BUILDING SCOTLAND

A CAUTIONARY GUIDE BY

ALAN REIACH AND ROBERT HURD

' FOREWORD by the Rt. Hon .Thomas Johnston, M.P., Secretary of State for Scotland

St. Andrew's House, Edinburgh.I.

John Rusk in 's contention that the architecture o'f a nation is the expression o'f its life and character may have der ived (though I know not that he ever said so) from the Book o Common Prayer . There, in that book, the sacrament is described as 'the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace,' and no doubt but that, subject to many qualifications of one kind or another , mostly economic-the prevail- ing taste of a people will be reflected in its build- ings and monuments.

This Saltire Society Book makes a strong pictorial

appeal to us to plan and design our post-war Scotland nobly and bravely, not 'for utility only, but for utility plus beauty; and that appeal I most heartily endorse. The social conditions and the habits of mind that gave us the black, bee-hive shaped chimney- less dwellings in the Highlands: the terrible squalor rows in the mining districts: or the foetid wynds in the cities of Scotland , which Chadwick, the sani- tarian, said were the worst slums in Europe--these lie behind us , gone for ever. And in this beautiful land of ours, the free people who inhabit it, and who have paid such a high price for their freedom, will, in the better days that are to be, surely insist that the architecture o'f their buildings, public and private, shall be worthy o'f them.

AUTHORS' PREFACE to the Second Edition of Building Scotland

The point of this book is to introduce you to the pleasures and

pains of ancient and modern forms of Scottish architecture : and in so doing to indicate that, to be a good citizen in an age of recon- struction, every man, woman and child should learn to use their eyes and be competent to know a good (or bad) building when they see it.

By means of contrasts and of comparisons with older Scottish buildings and modern architecture from our own and other lands we present our theme to you in the form of an argument in pictures linked by a running commentary.

The warm welcome extended to the first edition has encouraged us to prepare a revised and fuller second edition, amplifying par- ticularly the references to housing and public works.

May 1944.

ALAN Rf.IACH ROBERT HURD

"Mr William, were you ever In this place before " I said No. "Then, sir, you must go and look at Regulus' Tower- no doubt you will have something of an eye of an architect about you-walk up to lt at an angle, advance and recede until you get to see lt at Its proper distance, and come back and tell me whether you ever saw anything so beautiful in building : till I saw that tower and studied it, I thought the beauty of architecture had consiste in curly-wurlies, but now I find it consists in symmetry and proportion." In the following winter Rob Roy was published, and there I read that the Cathedral of Glasgow was "a respectable Gothic structure, without any curly-wurlles."

From Lockhart's Memoi rs of Sir Waiter Scott, Volume Ill

PLOCKTON, ROSS-SHIRE

WHETHER IN VILLAGE,

NEW TOWN, EDINBURGH

... OR TOWN

THE BUILDINGS OF OUR ANCESTORS

HAD A STURDINESS, SIMPLICITY AND

CHARM WELL SUITED TO THE

SCOTTISH SCENE

I. Dunnet Church, Caithness 2. Crail Town House 3. Conon Bridge Hotel

FEW OF US COULD HONESTLY SAY

THE SAME OF THE BUILDINGS OF

MODERN TIMES

I . Newcraighall Ch u rch 2. Lerwick Town Hall 3. Public House, Ed inburgh

DUNDEE HIGH STREET IN 1885

SEE DUNDEE, ...

DUNDEE HIGH STREET IN 1935

... HOW CHANGED IN FIFTY YEARS!

Shortsightedness and desire for quick money allowed our

fathers and grandfathers to build industrial Scotland with-

out dign i ty and without regard for human decencies. In

their haste they turned their backs on the old Scotland

and taught their children to ignore the lessons every

wise man learns from his forbears ; they became pro-

vincial and ceased to cast their eyes and minds abroad

to draw on the valuable experience of men in other lands;

they forgot the importance of a thriving rural life when

they drained the country for cheap labour . No one

troubled about Scotland as a whole-it was a time

of each-man-for-himself.

1885

Fifty years ago we replaced traditional beaut y with dul lness . . .

1887

Head of the West Bow, Ed inburgh

Carrington, Midlothian

We are now faced with the chaos and ugliness they

have created, and which we in our ignorance have been

h elping to perpetuate . even to-day .

Here is a challenge which we meet joyfully. There is a

new Scotland to be built.

Industry can be dignified as well as useful ; flats and

houses , even the smallest bungalow , can be beautiful as

well as convenient ; towns can be spaci ous and pleasant

to live in, villages can be full of life and colour. To be

thriving and full of vigour no countryside need despoil

its own beauty. And now let us look at . . . . . . . . and we are still doing so to-day.

