Nicoll Russell Studios

Nicoll Russell Studios are an architecture and interior design firm based in Broughty Ferry, on the outskirts of Dundee. They have had many successful projects, including The Dundee Rep Theatre, several Dundee University buildings, contemporary private homes, The Scottish Dance Theatre in Dundee and Dundee Sheriff Court, along with many other builds.

Garry Farquharson who is an architect for Nicoll Russell Studios, kindly gave us his time last week for a workshop, in which he took us through the building process. This included explaining site analysis of one of their recent sustainable builds in the Dundee area - the Hillcrest HQ. He said they had been lucky to get such a forward thinking client, as when designers mention the horrid "S" word of sustainability, a lot of clients recoil in confused disgust. He went on to tell us that usually you have to be tactful in the way you approach eco building, but with Hillcrest, they wanted to be as green as possible.

artists impression of the Hillcrest HQ
source: nrsarchitects.com

I learnt quite a lot from him, particularly about how a real project can go. I was interested to find out more about geothermal cooling systems, and about on site generation of electricity - something they used for the Hillcrest HQ, which meant enough electricity was generated to sell back to the national grid.

The relationship between your own project and the surrounding land is something that he spoke to us quite in depth, and made me consider this further for our current project. While designing the Hillcrest HQ there was another on-going build on the same piece of land, so the two firms worked closely to ensure both builds would work together. Although this is not quite the same situation for my hypothetical build, it is a site that has a close relationship to the surrounding buildings - particularly the football stadium. I added a psychological aspect into my site analysis to cover what effects the surrounding buildings in the relatively close proximity would have on such a space.

He also mentioned the cradle to cradle theory, as opposed to cradle to grave - which is a book I have been meaning to read for a while, despite buying it a ages ago.

I think I've just found my reading material for the train on Monday!