to each other to achieve the best possible outcome.

Scotland has an outstanding built heritage, and this is something that we should be proud of, but we must recognise that the quality of this heritage places considerable demands on the way that we approach new development in order to ensure that we do not undermine the benefits of this valuable inheritance.

There are a number of reasons why this is an important issue for the policy on architecture to address. Our built heritage is still frequently undervalued when viewed by many of those involved in the push for new development. The historic environment is often perceived to be a barrier or constraint, rather than an asset. There are encouraging signs, however, that we are, for the most part, leaving behind the tabula rasa approach to urban development prevalent through much of the second half of the last century. Almost every successful new development in recent years - such as, for instance, the Holyrood North and Dublin Colonies housing in Edinburgh and Graham Square in Glasgow - pays close attention to the cultural history of the site, the buildings, artefacts and archaeological traces to derive meaning and inspiration for the new proposals.

Along with local planning authorities, we wish to see greater use by developers of planning tools that help to ensure that the significance of a place is understood.

They include:

• conservation management plans;
• conservation area appraisals;
• masterplans; and
• design statements.

Our existing building stock is a crucial contributor to local distinctiveness and identity. Reflecting local building materials and traditional construction, the existing built environment physically embodies the history and identity of communities. Large or small scale redevelopments can draw inspiration from our past in the creation of our future surroundings and can provide points of reference and cultural continuity for communities which may be affected by significant change.

An approach to spatial development which encompasses a respect for cultural heritage can also act as a bulwark against some of the more unwelcome forces of globalisation which have a tendency to uniformity across national and local borders and which tend toward the lowest common denominator. Searching for a sense of historic continuity will open up rather than close down opportunities for the retention of the cultural identity within villages, towns, cities and regions across Scotland.

Our existing built heritage has important ecological value and is also vitally important for sustainability - as it contains a great store of energy in terms of the raw materials and the processes which converted them into our buildings in the past. The re-use of buildings is highly sustainable. A huge amount of energy and materials has been invested in their construction and we must not thoughtlessly throw this embodied energy away. Historic buildings have always been adapted, often many times over, but in recent years, this has become much more common. We have become used to seeing churches, hospitals, and even landmark industrial buildings, such as the celebrated Templeton's Carpet Factory in Glasgow, Broadford Works in Aberdeen or the Anchor Finishing Mill in Paisley converted and conserved. The need to sustain the world's resources fits well with the desire to cherish our culture and the strong sense of identity which buildings like these convey.

Historic buildings have a reputation for being difficult to work with - and for being expensive and inflexible. However, provided that their potential is recognised and a concern for their qualities is integrated from the outset, they can provide true sustainability - adding tremendous value for the future as well as conserving and continuing our built heritage. Many historic buildings are inherently adaptable and sustainable; that is usually why they have lasted so long. Investing in the historic environment therefore makes sense from an environmental as well as a cultural perspective. Re-using buildings consumes less energy than new construction, capitalises on the embodied energy invested in original structures; reduces the waste sent to landfill; and makes best use of existing infrastructure by reinforcing existing urban footprints.

We have come a long way from the days when historic buildings were simply torn down or left in isolation by new development. We now understand the added value that the historic environment can bring, not only in cultural terms, but as a real economic driver, attracting inward investment, helping communities to regenerate and playing a vital part in our tourist industry.

The adaptation and re-use of historic buildings should not stifle new design - it can act as a spur for creative solutions which bring old and new together successfully. New design in historic locations has been a particular success in recent years. The new Parliament is, of course, the best example of a stunning new building taking inspiration from its context and repaying it with huge cultural and economic added value. And there are many other less well-known examples throughout the country, from Glasgow's former Meat Market, Graham Square, to Kilncraigs Business Centre at Alloa or the Tun in Edinburgh. At a smaller scale, the adaptation of historic sites and buildings for people to visit, live and work within has prompted interventions of the highest design quality.

The message is clear: new buildings in historic places can transform the experience associated with the place. With the best of the old and the best of the new we can build a balanced, sustainable environment for the enjoyment and cultural prosperity of all.

An important aim in policy is, then, to promote a better understanding of the role that our built heritage can play in shaping our future as a nation and to encourage better connections between our past, present and future built environments. This message is being reinforced in the forthcoming Scottish Planning Policy: Historic Environment. This SPP supersedes and consolidates National Planning Policy Guideline ( NPPG) 18 Planning and the Historic Environment and NPPG5 Archaeology and Planning.

A number of the case studies within this policy statement illustrate different ways in which new development has strongly responded to the built heritage and where this approach has played a very important part in the success of projects. The Architecture Policy Unit will continue to work with Historic Scotland, A+DS, The Lighthouse, RCAHMS and RIAS to identify and promote good practice.

