INVESTING IN QUALITY

Improving the Design of New Housing in the Scottish Countryside

Some Recent Trends and Possible Initiatives

31 This chapter gives a summary of some trends in rural house design, describes a number of innovative developments and outlines the attitudes of the key agencies to design issues. It also considers how public interest in design might be stimulated and the scope for applying new approaches from the experiences of other countries.

Timber Frame Houses

32 Timber frame houses have been the predominant house type built in the Scottish countryside over the last 10 years or so. They are defined as having their structural walls and roof and other joinery components fabricated offsite. Where these are presented as standard designs, normally in brochures, they have become known as kit houses.

33 Some firms have produced special timber frame designs for the rural market and there are excellent built examples of sensitive siting and design. Overall, however, there still seems to be considerable scope for improvement. This type of construction is likely to remain dominant for the foreseeable future and must, therefore, be a focus of interest for any fresh policy and guidance.

34 The main criticisms which have been made are of standard designs being introduced into many rural settings, almost unthinkingly, suburbanisation of rural areas, importation of alien elements, reduction in local distinctiveness, and the capricious use of external design elements. On the other hand, these houses have several important advantages to offer the clients, particularly in rural areas, these include competitive pricing, choice of builder, adaptability, ease and speed of construction. These vital factors obviously cannot be overlooked in any attempts to improve design in the countryside.

35 In 1994 The Scottish Office Building Directorate issued a research study by John and Margaret Richards entitled 'Timber Frame Houses in the Scottish Countryside'. Although directed at a wide audience it is probably best known in architectural and planning circles where it is highly regarded. Among other things the study provides a useful reference source for the application of fundamental design concepts to rural housing. Balance, symmetry, conscious asymmetry, proportion of window to wall, horizontal or vertical emphasis etc are all addressed. It, and PAN36, have been the two principal official sources which have stimulated interest in the siting and design of new housing in the countryside during the 1990s.

36 The Richards' report ends with an implementation section and there are some aspects which might be well worth following up. Perhaps the two key ones are finding out more about the industry in terms of, for example, the range of designs now being produced, degree of satisfaction of clients, local planners etc with the results on the ground, the cost advantages which the industry enjoys. In addition the question of how to encourage ordinary people to become more interested in design and the opportunities available to them, might be pursued.

Lowland Crofting

37 'Lowland Crofting' is the name given to an experimental approach of allowing new housing in the countryside as pioneered in a part of West Lothian. It was a name given to the idea in its early stages and it has stuck. These developments have, of course, nothing to do with normal crofts under crofting legislation. While the description contains a flavour of what is intended there is certainly no intention that people will be living from the land. In fact there is no requirement for them to work the land at all. The objective of the exercise is to change the landscape of some of the bleaker, degraded parts of the area by planting large numbers of trees. People are being allowed to build houses in the open countryside on condition that they undertake structural planting. It is quite difficult to obtain planning permission for new housing in the countryside over most of lowland Scotland and being able to gain permission is the fundamental attraction of the scheme.

38 The Council is allowing whole farms to be restructured to create typically ten or a dozen croft holdings. A holding can range between one acre and ten acres but at least 30% of the ground around a new house must be planted with trees.

39 Strategic planning policy governing these developments is contained in the Lothian Structure Plan and suitable areas are identified in the appropriate West Lothian Local Plans. Implementation is achieved through a combination of planning conditions and legal agreements.

40 'Crofter' sites are currently being marketed by a development company. Three sites are completed with occupied houses and advance planting done. Several others are well advanced. The houses built to date are all different and many are timber framed in construction to one-off designs. The design aspects of the planning briefs have assumed more prominence in later phases.

41 One of the effects of the experiment is that it seems to have met a niche in the market for people wanting this type of house in this type of location. Interestingly the number of speculative, and controversial, applications made to the Council for single houses in the countryside in other parts of the area apparently has declined since the crofting project started. It seems that a latent demand has been recognised and is partly being satisfied.

42 There is interest in several other parts of the country in the potential for other local sites. It is one of the most innovative concepts to be put into practice in rural Scotland and will require an appraisal of its strengths and weaknesses in due course.

Conversion, Modification and Home/Work

43 While this report is concerned mostly with new build in the open countryside, a sizeable proportion of new houses are formed from the conversion of existing buildings, notably agricultural buildings. In general, planning authorities have tended to look sympathetically at proposals for sensitive re-use, conversion or rehabilitation. These developments provide some benefit in terms of sustainability through the re-use of building materials, help to reduce the demand for new land for development and draw new life onto the farm and into the countryside.

