The Development of a Policy on Architecture for Scotland

41 Boathouse, Loch Loyal, Sutherland Law & Dunbar-Nasmith	43 Strathclyde Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow Reiach and Hall Architects
42 Ledlewan Barn, Dumgoyne Gerry Grams for MLDO Architects	44 Tron Theatre, Glasgow RMJM

THE ROLE OF PRIZES AND AWARDS

Whereas competitions are a means of ensuring good design in what is yet to be built, prizes and awards are a means of acknowledging design achievement in completed projects. They are an important mechanism for the promotion of good architecture and good building design. Prizes and awards provide an opportunity for community involvement in assessing and debating architectural designs. They may be used not only to recognise exemplary architectural design and to encourage and promote young designers but also to reward best practice throughout the construction process. Scotland already has in place a significant number of awards and prizes for architecture and its related disciplines. These awards and prizes acknowledge achievement over the full range of design and construction skills and are sponsored by both the public and private sectors. The existing Scottish prizes and awards provides a vital asset for the promotion of good architecture. We need to ensure that we develop a coherent and co-ordinated portfolio of prizes and awards that are properly supported and financed. And we need to ensure that such prizes and awards are given due prominence and attract the prestige they deserve.

THE ROLE OF RESEARCH

Each year Government, often in partnership with industry, invests considerable sums in construction research. This research focuses almost exclusively on the technical aspects of construction, the physics of materials, components and structure or the processes of procurement, management and manufacture. Such research has undoubtedly led to improvements in construction practice and to buildings that are technically sound and more efficiently made. But it has not led to significant improvements in building design, to better architecture or to a more satisfying and satisfactory built environment.

Good design and good architecture are not achieved simply by the competent assembly of technically sound products. Good design and good architecture emerge when there is an evident and appropriate fit between building and context, whether that context is the building's social and functional purpose or its physical and natural environment. Both of these are amenable to critical evaluation and reflective analysis. But by comparison with the investment in technical research, we spend little on investigating the processes and products of building design. We should, for example, develop a better under-standing of the needs of building users, of their perception of space and place and of the ergonomics of use. We need to understand more fully the impact of the built environment on community and social values and on behaviour. We should, as a matter of course, evaluate the performance of buildings in use and through time, building on existing Scottish initiatives in this field. We need to understand more fully the dynamics of the built environment, how buildings change through time and adapt to function. And we should recognise design itself as a research activity. Design has many of the charac-teristics of more conventional research; it solves problems and is inventive; its output can be judged through peer review; and its products have far-reaching benefits for society. We need to consider ways in which we can establish and properly support a meaningful agenda of research for architecture and building design.

There is, then, much that Government can do to promote the benefits of good architecture and to foster conditions in which it can flourish. Many initiatives to encourage good building design have already been undertaken by both public and private bodies. These initiatives are to be welcomed and we can build on what is already in place. But much more needs to be done. We need a coherent and co-ordinated framework of initiatives if we are to achieve consistent and lasting improvements in our built environment. Good architecture is not easily achieved nor can it be achieved by Government alone. It needs a commitment on all our parts and a re-focusing of our priorities and values.

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