Blog: Bowhouse
Architect – Konishi Gaffney Architects Bowhouse is situated within the Balcaskie Estate, between Elie and St Monans on the East Neuk of Fife. The East Neuk is made up of a string of ancient fishing villages and harbours that are surrounding by adjacent farmland. The main industry of the East Neuk was historically fishing, though this has declined for a number of these harbours, the area is still renowned for the quality of fish and seafood. The East Neuk produces some of the finest raw ingredients because of the wealth of agricultural and rural land. Some of these ingredients include [...]
Blog: Urban Beach | Dundee
The city of Dundee is currently going through a £1billion transformation of the waterfront area. The main focal point and emphasis is the central waterfront encapsulating the V&A, Slessor Gardens and a new ‘urban beach’. The new urban beach will be a dynamic and inclusive civic space that bridges the gap between Slessor Gardens and the River Tay. The proposed waterfront will host the new urban beach, soft/hardscaped areas, water features, and also small pavilions providing the public with basic amenities. The introduction of water will not only encourage wildlife to the centre, but will also add visual and physical fluidity [...]
Blog: Stratheden Hospital | Dementia & Mental Health Unit
2009 Architect - Richard Murphey Architects Richard Murphy Architects’ modern addition to the Stratheden Community Hospital complex in Cupar, Fife provides open, secure and safe space to its residents and workers. The U-shaped plan makes most of the south facing vista. Views out to the beautiful rural Fife landscape are provided in individual bedrooms, and also around communal meeting spaces that are great for visiting families. The circulation space wrapped round the curtain walls of patient spaces including the dining room and lounges together with two enclosed garden spaces. My grandfather lived with dementia in his final few years and spent 4 [...]
Blog: Scottish Oceans Institute
2019 Architect: BMJ Architects The Scottish Oceans Institute is a newly developed and refurbished research facility in St Andrews focussing on marine science. The £16.5 million development is to become a hub for maritime research for both Scotland and the rest of the globe- this building is a testament to Scotland's commitment to our oceans and marine life. The newly refurbished building hosts a multitude of collaborative spaces used for research and teaching alongside the all-important temperature-controlled environments for marine life to thrive and be analysed. This is all located under the roof which symbolises our ocean waves creating a [...]
Blog: V&A Dundee
2018 Architect: Kengo Kuma The Dundee V&A by Kengo Kuma is as eye catching on the external as it is on the internal. The original concept design to be in ship form allows an unique shift in geometries and angles which create the overall shape, with these angles creating opportunities for access to the building and the undercroft beneath. Internally is more visually compelling for its use of overlapping timber which wraps up the walls of the main foyer with small slot windows to give small glimpses of the outside at all areas of the building. One will always wonder [...]
Blog: Kings Stables Road
Architect: Fletcher Joseph Associates Client: Campus DM & Peveril Securities/ Bowmer + Kirkland King Stables Road is sensitive site within a historic quarter of the Old Town Edinburgh. Tucked in below Edinburgh Castle, sitting between Castle Rock and the UofE Lauriston Campus, the development is subject to many contextual factors, to which it responds to well. The mixed use development transforms the somewhat derelict and disused backspace shown in the top photograph into a sociable courtyard bounded by residences of different scales and incomes. The below image taken from the Architect’s website shows the space as a bustling communal thoroughfare [...]
Blog: Maggie Centre
2006 Architect: ZHA – Zaha Hadid Architects The Maggie’s Centre Fife was designed to be a ‘haven’ for cancer patients and also their respective family who can meet, connect and voice their concerns and get the help and guidance they need. The building is a breakaway from the norm with its dynamic design and geometric form. The building sits as a sculpture in the public realm next to the large imposing hospital blocks that tower over the area. Although the building is small in its stature, the building asserts its dominance and importance in the area and the community. The [...]
Blog: Lindores Abbey Distillery
2017 Architect - Organic Architects Lindores Abbey Distillery is the birthplace of Scottish whiskey with the first records of scotch being made here. The custodian of Lindores spent decades researching and planning the return of the distillery to the same grounds where it all started using the same methods as the Tironensian Monks. With the site having a huge archaeological significance to the industry and the area, there was very little one could do on the site in terms of building. During the dig, several walls and medieval pottery dating from the 12th century were uncovered cementing the reason the [...]
Blog: Larick Centre
2020 Architect – Collective Architecture Client – Tayport Community Trust The Larick Centre is a new focal point for Tayport, bringing life and an economic boost to the area. Tayport community trust took ownership of the design process allowing their vision to be built and their local needs met. This community hub really is ‘a building by the community, for the community’. The new Larick Centre has been built on a site with an industrial past and this has been reflected in the building’s overall form and material palette. The scale of the project allows for a building response that [...]
Blog: Laidlaw Music Centre
2020 Architect - Flanagan Lawrence Client - University of St Andrews After meeting a potential client on Queens Terrace I stumbled upon the new St Andrews Music School, now open and the first time I’d seen it since the scaffolding was removed. A handsome building and a new piece of Architecture Fife can be proud of. The quad that has been created in front of the Bute building adds to the public realm and enhances the historic building. The Music school mediates the traditional site and a modern building with the use of stone, in keeping with the location, and [...]