HISTORIC SCOTLAND

Historic Scotland is an agency of the Scottish Executive charged with safeguarding the nation's historic environment and promoting its understanding and enjoyment. It is well known as the guardian of several hundred properties in care and has commissioned architectural work at all of them.

Outreach by Historic Scotland includes publications that range from leaflets to more substantial memoranda, annual reports, guide books, heritage guides and research reports. A number of publications, including advice for owners and occupiers on the care and maintenance of historic properties, can be freely downloaded from its website. ( http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk)

Historic Scotland has commissioned and published research on a variety of issues including performance, detailing, maintenance strategies, and the usage of traditional materials in Scotland. Architecture Policy Unit has, in the past, provided some support for publications by Historic Scotland and other arms of government on the use of Scottish materials. The Unit will continue to work with Historic Scotland in the co-ordination of policy aims and to support further initiatives of this kind.

HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT POLICIES

The built heritage of Scotland is, as we have discussed above, an outstanding asset. We recognise, however, that our built heritage is, all too often, perceived as a constraint in development and a barrier to change. Historic Scotland is, though, clear in its policies that the protection of the historic environment is not about preventing change. The historic environment is, like the rest of our landscape, dynamic and its successful protection and conservation depends upon ensuring that change is managed intelligently. We intend that our built heritage will be promoted more strongly as an asset in successful place-making, harnessing its significant power to strengthen the identity and character of communities.

Scottish Historic Environment Policies ( SHEPs) are a new series of policy documents that set out Scottish Ministers' vision and strategic policies for the wider historic environment and also provide greater policy direction for Historic Scotland. Work on the first three of these is presently underway - public consultations on SHEPs 1 and 3 have been carried out and SHEP 2 was published in 2006.

Further SHEPs on the Listing of Historic Buildings, Listed Building Consent and Scheduled Monument Consent will be consulted upon during 2007.

HEACS

The Historic Environment Advisory Council for Scotland ( HEACS) was established in 2003 as the advisory Non-Departmental Public Body which provides Scottish Ministers with independent strategic advice on issues affecting the historic environment.

Among the Council's principal functions is the provision of informed advice on the identification, condition, protection, presentation and promotion of the historic environment, and on its contribution to wider issues such as education, the economy, tourism, arts and culture, leisure and the promotion of social justice. As well as responding to Scottish Ministers on all matters requested by them, the Council aims to identify and develop its own wider agenda of strategic issues and topics on which it may also prepare and offer advice.

In August 2006, the Council provided a report to Scottish Ministers regarding whether or not there is a need for a review of historic environment legislation. Through the first part of 2007, Historic Scotland will be using the HEACS report as the basis for discussion with stakeholders to further tease out the administrative and resource issues from the legal ones, identifying where the evidence most clearly makes a case for specifically legal change and where the case for any change is strongest.

RCAHMS

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland ( RCAHMS) is an executive Non-Departmental Public Body ( NDPB) which surveys and records Scotland's built heritage under international convention. It compiles and maintains a public built heritage archive, the National Monuments Record of Scotland ( NMRS). A key element of the work of the organisation is to make its records available to the public and, as part of this, it has established a leading international reputation for the quality of its digital access. The information about the historic environment which RCAHMS provides for architects and other built environment specialists makes an important contribution to place-making and regeneration projects in respect of understanding and responding to historic context, and the engagement of communities with their local heritage. The organisation's activities also provide support to the policy on architecture, the promotion of tourism and the work of Historic Scotland.

Through the forthcoming Culture (Scotland) Bill, we want to ensure there are no barriers to joint-working between the National Collection bodies and to encourage increasing co-ordination of strategy and exhibitions. The 'National Collections' are the National Library of Scotland ( NLS), the National Museums of Scotland ( NMS), the National Galleries of Scotland ( NGS), the National Archives of Scotland ( NAS) and RCAHMS. Together, these bodies are responsible for collecting, preserving and exhibiting cultural objects of national importance, and for holding and managing public records and archive collections for public access. They celebrate and showcase the talent of Scots and international artists, architects, artisans and writers. They do this by enabling people to visit and view the collections, by exhibiting and touring, and by publicising and educating people about the objects and materials which they hold.

We want the National Collection bodies to continue to enhance their leadership and support of local collections. To achieve these aims, the draft Bill proposes to refresh and update the governance regimes of the National Collections. Under the Bill, a new body, as yet unnamed, will be established to take over the role and functions of RCAHMS. At the moment, RCAHMS operates under a Royal Charter. Replacing it with a body established in legislation will put its governance on a modern footing and will allow the Parliament to consider its purposes and powers.

