Building with Scottish Stone
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Building with Scottish Stone • SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE Principal Supporters of the publication of Building with Scottish Stone: SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE Scottish Building Standards Agency www.sbsa.gov.uk Scottish Executive Architecture Policy Unit SCOTTISH BUILDING STANDARDS AGENCY www.scottisharchitedure.com Scottish Executive Planning Division www.scotland.gov.uklplanning Additional Financial Support for the publication of Building with Scottish Stone was also generously contributed by the iE following companies, organisations and Scot t ish Ln tl·'·pri .... t ABERDEEN public agencies: Grampi.1I1 CITY COUNCIL Scottish Enterprise Grampian Aberdeen City Council IWATSONII Angus Council STONECRAFT The Highland Council Fyfe Glenrock KIRK NATURAL STONE Hutton Stone Co Ltd Kirk Natural Stone Moray Stone Cutters Watson Stonecraft The following organisations contributed to the content and production of Building with British Geological Survey HISTORIC . SCOTLAND Scottish Stone: ~ =1135 NATURAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH COUNCIL British Geological Survey BRE Historic Scotland Natural Stone Institute Robert Gordon University THE ROBERT GORDON Simpson & Brown Architects UNIVERSITY SSLG II Stone Federation Great Britain NSI Simpson & Brown Architects Natural Stone Institute Introducing Stone Scotia's Stone, Peter Wilson 02 A Modern Material, Peter Wilson 04 Building with Scottish Stone History of Stone What is Stone, Andrew A McMillan & Ewan K Hyslop 07 Land of Stone, Andrew A McMillan & Ewan K Hyslop 09 Case Study: Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh 16 Case Study: The Queen's Gallery, Holyrood, Edinburgh 17 Case Study: Scottish Parliament Building, Edinburgh 18 A History of Scotland's Masonry Construction 19 Editor Peter Wilson Ingval Maxwell Design Case Study: Arbroath Abbey Visitor Centre Building 30 Alan Mairs Project Management Sarah Bailey, Natural Stone Institute Working with Stone Published by Quarying and Processing of Natural Stone, Alex Stark 31 arcamedia Best Practice in the Use of Stone, Andy Davey 37 8 Campbell's Close Edinburgh EH8 8JJ Case Study: Scottish Seabird Centre, North Berwick 40 Telephone The Four D's of Stone, Maureen Young 41 0131 5567963 Email Case Study: 27 Whittinghame Drive, Glasgow 47 [email protected] Case Study: Castle Extension, Couston, Fife 48 Website www.arcamedia.co.uk Printed by Building with Stone Keyline Sustainability and Whole Life Costing for Stone 49 © Crown Copyright 2005 Tim Yates & Kathryn Bourke Front Cover Scottish Seabird Centre North Berwick Case Study: Nethermill House 53 Architect Auchterless, Aberdeenshire Simpson & Brown Architects Stone as a Cladding Material, Peter Wilson 54 Photograph Keith Hunter Testing of Stone, Peter Wilson 56 ISBN 1-904320-02-3 Case Study: Auchnaguie, by Dunkeld, Perthshire 58 rights reserved. No part of this publication be reproduced, stored in a retrieval or transm itted in any form by any electronic, mechanical. photocopying, Resources or otherwise without th e prior written of the publisher and copyright owner. of this publication are believed to Book Reviews 59 at the time of printing. Nevertheless, and editors can accept no Essential References 62 Iresp'lnsibillity for errors or omissions, changes in or any expense or loss thereby caused. Organisations 64 Building with Scottish Stone 11 Scotia's Stone Peter Wilson Manifesto Centre for Architectural Research, Napier University The past few years have witnessed a renaissance in the use of stone in the construction of new buildings in Scotland, and with it has come demands for more up-to date information on the various stone types available from local sources and the properties of each. This reawakened interest has been stimulated in part by environmental concerns and the embodied energy used to transport construction materials from around the globe, but it has arguably also been a response to the re-emerging sense of nationhood that has accompanied the devolution of aspects of government to Edinburgh. Along with the latter has come a rethinking of those elements that for centuries have characterised national and regional identity, with the importance - and potential - of traditional materials undergoing a critical re-evaluation. For most architects, this process is creative rather than nostalgic, but there is increasing recognition that there is much to learn from our past on the best ways to use the natural resource from our quarries. True, there are far fewer of these working today (around ten) than at the peak of stone construction 150 years ago (over 750), but the reopening of Cullaloe quarry in Fife in 2004 may well be regarded in the future as the turning point for an industry so umbilically linked to