Architecture

Five Scottish buildings of architectural significance

Featuring work from Gareth Hoskins, Richard Murphy and Nicoll Russell

National Museum of Scotland Gareth Hoskins Architects Completed 2011 Roundly hailed as a triumph, the renovation of the somewhat tired and dark National Museum in Edinburgh saw the opening up of the splendidly light central atrium space and the…

Unearth Glasgow's architectural secrets in autumn 2012 with The Glasgow School of Art

Learn more about Glasgow's Father of Style Charles Rennie Mackintosh through inspiring tours

You might think you know all there is to know about Glasgow’s Father of Style, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, but the launch of The Glasgow School of Art’s intriguing new walking tour based around the architect, artist and designer as well as a festival…

Iconic Edinburgh venue Potterrow given a utopian facelift

Newly refurbished venue will host new club night Club Together

The venerable and iconic Potterrow Dome has undergone a startling refurbishment programme, courtesy of Edinburgh University Students Association (EUSA) and Edinburgh University, which has transformed the old chrome and concrete interior into an indoor…

Explore Scotland's stunning architectural heritage

Castles and iron homesteads just some of Scotland's architectural gems

From castles to UNESCO World Heritage sites, churches and cathedrals to eco-friendly design, Scotland boasts some prolific architectural credentials. For an in-depth education, Scotland’s Centre for Design and Architecture The Lighthousein Glasgow is…

Machines for Living explodes some the myths surrounding British architecture

New architecture-themed physical theatre show at 2012 Edinburgh Fringe

It’s become commonplace to denigrate the Brutalist 1960s tower blocks that now characterise the British urban skyline. But Let Slip, a theatre group formed by graduates from the Jacques Lecoq Theatre School in Paris, are seeking to combat these…

Abandoned Scotland - How derelict historic buildings are being documented

The urban explorers investigating the nation’s forgotten architecture

‘I love it when you see a sign that says “Dangerous Building – Do Not Enter”,’ says Veranique Dron as we walk back down from the hill overlooking Edinburgh’s Barnton Quarry. ‘“Building at risk” – it’s only an invitation.’ From the crest of that hill…

The best Scottish castles you can stay in near Edinburgh

Many Scottish castles are open to residents looking to live like royalty

Voted favourite UK city by Condé Nast Traveller magazine in 2010, and named Britain’s best city for tourists – for the 11th year in a row – in the Guardian and Observer travel awards, you might wonder why anyone would ever want to leave the city that…

A guide to the architecture and design of Edinburgh

Edinburgh’s architecture from medieval tenements to the ultra-modern

Should you happen past Enric Miralles’ Scottish Parliament building at the foot of the Royal Mile and hear raised voices from a group of otherwise peaceful-looking types, don’t be surprised. It’ll just be yet another architectural tour that has…

A guide to Edinburgh's New Town

The largest example of Georgian town planning in the world

Sitting elegantly to the north of Princes Street Gardens is Edinburgh’s grand and leafy New Town, the largest example of Georgian town planning in the world, which provides a well-ordered contrast to the chaos of the city’s medieval Old Town.

The events from Scottish history that shaped the nation's character

Jacobites exhibition reveals source of sentimentality in Scottish psyche

Rebels with a Cause: The Jacobites and the Global Imagination exhibition reveals origin of Scottish character’s tendency for the romantic, mournful and sentimental.

Six architects put forward vision for V & A at Dundee

Steve Holl, REX, Kengo Kuma, Delugan Meissl, Snohetta and Sutherland Hussey images on display

The V & A at Dundee aims to create an iconic building on the city’s waterfront that can house world-class travelling and permanent art and design exhibitions. Six renowned architects – Steve Holl, REX, Kengo Kuma, Delugan Meissl, Snohetta and Sutherland…

(hi)STORY: Viewing the Old Town from Hermione’s window

Art and architecture meet philosophy and psychiatry from Klas Hyllen

Art and architecture meet philosophy and psychiatry in Klas Hyllen’s well-researched body of work, beautifully presented within SCHOP’s small gallery – size is unimportant when the viewer is confronted with complex theories and varying 2D works and…

Active environmentalists in Scotland

Marian MacDonald Chief Executive, Garvald Community Enterprises Ltd, The Engine Shed The Engine Shed is a charitable company that helps young people with learning disabilities learn skills in a real work environment, and supports their move into…

The Garden of Cosmic Speculation

Charles Jencks is the world-renowned architect behind many of Britain's most celebrated land sculptures, including ‘Landform Ueda’ outside Edinburgh's Gallery of Modern Art. Perhaps his most impressive design is the Garden of Cosmic Speculation, created…

Lights go out as Glasgow's Lighthouse closes

Flagship architecture and design centre closes

The Lighthouse remains open for visitors, following the sad news that the institution is now in administration. Sources close to the Lighthouse were keen for the public to keep showing their full support for the building until a decision has been made…

Scottish Arts Council award for St Peter’s Seminary development proposal

The List is delighted to report on NVA’s announcement that they will play a ‘major role’ in plans to save St Peter’s Seminary and Kilmahew Woodlands. The Glasgow based environmental charity will use the £45,600 award fund given to them by the Scottish…

Gareth Hoskins Architects

ARCHITECTURE For years, the temporary architecture exhibits at the Lighthouse always seemed to fall a little flat, too often burdened with fancy interactive displays, with too much insider jargon for the layman and too broad a sweep for the expert.

Peak Practice

'The Lighthouse Architecture Series is a new five-year series celebrating a range of Scottish architectural practices, which have delivered nationally, and now deserve recognition in the international market,' says Leonie Bell, programme director at…

Day of reckoning for Caltongate project

Edinburgh City Council is due to make a decision regarding the controversial £300m Caltongate development at a special meeting on Wednesday 6 February. The project involves demolishing listed buildings in Edinburgh’s Old Town to make room for a hotel…

Gillespie, Kidd and Coia: 1956–1987

ARCHITECTURE The Lighthouse, Glasgow, until Sun 10 Feb It’s always difficult to review an architecture exhibition. Do you focus on the realised buildings or the sketches, blueprints and models on show and the way they are presented? At first…

Sketches of Frank Gehry

Two minutes into this documentary about Frank Gehry, America’s most famous living architect, the director Sydney Pollack (Tootsie, The Interpreter) admits that the documentary was Gehry’s idea. When the architect suggested it to him, Pollack pointed out…