Because of the rapid growth of the RCAHMS archive, a new archive storage building is now required, and a funding commitment of £12 million for phase one of the project was announced by Scottish Ministers in October 2004. The first phase will focus primarily on the provision of suitable storage facilities for the archive, and subsequent phases will address opening the archive to greater public access.

In line with general Executive policy, RCAHMS has placed ever increasing focus on partnerships as a vital way to increase its capacity to deliver important heritage services. A focus on partnerships has also enabled the organisation to extend its scope, such as in the Historic Land-use Assessment Project, which is a comprehensive and Scotland-wide desk-based survey shared with Historic Scotland which aims to promote the management of the historic landscape.

Among the Commission's other present partnerships is a three year project with The Lighthouse, which was begun in 2005 to catalogue, conserve and promote the work of Sir Basil Spence. The research project secured almost £1 million in heritage lottery funding and £200,000 from the Scottish Executive. This work is demonstrating the impact and benefit of using archive material on the built environment as a tool to connect communities to their local architecture and to empower schoolchildren to express informed opinions on design and understand the creative process.

THE LIGHTHOUSE

The Lighthouse, Scotland's Centre for Architecture, Design and the City is currently involved in two projects that aim to promote and celebrate the work and archives of two of Scotland's most significant post-war architects - Sir Basil Spence (as described above) and also Gillespie, Kidd and Coia. These projects also involve new partnerships between many institutions that are concerned with the architectural heritage of Scotland - The Lighthouse, RCAHMS, Glasgow School of Art, Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic Scotland and RIAS. The Lighthouse is housed within a Charles Rennie Mackintosh building and we are aware of the importance of Glasgow's Art Nouveau heritage and the Mackintosh legacy of which we are proud. However, Scotland is home to a rich and varied post-war 20th century heritage which we believe requires promotion, celebration and exploration to allow us to fully understand or architectural past and to create a greater understanding of Scotland's heritage locally, nationally and internationally. The Lighthouse will embark on a long-term programme of activity to develop new ways of engaging audiences with our 20th century heritage. This may be carried out by monograph projects that focus on particular architects or projects that are themed to look at building programmes relevant to our cities, towns, villages and industry such as new towns or coalmines.

INDEPENDENT HERITAGE ORGANISATIONS AND INTEREST GROUPS

Throughout Scotland, residents demonstrate their concern for the cultural, environmental, social, and economic needs of their communities through voluntary participation in civic amenity societies or other community-run organisations. We recognise the importance of such generous and dedicated work by individuals and groups. This work can be invaluable in linking new and historic built environment concerns with other specific local needs to effect truly sustainable regeneration of communities.

We will, therefore, explore ways in which we can engage with local knowledge and interest in the course of our outreach campaign. We aim to investigate where we might, where welcome, join with local programmes which share the aim of improving Scotland's urban and rural built environments and to help to respond to opportunities for enhancement.

We believe, also, that the store of information held by interested individuals, and often not formally recorded, is a valuable resource which should be more widely appreciated. Living archives are of immense public interest, in that individuals can provide material or document events and processes that are otherwise invisible to official sources of historical and archival authorities. We will therefore explore ways whereby we can capture such information for wider public access. These projects need not only concern the capture of local reminiscence, but may also involve people in the exploration of contemporary issues.

We believe that these approaches also have the potential to achieve greater inclusion in our campaign, allowing people from diverse backgrounds and circumstances to express themselves and to become more involved in their communities and their built environments.

DESIRED OUTCOME OF BUILT HERITAGE PROGRAMME
A MORE ENLIGHTENED APPROACH TO URBAN DESIGN WHICH VALUES THE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT

CASE STUDY

BUILT HERITAGE/SUSTAINABILITY/PUBLIC ART
SHETLAND MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES

Hay's Dock, which was constructed in 1815 and which is Category B listed, is an important part of Shetland's maritime heritage. It is the last remaining area of original dock on the Lerwick waterfront, providing an ideal setting for the islands' museum and archives. The £10 million project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Shetland Charitable Trust, Historic Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage.

The new centre provides five times the display space of an older museum which it replaces, and also comprises a three-storey-high boat hall with hanging boats; a state-of-the-art archive repository; three times the present archive study area; a restaurant and café specialising in local produce; a flexible 120-seat lecture theatre; a learning room; and temporary exhibition space.

The client, Shetland Amenity Trust, is committed to sustainable design, and the project has used many recycled and salvaged materials. Stone for the main building was recycled from a variety of demolitions around Shetland, and the dock walkway is made up of recycled granite setts once laid on the Lerwick promenade. Reclaimed oak and pitch pine flooring are laid throughout the galleries and restaurant, and some reclaimed oak has also been used in the display cases. Recycled flagstones from all over Shetland have been laid in the foyer, where the differences in colour, texture and size reflect the diversity of the stone throughout the isles. Within the building, the stonework in the early people displays has come from the archaeological excavations at Old Scatness Broch. Heating for the building has been supplied by a district heating scheme.