Scotland's built heritage. The Museum of Scotland, the Scottish Parliament and the Weston Link at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh all attest to the potential for use of indigenous stone in major architectural projects, but throughout the country many other fine examples of the use of stone on new buildings continue to emerge and their completion has put a very positive spotlight on the quality and distinctiveness of the materials available from different areas. Of course stone is not a renewable resource, but aside from life cycle calculations which can make its use more compelling, there are several important issues to consider when specifying stone from Scotland's quarries as opposed to material imported from overseas (although the long tradition which continues to this day of using stone from England and slate from Wales should be noted). There is an appreciation here of the ways in which indigenous stone responds to local environmental conditions and long experience of working with the material; it is easier to 2 I Building with Scottish Stone monitor the quality of what is quarried and delivered and it is usually possible to obtain proven replacement stone for maintenance and repairs; and the energy employed in quarrying, processing and delivery is less than with stones obtained from abroad. Scotland's quarries are also Significant employers in what are usually rural areas, and - against a rising tide of imported materials - the stone produced in these locations has a positive economic value to the UK. All of these reasons would be of no consequence were it not for the fact that Scotland produces some of the world's finest natural building stones. The purpose of this publication is to remind architects, contractors, developers, planners and politicians of this fact, and to encourage more use of locally-sourced material. As with other skills, building with stone requires knowledge of the resource, an understanding of how best to design with it and - most important of all - regular practice in directly working with it. The increase in construction with stone Above is not a phenomenon exclusive to The colour and texture of the indigenous stone structure of Scotland, however, and speCifiers need Castle Urquhart in Inverness-shire is echoed on the far;ade of the adjacent visitor centre by LDN Architects. to be aware of the plethora of new European standards covering the use of Opposite above this rich and varied material. There are In a symbolic reference to the architectural history of Scotland, many challenges ahead, but the stone stones from around the country are set into the concrete wall of the Parliament bUilding. industry in Scotland is increasingly well positioned to respond to the new OppOSite below demands being placed upon it. This The arrival of devolved government focused attention on publication is an important step in Scottish culture and traditions. The Stone Circle by artist George reminding us all of the excitement and Wylie brings together stones from every part of Scotland on a site overlooking the Parliament building. A valuable reference pleasure to be had from building with source for anyone interested in the use of Scottish stone. Scottish stone. Building with Scottish Stone I 3 A Modern Material Peter Wilson Manifesto Centre for Architectural Research, Napier University For thousands of years the construction of stone buildings As a consequence, for a large part of the architectural has been characterised by the gravitational methods profession today the ability to design with stone is employed: stone laid upon stone, the weight of each bearing something of a forgotten art, rarely featuring in the onto those immediately below, with arches, lintels and cills curriculum of schools of architecture and specified mainly distributing the structural forces around openings. In this by practitioners involved in the design of commercial tradition, walls were the primary loadbearing structural buildings. Primarily employed in these situations as an element, with piers, columns and buttresses of the same external, non-structural cladding material, a stone's final material emerging over the centuries as man sought to selection is invariably based upon availability, cost, colour, extend the architectural possibilities of stone construction. texture and - fashion. Pressure from planners to match Increasingly sophisticated methods and materials for joining adjacent properties is sometimes a factor, but the sheer stones developed and the design of building fa~ades began distance between quarry source and the final application as to be considered separately from the construction of the well as a diminished understanding of detailing appropriate load bearing rubble walls behind. A distinction between form to local environmental conditions has too often produced and function had begun to emerge.