1938 1940

Buildings in town: STREETS

PRINCES STREET, EDINBURGH

Streets for commerce should have dignified unity without dullness.

Bickering shopfronts do not sell goods any more quickly. Princes

Street bickers from end to end, an unseemly commercial brawl.

RUE DE RIVOLI, PARIS

The Rue de Rivoli quietly draws the passer-by to the shops that

lie within its graceful arcade. Which makes for better business?

CHURCHES

Our Churches are legion and of every

persuasion and we dress them in as

many styles. "How dreadful is this

place, this is none other but the

house of God !" has a literal meaning

only too often.

Our ancestors knew better . True

piety is simple and sincere. Did

building ever express purpose more

sincerely than this church from

Caithness ?

Arbroath Dundee

REAY, CAITHNESS

CIVIC BUILDINGS

Our Town Houses and City Chambers

are the outward and visible sign of

the citizens' public spirit. They

house the City's business machine ;

they provide the setting for cere-

monial ; they are the focus of public

life. A medley of columns, domes,

turrets and crowsteps is no guarantee

of dignity , nor can the finest build-

ing look its best in a poor setting.

Stockholm has the build i ng and the

setting.

Paisley Dunfermlin ,.

STOCKHOLM TOWN HALL

COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

if well designed, are lively, practical

and well- mannered. They neither

ignore their neighbours nor elbow

them out on to the street: nor do

they parade in fancy dress.

Where, however, as in the case of

this large shop in London, the adjacent

buildings are bad, dignified originality

arrests attention far better than

strident vulgarity.

Ayr Edinburgh

SHOP, LONDON

INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS

to our grandfathers were something

indecent, to be completely d is-

guised. Here a classic temple,

there a moated keep was deemed

the appropriate fancy dress. Only

recently a noted Edinburgh brewery

"enriched" its new extension with

medieval trimmings.

Let us have an end to this nonsense !

New needs call for new solutions and

new forms arise from these.

Water-tower, Arbroath Miners' Institute, Cowdenbeath

PITHEAD BATHS, LANARKSHIRE

SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES

do not need to be either grim or

pompous. On the contrary they

should be cheerful and inviting-

oases to refresh the mind. In this

Swiss school note the open layout,

abundant lighting and covered play-

space.

School, I rvine Library, Dundee

SCHOOL, SWITZERLAND

HOSPITALS

We go to hospitals to get well.

Dreary, inefficient buildings retard

recovery, depressing the patient and

hindering the nurse.

Lightness, freshness and good

planning on an open site are

minimum needs.

Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh

HOSPITAL, CZECHOSLOVAKIA

BUILDINGS FOR RECREATION

can be cheerful without being garish;

but our road houses and swimming

pools are often crude and ill-planned.

This example from Czechoslovakia,

in country that might well be Scot-

tish, is however no blemish on the

countryside, but a building informally

attractive for its purpose and worthy

of its setting.

Portobello Niddrie

RECREATION CENTRE, CZECHOSLOVAKIA

TRANSPORT BUILDINGS Our stations and garages are

no cause for pride. How

ludicrous and sordid is this

station at Dundee and how

fatuous that fruit-laden garage

in Edinburgh !

Station, Dundee

Garage, Edinburgh

This is an age of movement.

Transport needs clear plan-

ning. modern construction,

clean I ines and plenty of

light.

LONDON UNDERGROUND STATION

BUS GARAGE, STOCKHOLM

STREET FURNITURE

Such humble things as these can

make or mar a street. The lamp

standards, kiosks and fountains in

our towns are usually fussy and

pretentious, unsuited in design for

the simple jobs they have to perform .

As for our public monuments . . . !

Opposite, by way of contrast, Grace

and Fitness are combined.

Anywhere Newcraighall Craigmillar

AMSTERDAM EDINBURGH STUTTGA RT

AND FROM THE TOWN, WE PASS TO

THE COUNTRYSIDE

The Burgh, the village and the isolated farm with its cottages

are three forms of community typical of rural Scotland.

The Burghs, in particular, were once lively centres for the

commerce, schooling and pleasures of the countryside, but the

vitality of all three, and the countryside in general, has been

sapped by the rapid growth of the big towns and cities. Lured

on by the false hope of a better life, the country-dweller has

gone to swell our overcrowded towns.

To bring him back and add to his numbers is a first essential

for a regeneration of Scottish life. Rural workers are badly

housed and the country slum is far too common. Good

country building is not simply city building writ cheap and

small, but has a tradition suited to the working and living

conditions of rural life. Burgh, village and farming com-

munities have as much right to good architecture as city

dwellers.