The award of a grant from the Scottish Arts Council allowed the project to engage Karen Emslie in May 2004 to co-ordinate the fund-raising and procurement of the public art, and a steering group involving local artists was formed to give guidance on the development of the public art brief. The Trust's Enviroglass project has recycled glass bottles into a hard-wearing, attractive surface, and some of the pavers, which appear both inside and outside the building, have been inlaid with crushed serpentine which local artist Alan Hart has used to depict local boat parts and place names. A large number of timbers were recovered from two large 19th century German boats¬the 'Elenore Von Flotow' and the 'Pribislaw'. In 1879, after the 'Elenore von Flotow' had developed leaks, she had come to the dock at Lerwick. There, she was later hauled up and converted into a store hulk. Part of her keel has now been refashioned into the foyer desk by artist Stuart Hill.

Building Design Partnership (Glasgow) were the architects and lead consultants, and the conservation architects were Nicholas Groves-Raines. This is an excellent example of a collaborative project where the design and fabric of the building seamlessly interweaves concerns for history, sustainable development and public art.

CASE STUDY

PLACE-MAKING/RESPONDING TO HISTORIC CONTEXT
SILVERMILL RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT, EDINBURGH

The Silvermill residential development sits on the northern edge of Edinburgh's New Town, at a point where, for some considerable time, the Georgian set-piece of the World Heritage site had abruptly ended along Fettes Row in a ragged grouping of garages, parking spaces and unmatched buildings.

The developers, AMA, were committed to realising a project of the highest construction and design quality, appropriate to its historically-sensitive location. They engaged Oberlanders Architects and Reiach and Hall Architects to master plan the site, and each practice took responsibility to design one side of the street. The architects responded to the spirit of the place, providing restrained, elegant facades responding to the surrounding Georgian architecture and forming a gently curving approach to St. Stephen's Church, designed in 1826 by William Playfair. A landscaped pedestrian precinct links Fettes Row to St. Stephen Street beyond the church and car parking now sits discretely underground. Together, the buildings and the public space that they create act to repair the urban fabric, bringing a sense of cohesion to the area.

The project demonstrates a well-considered response to the challenge of place-making within a 'set-piece' location.

TOGETHER, THE BUILDINGS AND THE PUBLIC SPACE THAT THEY CREATE ACT TOREPAIR THE URBAN FABRIC, BRINGING A SENSE OF COHESION TO THE AREA

CASE STUDY

INTERNATIONAL EXAMPLES/CULTURAL AND SPATIAL STRATEGY BUILD HERITAGE
THE NETHERLANDS' BELVEDERE MEMORANDUM

In the Netherlands, the connection between cultural policy and spatial policy has been shaped in recent times by four architecture policy documents (1991, 1997, 2001 and 2005) and by the 1999 Memorandum entitled 'Belvedere: a policy document examining the relationship between cultural history and spatial planning'.

The objective of the Belvedere strategy is to promote a sympathetic approach to cultural and historic values within spatial development. The strategy arose from the belief that too little account was being taken of the quality of existing construction and surroundings in many projects. In the past, as in many countries, the Netherlands had largely taken an object-oriented approach to protecting the cultural heritage. By contrast, the central premise of Belvedere is that the benefits of cultural history are better realised through an area-oriented approach. This is an approach that centres on inspiring wider development rather than having a focus on the conservation of individual objects. Objects of cultural and/or historic importance are used to their best advantage to contribute to the quality of their new surroundings. The motto of the strategy is 'Conservation through development'.

The Dutch government aims to better integrate and strengthen its economic, ecological and social policies in relation to spatial planning, and the development of the Belvedere strategy involved co-operation across four government Ministries working with the Netherlands Department for Conservation and the National Service for Archaelogical Heritage. The Belvedere project office, set up in 2000, plays a co-ordinating role in the implementation of policy, which is strongly geared towards influencing governance and awareness, professional development and network-building. The strategy provided a ten-year framework 2000-2009 and, in 2005, architecture policy became fully integrated with Belvedere.

Within the Belvedere strategy 'cultural heritage has to be regarded as being of vital importance to our society and to each individual citizen' - and the strategy plays its part by acting to involve cultural historians early in planning processes and by providing architects, urban and rural planners, and administrators with effective, usable and understandable information. The action programme promotes design studies which analyse existing conditions and qualities, and which explore ways of transforming urban and rural areas. It promotes several model projects and it seeks to influence the improvement of commissioning practice towards creative and inspirational approaches.

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