EDITORIAL
NEWSROUND
VIEW FROM THE CHAIR
AN APPRECIATION
View from the Chair
T
Emma Griffiths
National Chairman, AHSS
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he first thing I want to say in
this “from the Chair”
introduction to our splendid
magazine, is a huge thank you to
my predecessor, Peter
Drummond for all of his hard work and
efforts over the last five years. Happily, the
Society will still benefit from Peter’s talents as
he has generously agreed to maintain an
active role in a new sub-committee. Peter will
be serving, with others from different parts of
the country, on the AHSS National
Conservation committee. It’s role is still
undergoing the final stages of fine tuning, but
in essence it will support the regional cases
panels. These panels work tirelessly to protect
the built heritage in Scotland by commenting
on potential threats to them, including
applications to alter or demolish listed
buildings, and applications for conservation
area consents. Commenting on significant
proposed changes to legislation, and other
consultations the Society is invited to submit,
will also fall within the remit of this
committee, to the members of which I am
indebted.
Like Peter, much of my work is with
projects funded by the Heritage Lottery
Fund. My particular angle is learning and
engagement. HLF support projects that
conserve heritage, and they require building
or other types of conservation works to be
carried out to the highest standards.
Alongside rigorous, and correct, practical
conservation requirements, HLF seek
assurance that the conserved heritage they
grant aid will have as secure a future as
possible, to avoid the need for costly rescues
again in future. This is in part dealt with by
documentation specifying how the heritage
(whether a building or a book collection or a
wild wood) will be managed and maintained
in future.
The final dimension in securing the future
of the heritage is to ensure that people know
about it, understand what is important, why
money is being spent to rescue it, and have
chances to get involved. That final “learning
and engagement” requirement often stumps
people who know and care so deeply about
their building, having been highly active in
saving it, applying for grants and so on, for
year after year. I absolutely love dreaming up
ways for people to learn about heritage, and
to get involved. I feel incredibly lucky to
continually be working on projects that have
amazing heritage at their core, and with
dedicated, passionate people who care
deeply about protecting that heritage.
THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND
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SPRING 2014
Charles McKean FRSE FRSA FRHistS FRIAS FRIBA (1946-2013)
At the time of going to press, I am in the
final stages of a project involving a rare survivor
of the London Metropolitan Board of Works
fire station building programme.The 1881
station in South London was designed for
horse drawn appliances, and astonishingly, even
though wider mechanised appliances were
introduced in 1916, necessitating a new
building, the 1881 fire station has retained its
narrow doors and the decorative fenestration
pattern on the front elevation is intact, along
with a distinctive octagonal tower used to dry
hoses.
I’ve also been working on developing a
learning programme for an amazing
photographic collective, who have been
sensitively documenting communities in
Tyneside through film and still photograp hy
for over four decades. ‘The Amber Collective’
operate the Side Gallery and the Side
Cinema in Newcastle, both fascinating spaces
in a wonderful location just below the Tyne
Bridge. Their exhibition programme is
outstanding and a visit is highly
recommended.
I’ll shortly begin a second phase of work
on a building in Inverness, a redundant former
Temperance Hall, for which an imaginative
and creative rescue has been secured.
My current office is adjacent to the AHSS
one at Riddle’s Court, a building in the course
of being rescued by Scotland’s biggest
Building Preservation Trust, Scottish Historic
Buildings Trust. Sharing the spaces, we have
seen at first hand just how much time, energy,
dedication and expertise are needed in so
many fields, to actually rescue buildings. We
wish SHBT every success with the project
and others in future.
Two final thoughts. I am humbled by the
amount of work many members of AHSS put
into the society, from the ceaseless case
work, to attending meetings and arranging
lectures, publications, visits, and tours. Hours
of time and skills are given voluntarily. Please
feel warmly appreciated.
Last word, with so much to be proud of in
our Society, why not recruit a new member?
The Society can only benefit from greater
numbers in our campaign to protect and
celebrate Scotland’s built heritage. A
membership would make a wonderful gift!
You may also want to check that your own
subscriptions are correctly leaving your
account at our current rates, and if you know
of someone who has moved and may have
forgotten to give us a change of address,
perhaps you could gently remind them.
Thank you.
I
t was with the very greatest sadness that, in
early September 2013, the National Council
heard of Charles McKean’s rapidly
deteriorating health and, just a few weeks later, of
his untimely passing. It is a mark of the man that
all of us had a fond word to say for someone
who had been a fixture in Scottish architectural
circles for so long.