THE BURGH

THE VILLAGE

THE FARM

I. County Town of Haddington 2. Skirling Village 3. A Galloway Farm

Careful, not merely symmetrical

grouping, a nice balance of wall

and window spacing, the slope of

roof, the texture of materials,

simplicity and cheerfulness of

colour- these are some of the

points to be noted in the

buildings of the older burghs

and villages.

Three views in Gifford

The homely virtues of good harl-

ing, whitewash, Scottish slate and

red pantiles rebuke the squalor,

vulgarity and trashy "smartness''

of much building that has re-

cently sprung up.

I. Roadside Garage 2. Mining Village 3. Public House

THE SMALL BURGH

During the next generation, Scots people intend to make a

sustained effort to secure a better and more healthy distribu-

tion of industry and population, and thereby will new vitality

be brought to the smaller burghs and possibly new burghs

be created. Before we fell from grace during the nineteenth

INVERARAY

century of ever-glorious commercial memory, we had no

difficulty in creating towns, homely and spacious, as lnveraray,

Grantown-on-Spey, Elgin, Kirkcudbright or parts of Perth-let

alone Aberdeen and the New .Town of Edinburgh .

Generally speaking, however, we have failed to maintain these

standards. Not only ribbon development and dreich housing

on the outskirts, but ill-mannered shops and cinemas and

neglected old buildings at the centre, have shattered the plan-

ning and pleasant character of these burghs .

Signs of renewed grace have not been wanting from Rosyth,

Kincorth and the plans for a new Clydebank-but good town-

planning can only speak audibly through the mouthpiece of

good architecture.

Unfortunately local authorities rarely obtain the best advice

on design, either for their own building or the control of other

peoples'. Love of good traditions should combine with desire

for experiment; and it may stretch the mind to glance at the

kinds of new building being erected in the small towns of other

countries . .... .

I. Shop, Sweden 2. Factory,

Switzerland

3. Railway Station,

U S.h

School, Zurich, Switzerland

Possibly these examples may suggest solutions for Scottish

problems ; but, whether or not this is so, they indicate a

fresh approach both as regards social outlook and design

and are therefore worth careful study. If the ability of the

twentieth-century architect to tackle modern problems is still

in doubt, turn over, and take ...

Library, Waukesha, Wis., U.S.A. Church, Apelvikan, Stockholm

Factory, Detroit, U.S.A,

... COURAGE I

I magi native design

based on cou rageous

thinking out of

problems is apt

to produce unusual

results that make

one catch

one's breath.

Here, at any

rate, are three

superbly bold and

sincere examples of

modern architecture.

We, too, shall have

to build Exhibition

Halls, Factories, and,

alas, Sanatoria .

will they be as

well lit and logically

constructed as the

Detroit factory, or

as inspiring and

practical, medically,

as this Finnish

Sanatorium?

SANATORIUM, PAIMIO, FINLAND

HOUSING

Bad housing creates bad citizens, it breeds ill health and

warped minds. Much Scottish housing is bad, and where

not bad, is overcrowded.

Before we start to build - it may be part of a new

satellite town or the extension of an old burgh -we

plan the site ; but let it first be carefully chosen and

spaciously laid out. We may build flats, which are

economical in land and upkeep, or we may build small

houses each with its own garden. If we bu i Id flats, let

us learn from the experience both of our forefathers who

built them long ago, and of those abroad whose modern

experiments hold many lessons for us to-day. lf we

build houses let us group them pleasantly off main roads

designing them as whole streets according to Scots

tradition, rather than as separate houses.

But whatever we build, let us use materials that har-

monise with themselves and their surroundings, and

colours that are cheerful. White suits the house as

well as the byre, and the law does not compel every

respectable man to paint his front door a dingy aspi-

distra green. Above all let us break away from the rut

of dreich monotony and mediocrity.

WHETHER IN TOWN,

OR COUNTRY,

I. Kirkcudbright 2. Fife

3 K irkcudbrrsht

outn

THE HOUSES OF OUR ANCES-

TORS WERE WELL DESIGNED,

SIMPLE AND UNASSUMING ...

I. lnveraray 2. Eyem

----- ------------------ -====------ ----- =======-----------

CAN WE HONESTLY SAY

THE SAME OF THE HOUSES

OF RECENT YEARS?

