The Recap: A weekly update from Architecture and Design Scotland

Welcome to the Recap - a short weekly update blog from Architecture and Design Scotland. This is based on our internal blog that is shared with staff and board members on Fridays. This blog is for the week ending 16 August. 

On Wednesday, our Principal Design Officer Morag Bain, Senior Design Officer Alex Laurenson and Principal Landscape Architect Danny McKendry met with Rebecca Madgin of the University of Glasgow to scope out the programme and venue for our forthcoming event "What next for place? Unlocking the power of place: design, data & collaboration".

The in-person event, taking place on 18–19 September at Glasgow University's Advanced Research Centre (ARC), will ask “What if we could harness the power of design and creativity to forge meaningful and equitable partnerships? And how can this collaborative approach lead to positive outcomes for people, the places we inhabit, and the planet itself?”.

It is being held in partnership with the University of Glasgow and The Academy of Urbanism.

Laura Hainey, our Senior Design Officer, highlights the power of co-design in creating impactful change. 

In her recent blog, Laura emphasises how involving users in the design process can lead to practical, effective solutions. She shares examples from her work on place-based climate action, demonstrating how co-design has unlocked community potential and driven real-world results. 

By breaking down barriers and fostering collaboration, co-design can be a valuable method for addressing complex challenges.

 You can read the blog here.

We started a series of interviews with developers this week to gather evidence for reporting to the Town Centre Action Plan (TCAP) Forum in October – an action linked to the local living agenda, as well as to our Town Centre Living work with partners Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), Scottish Towns Partnerships and Scottish Land Commission.

Our Principle Architect Johnny Cadell and Associate Director of SFT Mhairi Donaghy interviewed three housebuilders delivering award-winning development in town centres. The interviews explored the housebuilders attitudes around investment in town centres, the value that can be added by design and placemaking, and what can be done to deliver more brownfield development. 

Also discussed were interactions with the public sector in current conditions, including the impact of National Planning Framework 4. It was encouraging to see clear motivation from all three housebuilders, to create well designed places and resilient communities in locations ranging from Dalmarnock to Innerleithen, Kirkcaldy and St Andrews. 

Our keen-eyed Communications Officer Rachel McBryde spotted this article on our trip to Stranraer last week for the Scotland’s Towns Partnership guided walking tour of the town centre.

Read 'Stranraer Visit a Powerful Reminder of People Power' in "Dumfries & Galloway! What's Going On?".

We continue planning for Place Forum 5: What next for place?, we film more videos with design experts for our Value of Design campaign, and we continue to enjoy the buzz of the Edinburgh International Book Festival taking place inside and outside the Edinburgh Futures Institute.