Heritage

Old buildings, original fabric and the stories they retain.

Selected conservation projects, historic-building details and research gathered through my work around Scotland.

Traditional window and exterior wall on a historic building

Approach

Looking closely before intervening

Historic buildings rarely give up their stories all at once. Their materials, alterations, fixing methods and tool marks can reveal how they were originally made and how they have changed over time.

My interest lies in recognising those details, understanding what they tell us and helping ensure that significant historic fabric is treated with care.

Fyvie Castle

Racquets Court and Skittles Alley

As the principal contractor’s project manager, I coordinated the repair and restoration of the Racquets Court and adjoining Skittles Alley at Fyvie Castle.

The work involved traditional masonry, structural repairs, specialist joinery, patent roof glazing and the conservation of the surviving nineteenth-century bowling lane.

Research into the lane’s American manufacture helped identify its sectional construction, timber specification and historic supplier, providing useful evidence before its restoration.

Bannockburn House

North-west gable stabilisation

This project involved the careful stabilisation of historic masonry to the north-west gable of Bannockburn House.

Working with the client, conservation architects, structural engineer, ecologist and experienced masons, the works were delivered in accordance with the agreed conservation and structural requirements.

Research and observation

Reading the evidence

My background in joinery and construction helps me recognise traditional methods, materials and the tools or machinery used to produce them.

That practical knowledge often provides a useful starting point for further research and discussion with architects, archaeologists, engineers and specialist craftspeople.