Blog: RKA Plaque
Etched Brass and Walnut Timber Wall Plaque I was flattered to be commissioned out of work by RKA to make a door plaque for the recently opened Glasgow office. Following a few design reviews with Richard and Chris, making sure I understood what they were after and informing them on what could be achievable at my end, we came to a resolved design for me to produce. Carefully, using the acid etching process I had experimented with on a small custom RKA branded bottle opener, I was able to make the debossed practice logo into the brass, with a unique [...]
Blog: Kölner Dom
It had been 8 years since I had gone back to the city I grew up in; Cologne. Cologne is one of the oldest cities in Germany with a deep Roman History. Going back after so many years, I got to appreciate the city in a different light. Cologne has a wide variety of architecture throughout the city, from Romanesque churches to Brutalist buildings and contemporary crane houses. However, the structure that you will notice first arriving is the cologne cathedral called the ‘Dom’. Throughout most of my childhood the Dom was constantly hidden away by scaffolding, meaning I [...]
Blog: Glasgow School of Art
As you have noticed in our previous blog we have recently opened a new RKA office in Glasgow, in the city centre to be precise. If we talk about Glasgow we cannot overlook the name of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928), and his influence within architecture and art in Scotland, but mainly within the City of Glasgow. His most famous work and that which represents his legacy is The Mackintosh Building, which is part of The Glasgow School of art. In this blog we will address a little of the tragic history of this important building, a hotbed of talent and [...]
Blog: 1.5 Years with RKA
The past 1.5years has seen a fantastic growth in projects and clients, both in scale and number. I picked up a number of residential projects Richard and the current team had established, all at various stages and some of which you might recognise from our RKA blog. For much of that time, we have all worked from home, waiting out COVID19 restrictions with interactions predominantly virtual and online. It was a very interesting hybrid work model that, despite the difficulties of distance, has seen a very a steady growth in our team and work culture. During this period, the St [...]
Blog: Our Lady of Good Counsel
Our Lady of Good Counsel. Dennistoun, Glasgow. Architect: Gillespie Kidd and Coia Completed in 1968 Had you been asked to imagine a category A listed Catholic church, you would’ve been forgiven for imagining images of spires and a crucifix form, with tall stained-glass windows populating the elevations which then allow light to cascade upon a rigorously ordered nave. However, this time you couldn’t be more wrong. Almost bunker-like in its brutalist appearance, Our Lady of Good Counsel lacks almost any architectural characteristics of a church and had it not been for the cross above it’s doors you may not have [...]
Blog: LDN to ST.A
Perhaps one of the only good things to come out of the pandemic is the ability for us all to work remotely opening up the options for where and how we work, much less restrictive on location. I recently relocated back to my home city of Glasgow at the end of 2021 and the opportunities for remote working has allowed me to team up once again with Richard on the opposite side of the country after spending many years working together at Orms. Having lived and worked in London for the past 11 years moving from a 65 strong architectural [...]
Blog: RKA in Glasgow
Moving out of London was such a joy in so many ways but from a business point of view it was a shock. From an established business network in London with everything that goes with that to a smaller business environment in Fife where long established connections exist and the large consultancy group events are much less prevalent was a challenge. Through hard work, investment in marketing, a strong CV and some lucky breaks we’ve been able to make connections and have been fortunate to be appointed on some fabulous projects. However the drive to push the business forward and [...]
Blog: Union Terrace Gardens, Aberdeen.
Architect: Stallan Brand Year Completed: Ongoing Union Terrace Gardens is currently undergoing some major and exciting development works that hope to improve the relationship of the city's main thoroughfare, Union Street, to the sunken garden space. I lived in Aberdeen for 6 years during my Architectural education and a year post education, and in that time there were very few architectural schemes to get overly excited about. With the opening of the refurbished Art Gallery and the various other projects happening nearby (some more successful than others) it is an exciting time for Aberdeen and it's residents. The Union Terrace [...]