44 Most pressure, and opportunity, for conversion seems to have been on the east coast within easy travelling distance of cities or small towns and where sizeable steadings are set in attractive countryside. Particular pressures are apparent in North East Fife around St Andrews, and parts of Aberdeenshire and the Lothians. The trend has been for the whole complex of farm buildings to be taken for development. In many instances the farmland has been amalgamated with neighbouring land. Where the farm has remained in operation new steadings have often been built a distance away from the old ones. Conversion seems to have been particularly prevalent where the number of livestock has declined and more land has been given to cash crops. In these circumstances there is less need for steadings.

45 The amount of the original steadings which is reused has tended to vary. In most cases the bulk of the old buildings has been kept and the new development grafted on. At its best an attractive combination of old and new is provided. In others the balance has been more towards rebuilding using the salvaged stone from the old buildings. The number of new houses which can be obtained from the conversion of old steadings can be considerable. Between five and ten units is not uncommon in which case the steadings have been converted into a hamlet. Most of the houses are towards the upper end of the market although there are some conversions which have provided middle range properties. Because the land around the steadings is now cropped rather than grazed, the need for fences, hedges and shelter belts is less than previously. Consequently some of these new hamlets are surprisingly visible in their settings. While steadings have been the main source for conversion a wide variety of other structures in the countryside have also been adapted for housing. These have included railway signal boxes, churches, mills, industrial buildings. Some conversion can be for a mixture of housing and light industry/commerce.

46 At the national level the proportion of new houses in the countryside formed from conversion is much smaller than new build. Nevertheless it is a significant number and there could be a case for preparing national information about how much has been done, its design quality, the effectiveness of planning controls, its good and bad aspects in terms of the rural environment and rural society. In addition it could also be worthwhile preparing a national overview of the possible scale of potential for converting existing buildings. Although a considerable amount of conversion has taken place across the country the taxation arrangements are said not to be favourable.

47 The idea of having housing in rural areas which allows for home working is particularly attractive. In England some new housing (as distinct from conversion) in rural areas has been designed and built with a home/work purpose from the outset. The work is inclined to small manufacturing and crafts. Similar housing has been built in other parts of Western Europe, notably Denmark. In Scotland there are few examples to date. It is potentially a growth area however and clearly has important siting and design aspects.

Promotion of Good House Design

Competitions and Awards

48 Competitions and awards have always seemed to offer the potential of playing a significant part in improving standards and, at times, they have done so. For example, in the 1930s, the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland (APRS) funded a competition for rural housing which produced designs by Sir Frank Mears that were later adopted by several local authorities for low cost housing. A considerable number of houses were built to these models and they proved to be deeply influential. His interpretation of the vernacular influenced a generation. Elements taken from his work arguably appear, for example, in the range of house types made available by the Department of Agriculture in the crofting townships and in the former smallholding areas.

49 There is currently a wide range of design awards. Perhaps the foremost emanate from the Civic Trust, APRS, Saltire Society, Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS). Scottish Homes and the Local Enterprise Companies have also been active in recent years. The Lowland Crofting project, mentioned previously, featured a design competition with support from RIAS, Scottish Natural Heritage, Lothian and Edinburgh Enterprise Ltd, West Lothian District Council and The Scottish Office.

50 A principal difficulty with competitions is that they frequently do not result in good quality building taking place. Consequently RIAS has been making the point forcibly in recent years that, while design competitions encourage and stimulate professional interest, the attitude of the public is much more likely to be influenced by seeing attractive buildings on the ground.

51 Thus while many of the current awards are well known and respected by people interested in design they probably do not have the influence they should have had across the country at large. There may well be a case for considering how to have fewer competitions but giving these more impact.

The Role of Scottish Natural Heritage

52 Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) does not have any design competitions of its own although it supports others. Similarly it does not make its own design awards Its predecessor, the Countryside Commission for Scotland (CCS), took the same approach. Even in National Scenic Areas (NSAs), the national designation representing the national interest in landscape, the Heritage bodies, past and present, have not been markedly active publicly in promoting design quality in new build. CCS was, and SNH is, consulted by planning authorities on a wide cross section of development proposals in NSAs, and indeed elsewhere, and beneficial changes frequently result. In addition some authoritative and relevant source books were published by, or supported by, CCS.