Born in Glasgow, Charles McKean was the son
of the civil engineer and proprietor of the family
firm McKean and Co. His early years were spent in
the West before a move to Fettes for secondary
education. After leaving school he spent six months
at the University of Poitiers followed by a BA in
philosophy, English, history and French at the University of
Bristol. After graduation he moved to the RIBA in an everexpanding variety of roles, and then to the RIAS in 1979. There
are few of us who will be unaware of the excellent work he did
there and there was disappointment throughout the profession
when, after 16 years, he was head-hunted by the University of
Dundee. Ultimately he became Professor of Scottish
Architectural History, a role he greatly enjoyed.
I first encountered Charles’ relentless enthusiasm for
architecture 25 years ago when, coinciding with the publication
of 'The Scottish Thirties', he gave a series of typically exuberant
lectures at the University of Strathclyde. Greatly perturbed at
what he rightly identified as the loss of buildings which were
not yet fully appreciated, he saw it as his task to enthuse the
architects of tomorrow with an understanding of their worth.
He was, of course, entirely correct and within a few years we
began to study and protect our 20th century architectural
heritage in a much more focussed way.
Charles was a key member of the heritage movement
throughout his life, more than happy to offer help and advice,
sometimes with a strong dose of timely badgering, to those
who required it. He enjoyed debate, to really examine the
underlying issues, and to look at how we could care for our
historic sites without preserving them in aspic. He stressed
time and time again the need for a forward-looking vision for
our architecture, converting me to his cause on the back of a
fascinating list of projects from Denmark to France by way of
Germany.
The Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland likewise has
good reason to be grateful to Charles. He served on our
national committee during the early 1990s, bringing to bear his
hands-on understanding of architectural importance to the
campaign to protect historic buildings. He was involved in our
1984 publication, 'Scottish Pioneers of the Greek Revival',
regularly contributed to the Journal, wrote pieces for the
magazine, organised a conference on Scottish architects’
papers, and supported our activities across the country. I am
not entirely sure how he found time for so much work while
raising a family, which I can only assume arose from that rare
combination of boundless enthusiasm and a keen
understanding of the subject.
The shelf in my study is awash with architectural books, but
those by Charles – and there are a great many – are better
thumbed than most. His RIAS/Landmark/Rutland
Press guides, the first such series comprehensively
cataloguing our built heritage, provide excellent
illustrations of what has been lost as well as what
still exists. His work on the Scottish Chateau has
pencil notes down the margin on points to
discuss further, whilst sitting alongside are some
of the more eclectic pieces such as 'The Battle
for the North'.
Charles’ enthusiastic architectural opinions,
wide-ranging publications, and helpful advice have
sustained me throughout my career, whether a
lengthy missive or arriving at a lecture with a
series of thought-provoking questions amidst
what I had hitherto and mistakenly thought was a wellrounded case. The AHSS and I will both miss him greatly; we
are all very much the poorer for his untimely departure.
Peter Drummond
Former National Chairman,
Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland
Composed by Sebastian Tombs, this is an extract of a poem
recited from the minstrels’ gallery at Balgonie Castle in
December 1994. It formed part of a celebratory dinner
marking the departure of Charles McKean from the Royal
Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS), after fifteen
years of creative and intrepid service.
Reconnaisance Man
In the year of our Lord 1979
A young man came North – he WAS young at the time!
To take the lead role... it was all one big IF:
Who would have guessed that the rest would be myth?
It was: Charles Alexander McKean!
By the mid-nineteen eighties, “Marketing Man” had arrived;
Up to then, we all wondered, how we’d survived –
Everyone redesigned logos, and sponsored
A student, a tea-shirt, an artwork, a concert,
Or Charles Alexander McKean!
And what of the books – heavens! Almost forgot!
The ‘30s, and plans to do Scotland – the lot!
With Guides in their pockets the Scots at last could
Describe in OUR language, why our work is so good!
Bah! Charles Alexander McKean.
Then came recession, gloom and depression,
Fees began falling, then firms in succession...
Membership surveys revealed ghastly trends:
No work for students, employment dead ends...
Doom! Charles Alexander McKean...
So, Academe’s called you to Bonny Dundee –
I hope they’re resilient (as we seem to be!)
And which of the pressures do you think will be lesser:
Being called “Professor Dr” or “Dr Professor”?
Yessir! CHARLES ALEXANDER MCKEAN!
SPRING 2014
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THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND
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