Barnton Quarry 27 Sean Kinnear

26 BARNTON QUARRY 27 SEAN KINNEAR CURRENT GEOPOLITICAL RUPTURES HAVE INSPIRED URBAN REALM TO INDULGE IN A SPOT OF MILITARY ARCHAEOLOGY, SENDING ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE SEAN KINNEAR DEEP DOWN TO THE DUSTY DEPTHS OF BARNTON QUARRY. ONCE A ‘REGIONAL SEAT OF GOVERNMENT’ IN WAITING FOR A POST-APOCALYPTIC SCOTLAND IT IS IN PROCESS OF BEING REBORN AS A COLD WAR MUSEUM. URBAN REALM SUMMER 2017 URBANREALM.COM 28 BARNTON QUARRY 29 Left - Cold War politicians could be said to have duct the issue Right - There is plenty to stop and stair at in Barnton As diplomatic tensions regularly approach boiling point, news the Regional Seat of Government in Warren Row, Berkshire and headlines continue to report on North Korean missile tests, leaked the classifi ed network to the press. In its latter years, an ongoing debate over Trident and the RAF scrambling to under Ministry of Works control, it operated as the ‘Scottish intercept the occasional Russian bomber teasing the fringes of Central Emergency Government HQ’ until 1983 before being UK airspace. fi nally decommissioned and handed to Lothian Council in All the while, a small but dedicated team work 60ft below 1984. The site was purchased by a developer and lay empty ground at Barnton Quarry in Edinburgh, restoring a disused for years, becoming a hot spot for urban exploration, vandals ex-government bunker. The three- storey facility buried below and thieves. In 1993 a fi re ripped through the facility causing the quarry is a left-over relic from the Cold War, but it intends damage to some of the internal areas. to open its doors once again in 2019 as an interactive museum During the Cold War period both sides of the Iron Curtain and educational hub with dedicated spaces for touring explored this archaic form of architecture and constructed exhibitions. underground fallout shelters in preparation for a nuclear Barnton Quarry, once the ‘Regional Seat of Government’ attack. Switzerland still maintains a civil defence law stating for Scotland in the event of a nuclear attack, has operated in all inhabitants must have access to a fallout shelter; a practice a variety of roles dating back to its use by fi ghter command continued to this day with underground bunkers constructed to during the Second World War. The subterranean installation accompany new buildings across the country. was constructed between 1954 - 56 to act as the ‘Sector In Britain, most government bunkers were constructed Operations Centre’ for Scotland. Initially the facility was tasked during the early 1950’s until the early 1990’s. Cultybraggan in with monitoring and plotting potential Russian bombing Perthshire and Ballymena in Northern Ireland were amongst raids by collating the vast information received from an two of the more modern examples built. The bunker at extensive radar network across the country. As the Cold War Barnton Quarry is type ‘R4’ that originates from the ROTOR era evolved developments in technology and weaponry saw programme. The construction initiative led by the Ministry of the emergency plans for Scotland in a state of constant fl ux, Air appointed Mott Hay & Anderson as the design consultant, subsequently changing the status of the bunker to ‘Air Defence the civil engineering fi rm specialised in tunnel and road Notifi cation Centre North’ through to 1958. It remained secret solutions within Britain and were involved in the London deep until 1963 when a group known as ‘Spies for Peace’ broke into level shelters during the Blitz. The scheme created a network of > URBAN REALM SUMMER 2017 URBANREALM.COM 30 BARNTON QUARRY 31 modular facilities prefi xed with the letter ‘R’. These structures were crucial in re-establishing an updated air defence strategy for the nation, one that needed to cope with the modern threats posed in the Atomic Age. The modular underground bunkers were constructed using the ‘cut and cover’ technique, where a large hole was excavated to suit the facility type size requirements. This was then lined with a course gravel substrate to account for movement and drainage, a reinforced concrete slab was poured on top, then a layer of waterproofi ng membrane before a secondary concrete slab was laid. At Barnton Quarry the external walls were also reinforced concrete, up to 3 metres deep with a coat of bitumen paint for waterproofi ng. The roof, concrete cast in steel troughs was capped with a fi nal top mound of soil that blended with the surrounding landscape and removed any trace of what lay beneath. Interior dividing walls were a mix of brick and timber frames, lined with cork, clad with boarding and fi nished with paint. Access to the tunnel was via the single-story structure used by fi ghter command at the quarry level. Other subterranean facilities around the country were accessed through unsuspicious surface buildings that resembled the local vernacular to detract any attention from eyes above. Declassifi ed fi les in the National Records of Scotland