I. Tenements

2. Miners' Housing 3. Bungalows

HOUSING DESIGN

THE VIRTUES OF GOOD GROUPING

Eagles ham

In the reaction from the flatted tenement of the congested slums, the value of the single house set in its private garden, repeated ad nauseam, has been exaggerated. Houses grouped together in ''terraces,'' however, have the advantages of privacy and garden space, and as well are cheaper to build, easier to maintain and heat, and lend themselves more readily to good street design. The traditional use of the "terrace" in Scotland was based on common sense.

Eaglesham Eaglesham

STANDARDISATION

By bringing well-designed houses, equipment and furniture, within the reach of all, standardisation can prove a blessing. Given intelligent use of materials and .colour, it need not spell monotony, as these examples of similar old houses from Banff and Cramond show. To-day, the Swiss have realised that large, standard domestic units can be grouped with pleasant effect. Indeed standardisation properly applied can be the open sesame to good living conditions, and we should not be frightened of it.

I. Banff

2. Cra.mond 3. Zurich

3

TRADITION

IN DENMARK

1640

Fishermen's Housing Scheme, Copenhagen

Students' Hostel, Aarhus University

IN SCOTLAND

Tradition is the pool of a

nation's continuous experi-

ence, from which we can

draw both inspiration and

warning. Slavish copying of

period styles in buildings.

for modern needs produces

Cromarty, 18th century house

1940

dreary archaisms, but

plan, form, proportion

and colour of building in

one country differ from

those in another, and

it wou Id be fool ish to

ignore the social, physicial

and psychological reasons

behind these national

differences. The

pioneer architect Charles

Rennie Mackintosh,

whose influ- ence on

modern European design

was considerable, himself

drew inspiration direct

from basic Scottish

traditions . . . but he

was a prophet in his own

country.

I. Windyhill, Kilmacolm (C. R. Mackintosh, /901)

2. Gifford, East Lothian.

3. Wemyss, Fife. 3

FLATS

The flat has existed in the Scottish burgh since the sixteenth century when many dwellings were re- quired in the small space enclosed by burgh walls. Flats are needed to-day- but not in the form of grim tenements- to make possible the provision of a large number of good homes near work, along with spacious g a r d e n s. T h e s e bachelor and family flats in Stockholm and Copenhagen point the way for the reconstruction of congested central areas in our own towns.

I , Single persons' flats, Stockholm

2. Flats, Stockholm

3. Flats, Copenhagen

3

HOUSES r-

Greenbelt, Maryland, U.S.A.

Where more ground is available, however, the terraced or single house,

each with its garden (without railings !) and set back from the road, is

preferable for family life. And the Swedish cottage shows, incidentally, how neat and pleasant a prefabricated house can be.

Switzerland Stockholm

PUBLIC WORKS

To aid Highland and rural recon- struction, extensive

Hydro- Electric developments are being planned. If architects and engineers work together as a team from the

start, as they do under the Tennessee Valley Authority,

NORRIS DAM, TENNESSEE

a n d as

they did in

the design

of o u r

West High-

land road b

r i d g e s,

the dams,

power-

houses and

transformer

stations can

not only

" preserve

amenity,"

but by honest and

Power Station, Hammarforsen. Sweden sensitive treatment,

can create new and vital beauty in the Highland I an dscape.

Dam, Stuttgart

Transformer Station Brislach, Switzerland

BRIDGES

Scottish tradition in

bridge design has

been remarkable,

from the mediaeval

bridge at Stirling

through the grace of

the eighteenth and

early nineteenth cen-

turies to the Forth

Bridge and West

Highland road

bridges of modern

days. In contrast to

the frankly modern

Whitestone and

Rossgruben Bridges,

lnvermoriston shows

the Scottish ten-

dency to combine

modern construction

with traditional

appearance.

I. Stirling Bridge 2. Ashiestiel 3. Craigellachie (Telford)

I. Whitestone Bridge, N.Y.C. (1940)

2. lnvermoriston

Bridge, Inverness- shire (1933)

3. Rossgruben Bridge, Switzerland ( 1930)

To secure better distribution of industry and population our road

system will need radical overhaul and extension. The design of bridges

in particular will require sincere and careful handling of form and

material, to meet the heavy demands of modern traffic and add to

rural beauty.

2 3

Here then is Scotland,- the land of promise, a

great heritage. While we dwell on our good

traditions we must press forward to plan and

build for modern life in all its rich variety.

But let us always remember the beauty of the

land God gave to us, and build worthily for the

future.

Crawford Hills. Lanarkshire

In addition to those named in the book, the following photographs have been included :-

Front cover: Crail, Fife. Title page : lnvergarry Ch rch. Back cover : Edinburgh Castle and

Bo'ness.

Show Piece

THE TWO SCOTLANDS Skeleton in the Cupboard