Summer Newsletter 2010
June 2010
Staff News
Jack Scott has decided to retire fully from mid June, after working as a consultant for the last two years. After being with us for ten years he will be sorely missed, not least for his extensive experience and his support to us all. He has given hugely to the experience base of the Practice and all of us have gained from his mentoring. He was involved with many of our projects, notably those for the NHS, but also a very broad range of projects, commercial to domestic, new build to historic; these included Old Fishmarket Close, the Palm Houses in the Royal Botanics, the Performing Arts facility for Stewart's Melville College and offices at Riccarton. His broad experience has been a great asset to the Practice and all appreciated his polite and friendly manner both with clients and Architects and with colleagues. He will also be missed for his encyclopaedic knowledge of Scottish hills leading to many enjoyable hill walks as an office over the years. Few will forget trying to keep up with his red sweatshirt as he powered up some severe slope! We all wish him well for his retirement.
We are delighted that Paul McCrae has joined our Glasgow office as a Senior Technician and that Gillian Mather has joined as a Graduate Engineer. Two new graduates and a new technician will join the Edinburgh office this Summer. Unfortunately, Lizzy Karamuddin and Sandra Mattick have both left the Practice to return to Malaysia and Germany respectively.
House on a Hill, Aberdeenshire
We are delighted that the House on a Hill has won a RIBA 2010 award. Lesley Donald has been working with Paterson Architects on this substantial contemporary extension to an existing farm cottage. The house stands on a hill overlooking the North Sea. The existing cottage has been upgraded and is now linked to the new single storey extension that houses the majority of the family accommodation. The children's bedrooms and the living and dining areas face south with large windows to maximise the views and benefit from passive solar gain. The structure is a tall panel timber frame, with parallam corner posts to resist wind on the large windows. The exterior of the extension has vertical board on board larch cladding, with a continuous flat parapet that is lower than the roof of the existing cottage.
New Projects
The Practice is pleased to be working on some exciting new projects. We are working with Simpson & Brown on Paisley Abbey (as shown) and with Honeyman Jack & Robertson on Helensburgh West Kirk. At Lindisfarne we are designing a Look Out Tower and Interpretation Centre with Icosis Architects. We are also working with Richard Atkins on an Eco Interpretation Centre in Glenrothes. In Edinburgh, we are working with Smith Scott Mullan on Wighton House in Craigmillar, with Gareth Hoskins Architects on a large new house in Morningside and with Groves-Raines Architects on Lamb's House in Leith. Groves- Raines Architects have purchased the historic Lamb's House from the National Trust with a view to relocating their office to the A listed 17th century merchants home.
Summer Construction News
This summer sees a number of our projects reaching construction stage. In Haddington, the new John Gray Centre for East Lothian Council began on site in early May. This project (as shown) with Gray, Marshall & Associates will provide a new cultural and heritage centre for East Lothian and includes a museum gallery, local archive store and library facilities. A new structural steel frame will be inserted into the existing stone-built Grade B and Grade C Listed buildings to support the new floors and transfer the load to new piled foundations. The design includes a new two-storey glazed atrium incorporating glass artwork.
Phase 3 of the redevelopment of the Physical Education Department at George Watson's College will begin on site in July. As well as a new gym, changing facilities and circulation space, the project includes the removal of the existing roof structure to the swimming pool and the construction of a new roof to provide improved sightlines for those charged with supervising the pool users. This phase of the redevelopment of the PE Department is the second collaboration between Smith Scott Mullan Architects and the Practice and follows the successful delivery of a new state-of-the-art sports hall for the college in 2008.
The Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop is one of our longer running projects. With the final financial hurdles close to being overcome we are hopeful that this new three-storey steel framed building will begin on site in August. Designed by Sutherland Hussey Architects, the building will provide workshop facilities and studios for artists and sculptors. The building will be constructed on a former railway goods yard in Hawthornvale, adjacent to ESW's current studio.
On a smaller scale, we have been collaborating with Ewan Cameron Architects on the design of a guest pavilion within the grounds of Capel Manor, near Tunbridge Wells in Kent. The original manor house (now demolished) was once owned by Jane Austen's Grandfather and was replaced in 1969 by a new steel and glass structure. The new guest pavilion has a 'green roof' that is supported on two concrete spine walls and cantilevers some 7m over the main living accommodation. This project is also due to start on site in August.
Cottbus University site visit to RME
On 31st May Ben Adam, Steve Wood, Colin Eastwood and Sandra Mattick showed students from the Engineering Department of Cottbus University in Germany around the Royal Museum Project site. Ben gave a presentation on the background of the project and the engineering interventions and Colin conducted the walk round. The main structural works are now complete and M&E works are ongoing, along with the architectural finishing works. The glazing for the scenic lift shafts in the Grand Gallery has started along with the steelwork for the exhibition 'Menu Wall', which will be the main focus for the display of objects and orientation in the Grand Gallery.
Other Awards
At the Scottish Design Awards The Composting Shed at Inverleith Terrace with Groves-Raines Architects won two awards for Chairman's Award for Architecture and for Low Cost Project. The Old School House Logie owned by the National Trust for Scotland, has won the award for Building Conservation RICS Scotland 2010 in addition to a Europa Nostra Award for conservation in 2009. At the Scottish Home Awards 2010 33 Circus Lane with WT Architecture won two awards, the Architectural Excellence Award and Conversion of the Year.