detail the scientifi c advisor’s branch of the Home O ce civil defence department believed the R4 bunker would be strong enough Left - Restorers face an uphill challenge Right - Nuclear bombs may not have taken their toll but time has to survive the scenario of a 3 or 10 megaton bomb, ground or air burst in the centre of Edinburgh. Reports alluding to battle commander observed the incoming data from the upper In a meticulous e ort to faithfully restore the Sector of recoated in paint that has been colour matched to the original attenuation factors of concrete walls and blast proof doors o ces that enclosed the edges of the information hub. The Operations as far as modern building standards and regulations MOD colour palette. designed to withstand peak overpressures, demonstrates remaining rooms throughout were occupied by cellular o ces, will allow, the team are consulting old photographs, drawings, Mechanical and communications equipment that has that the subterranean structure would be “virtually unscathed sta support facilities and the impressive plant equipment that archive fi les and eye witness accounts to piece together the been stripped of its precious metal components and copper from such an attack” – (Crown copyright, National Records of exists on the bottom level. Fortunately, the plant room is one fragments of the R4 plan before it was converted to suit the wiring for scrap has prompted the team to utilise a nationwide Scotland, HH51/260) of the better-preserved spaces, whilst standing next to the air Regional Seat of Government requirements in the early 1960’s. bunker network of likeminded enthusiasts to procure authentic I vividly recall my fi rst experience of visiting ‘Scotland’s conditioning and fi ltration units, you begin to appreciate the “God is in the details” as famously quoted by Mies van der replacements. Light switches, signage and fi ttings are slowly Secret Bunker’ in my early schooldays; relatively soon after scale of engineering and ingenuity behind the maintenance of Rohe, aligns perfectly with the team’s ambitions of retaining the being sourced from other bunkers and auctions around the the Cold War ended. This awe-inspiring piece of history left a this underground living environment. authenticity of the bunker’s holistic appearance. Observing the country to be installed. permanent impression, the journey through the subterranean Floors have been largely cleared of debris accumulated process of how they carefully stockpile materials and artefacts With the fall of communism in the early 1990’s the spaces inspired a fascination I possessed for years. Eventually from the fi re, vandalism and years of fl y-tipping. The interiors that can be salvaged and sieve through the rubble for clues that government took the decision to slowly phase out the bunker I had the opportunity to explore this further with my master’s have been stripped back to the bunker’s monolithic carcass. tell the story of the bunker’s past, is a testament to the team’s programme due to a reducing risk of nuclear war. Most of the thesis during my fi nal year of architecture school. However, The brutalist infl uence is evident throughout, where tactile respect for its history. In carrying out the restoration utilising MOD underground bunkers have since been sold on the open it wasn’t until after graduating that I stumbled across this reinforced concrete walls and columns still bear the marks of the volunteer workforce a commendable level of attentiveness market for private use, have been transformed into public restoration project, reigniting these nostalgic memories. their timber shuttering. Accompanied with the exposed roof is achieved. With each layer stripped from a surface another museums like ‘Scotland’s Secret Bunker’ at Anstruther or have As the visitor descends the long access tunnel natural troughs there is a clear reference to the 1950’s movement in piece of history reveals itself. Old construction techniques have sadly been demolished. daylight decreases with every footstep. At the bottom of the post-war British architecture, you can’t help but notice subtle left clues that help solve the puzzle and original spaces are Historic Scotland have recognised the importance of what slope, a sharp right leads through the threshold of where the similarities with the likes of the National Theatre in London hinted at from impressions left in the concrete screed fl oors. this typology symbolises from a period when heightened blast doors used to be. Here you fi nd yourself at the top of the by Deny’s Lasdun. Exposed services in the form of electrical The phased works see new walls constructed using anxiety was felt globally. Tertowie House nuclear bunker in main stair core; the starting point of the vast warren of rooms conduits mounted to surfaces snake up and over walls and modern day timber stud frames, infi lled with insulation and Aberdeen was granted category B status and Viewmont and corridors.

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