Marco Biagi MSP, minister for local government and community empowerment, visited Gorebridge Community Development Trust in August. It was a valuable meeting and gave us the opportunity to quiz him about the Scottish government’s Community Empowerment Bill and also to share some of our frustrations regarding our new community hub. We explained the problems we have had […]
Planning permission has been approved for two separate, new, four-bedroomed houses designed by Halvorsen Architects in rural Midlothian. They are both in the beautiful area around Crichton Castle, with one actually overlooking the ruined keep. Midlothian Council was concerned about the impact the houses might have on this area of outstanding natural beauty, so great
Here are a couple of recent extensions to sandstone Georgian houses in Midlothian, both using a timber frame, timber cladding and large areas of glass. Both use Siberian Larch as the external cladding, but in different arrangements to suit each particular building. Siberian Larch is a popular cladding material with architects because of its durability, cost
Last year a colleague asked me to join her in designing an installation that represents DNA and it’s unchecked mutations that can lead to cancer. She is a poet and wanted a sculpture related to her poetry and also a place where one could listen to the poetry. Excited by this interesting proposal I met
This is an article that I wrote that appeared in the latest issue (No. 36) of AHSS – The Magazine of the Architectural Heritage of Scotland. I was asked to write an article that covered the history and architecture of hutting presumably in the wake of the recent change in planning laws to define a
Work has started on the new £2m Community Hub in Gorebridge, Midlothian! After six years of brain storming, planning, consultations and negotiations with all the stakeholders we have finally arrived. There have been many set backs along the way mainly due to timing. We embarked on our, possibly over ambitious, project early in 2008 when
Some of you may be familiar with the work of renowned Scottish modernists Morris and Steedman. We were contacted by the new owners of their 1959 Sillitto House in Charterhall Road, Edinburgh, dubbed the ‘Upside-Down House’ because the bedrooms were placed on the ground floor and the living accommodation on the first floor to take
It is Spring, or so we are told. I have had the best skiing in Scotland for a long time. Who needs the Alps. I have just returned from visiting Wooploft with two of my children to see how it fared in the Winter. Wooploft is the ‘den’ that we made with my son’s primary
One of the highlights of last year for me was working with P7 pupils from Tynewater Primary School on a community project to build a wooden ‘hut’ which cantilevers over the banks of Allan Water at Wooplaw Wood. More about this in a later blog. Another event worthy of celebration was completing the funding package
Edinburgh Chartered Architects Network (ECAN), the largest network of small architectural practices in Scotland, held an exhibition at the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) to celebrate its tenth anniversary. The exhibition was held at RIAS in Rutland Square in October to celebrate the group’s achievements over the previous decade and incorporated a selection
Youde Aviary, Hong Kong 1991 client Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club engineer Ove Arup & Partners landscape architects Wong Tung and Partners contract value £2.05 million area 5,000 sq m Ove Arup & Partners was asked to design the enclosure for a large walk-through aviary in Hong Kong Park, Hong Kong Central. Gail Halvorsen, who