53 A revised policy framework giving more attention to the quality of new build in special landscape and scenic areas might flow from the Review of Natural Heritage Designations. In addition a major exercise in landscape assessment is being completed by SNH across Scotland with the help of local authorities and this should be an extremely useful reference source. The Countryside Commission (for England) has been increasingly forthcoming in recent years on design issues and has issued reports advocating the preparation of Countryside Design Summaries and Village Design Statements. These are intended to assist local area analysis of character and to stimulate the involvement of local people in helping to formulate planning policy for their communities.

Scottish Homes and Rural House Design

54 Scottish Homes commissioned the Arkleton Centre for Rural Development Research to evaluate its rural policy in late 1996. The findings of this review will inform its revised Rural Policy Statement which will be published in the summer. Scottish Homes has had an important and valuable impact on housing conditions in rural Scotland although the subject matter of this report - the individual provision of private housing on single plots - will only be relevant where GRO grants are involved.

55 Scottish Homes recognises the importance of the physical quality of the housing it funds. In June 1996, Scottish Homes issued a major policy statement - The Physical Quality of Housing: a framework for action - which emphasises the national housing agency's commitment to developing and supporting innovative projects where the emphasis is increasingly on environmental issues. Scottish Homes is progressing its quality agenda through the establishment in December 1997 of an internal Quality Focus Group whose remit is to guide and prioritise work on physical quality, including sustainable development issues.

56 Scottish Homes' participation in Local Rural Partnerships is growing and this allows the agency to better gauge local needs and circumstances. A number of initiatives being undertaken are particularly relevant to the design of new houses in rural areas. Some of the illustrations show small-scale housing projects supported by Scottish Homes.

Stimulating More Public Interest in House Design

57 The Government want to involve the public more actively in deciding how their local areas should change and develop. While considerable numbers of people are engaged in the issues, including design, there still seems to be a general lack of interest. Spartan rural conditions applied over much of rural Scotland until the fairly recent past. Perhaps issues of design and aesthetics just have not been seen as a priority matter for many people who live there.

58 There has always been excellence to be found in Scottish rural house design but in recent times it has tended to be rather the exception. With the increasing importance of tourism to the Scottish economy the quality of the rural environment should demand more attention and care. Visitors may well expect to see traditional and/or quality buildings in quality environments. There is an intimate relationship between the two. Interestingly many visitors to the west of Ireland comment very unfavourably about new housing in the countryside in terms of insensitive siting and design in superb natural settings. People remember such contrasts.

59 Significant efforts have been made in Scotland over the years to try to inform public attitudes. The former Countryside Commission issued several important source books and were active in education in schools. The emphasis however tended to lie more on the appreciation of the natural heritage in terms of landscape and recreation rather than on the built environment. SNH has likewise been active in producing education packages for schools on these same themes. Similarly planning authorities have tried to inform and consult the public in their plan making.

60 The time seems right for encouraging more interest in the quality of design. Environmental issues are at the top of many agendas and there is a relationship between good design and sustainability. Good design should include feelings of robustness, permanence, solidity. The idea is one of lasting quality. These are not relevant issues only for housing at the middle and top ends of the market. They are not just an elite concern. Good design should be able to pervade all sections of the market. Arguably good design is important in forming people's ideas of what is valuable, beautiful, and it may help to give them a sense of their own self worth and, indeed, of their country.

61 Some other European countries have put design in the built environment high on the political agenda. The Norwegians have made a concentrated effort over the last 10 years to improve the quality of new build. A new and distinctive architecture is emerging in Norway which is capable of comparison with the best in the world. The Norwegian experience is recent and gives encouragement to the view that a change in attitudes can be effected relatively quickly if there is a will. The Norwegians have developed a national cultural policy for architecture and design which is aimed at developing local strategies involving people across the whole country. They have seen the critical value of good architecture and design to the cultural and economic well-being of their country.

62 Scotland has had well established contacts with Norway over a long period and joint working between some architectural practices has emerged in recent years. Other contacts have been forged with other countries in Western Europe. Scottish Homes for example has particularly strong contacts with Denmark and arrangements are in place through the European Union for the exchange of experience and people between the various countries.

63 Much is being done but mostly at official and professional and voluntary level. Yet there seems to be very little filtering down of experience about what is quality in house design to the bulk of the population. Perhaps this is the right time to start trying to stimulate more local interest in these issues and involvement in local decision-making; not as a selective matter but across the whole range of people and types of houses. If there is to be a change in public attitudes then it is probably not going to happen easily and naturally; a strategy for doing so may be required.