Royal
Incorporation of
Architects in
Scotland

Change occurs within the lifetime of any building. The extent of the change, whether subtle or dramatic, is usually a response to the pressures imposed on it. These pressures can take the form of fashion, or economic, industrial or political upheaval. Add to this the individual requirements of the client, and the design ideas of the architect, and it becomes clear how this complex web of connections results in the evolution of the architectural history of a building or place.

This exhibition, Changing Buildings : Changing Times, uses examples of work from four of the practices represented in the Scottish Architects' Papers Preservation Project to illustrate the individual responses to change employed by architects over time. The material covers the late 19th to the late 20th centuries, a period that saw the conception of independent architectural heritage bodies such as the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in 1887 through to the Scottish Georgian Society in 1956, when attitudes to the built heritage were changing. The projects selected show many different building types are subject to these changes, including religious, memorial, domestic, secular and industrial.

The earliest practice represented, that of Sydney Mitchell and Wilson, tackled a range of projects including country houses, churches, schools and, most notably, banks and hospitals in the period 1880s-1920s. The architectural style used by the practice was usually dictated by the function of the building: Scots Baronial for country houses: the early Gothic of Crichton Memorial Church; and free Renaissance for the asyla. Their approach to the earlier structures with which they engaged ranged from simple adaptation to adventurous intervention.

Sir Robert Lorimer (1864-1929) combined a traditionalist attitude with a desire to create an architecture for the new middle class, resulting in the development of a strong personal style. Lorimer imposed his own interpretation of tradition and continuity on existing structures, moulding past and present.

Ian G Linsday (1906-1966) marked a step towards more current conservation attitudes with his work on improvement schemes and reconstruction of burgh housing in Fife and Argyll. Lindsay's realistic and low key approach to adapting buildings to modern standards reflected his recognition of the importance of the built fabric as a whole, he believed that 'to be careless about a building is to be careless about our civilisation'. Lindsay played an important role in establishing the listing system that continues to manage the pressures on the built environment today.

In contrast to Ian Linsday's conservation approach, his contemporary Alan Reaich (1910 - 1992) was a strong promoter of the modern architecture. Reaich saw the value of tradition but was keen to weave this with his own vision of a modern Scotland. As a member of the Princes Street Panel, in the 1960s, Reaich was in a position to influence the appearance of Edinburgh's Princes Street.

It is east to lose sight of the fact that much of what exists today in Scotland's built fabric is merely the most recent stage in an evolution from the original structure. Change is inevitable: architecture is a living history. Architects' have always been faced with the challenge of adapting and extending historic buildings; it is their attitudes and reactions to this task that continue to change.

Click on the 4 images on the left to access each exhibition. The exhibitions show a small selection of the photographs and drawings which can be consulted in the public search room from Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 4:30pm. Prints of all images can be obtained by contacting RCAHMS directly at info@rcahms.gov.uk quoting the name of the site or building, the SC number, the size and nature of each image required. A price list of services for photographs, digital images and other copies can be found under the price list page.