Summary of the impact

This impact relates to a body of practice-based research undertaken by Professor Graeme Hutton (since 2000) and centres on a single output, `The Shed' (2009), a 500m² constructed residence and studio in rural Perthshire. The research has contributed to an advancement of thought and refinement of rural design practice internationally and locally. It has:

A. Informed a critical direction for professionals in architectural design relating to designing for predominantly landscape contexts

B. Informed wider society of the critical debate surrounding appropriate architectural designs for rural contexts

C. Established benchmark references for guiding planning and design judgements for sensitive rural locations

D. Transcribed this rural design research into the broader debate about architecture in the rural and urban built environment.

Underpinning research

Graeme Hutton joined the University of Dundee in 1999 after ten years professional practice where he worked as lead designer on high profile public projects exhibited at the Venice Biennale, Royal Academy and Royal Scottish Academy. In 2007 LJRH Chartered Architects commissioned Hutton to undertake a series of domestic and institutional design projects whose aim was to develop an architectural vocabulary appropriate to sensitive rural locations that conformed to the Scottish Government's exceptional Planning Advice Note 72:

"The purpose is to create more opportunities for good quality rural housing which respects the Scottish landscapes and building tradition. The advice should not however be seen as a constraint on architects and designers wishing to pursue innovative and carefully considered contemporary designs."

The key research questions addressed were:

(1) How to develop a new and appropriate architectural expression for a domestic building in an agricultural context.

(2) How to articulate a new narrative framework of principles for serial design practice in landscape settings.

(3) How to extend local agricultural building technologies and techniques to make a new and appropriate architecture.

The design research is a form of `model practice' whereby buildings, designs and texts, define a conceptual framework to critically interrogate and articulate a new architectural design vocabulary for sensitive rural environments. It was commissioned against a background of increasing pressure to develop redundant agricultural holdings in Scotland where few exemplars existed demonstrating a contemporary design vocabulary appropriate to such sensitive locations.

Drummond House —`The Shed' was completed in 2009, and published nationally, internationally, and online 2009-11 (see especially items in section 5b). It was the culmination of several speculative designs developed as a series to interrogate recurring themes in a variety of landscapes. These identified 5 design principles which allow the introduction of modern and regenerating designs to otherwise disused and often decaying agrarian settings (ref. G.Hutton, 'Continuity and Inventiveness', Architecture & Series, Ampersand, Vol 3 Spring 2011, pp. 28-31). Without such a design vocabulary these sites are often the subject of unsightly 'suburbanisation' or remain undeveloped as the local authority refuses planning permission, deeming applications 'inappropriate'. The research explored other vanguard 'new ruralism' practitioners in the UK, Europe and the US but took more cues from existing agricultural building typologies in Scotland rather than the architectural vernacular per se. Hutton's research highlights key ideas which question received wisdom as to what a 'house' should 'look like' in such sensitive and characterful locations, in turn significantly enhancing our appreciation of them and their surrounding landscape. Drummond House 'The Shed' has contributed to a public debate of what constitutes 'appropriate' building development and is a Scottish Government 'exemplar' project in relation to architectural design and place. It has also influenced design practice internationally.

Hutton conducted the research between 2007 to date while employed at the University of Dundee. The research led to numerous invitations to deliver academic and professional lectures, to exhibit and publish further work and to new commissions for similar sites as recommended by different Planning Authorities.

References to the research

Details of the impact

The impact of this research has been fourfold. It has:

A. Informed directions for professionals in architectural design relating to designing for predominantly landscape contexts [Corroborating evidence 5.1 and 5.2]

The design research embedded in `The Shed' has been internationally disseminated to a professional audience through the presence of built work, traditional and web-based publication, symposia and talks, exhibition and invited CPD seminars. As a direct consequence of this exposure numerous co-professional enquiries have resulted, particularly in relation to the roof form and detail, from practices in the UK, Ireland and The USA. Evidence of Hutton's design research sub-themes can be seen in later architectural works such as those at Scotland's recent `Highland Housing Expo' or a new work by New York based Briggs Knowles Architecture + Design. The detail design of `The Shed' roof/wall junction is also being employed by Platform4 in New York for a rooftop addition to a Brooklyn city block.

B. Informed wider society of the critical debate surrounding appropriate architectural designs for rural contexts [Corroborating evidence 5.3,4,5,6,7,8]

Following publication online, particularly online via `Britain's Best New Buildings', and in the popular press under such banner headings as "Q) Is this an award winning piece of architecture, or a shed? A) Both" in The Scotsman 22nd May 2009 and "Barnstorming — Industrial Unit or Modernist Masterpiece?", in Caroline Ednie, Homes & Interiors Scotland, October 2009 pp82-89, and "In a Shed — Seeds of a Scottish Farmhouse" in The New York Times Jan 27th 2011, much follow up correspondence has been generated centring on the appropriateness or otherwise of the building's vocabulary. From this exposure a complex observation relating to type emerges: critique is positive and favourable if the viewer assumes `The Shed' is in fact just that — a utilitarian agricultural building; critique from the same readers is less favourable upon discovery that `The Shed' is in fact a residence. Further research in how modern architecture is perceived and understood is warranted by these observations. What this press and web exposure also elicits is popular discussion regarding appropriate models of new rural dwelling that might challenge the suburbanization of the countryside. The research suggests a new language and patterns of dwelling as demanded by the Scottish Government's Architecture Policy disseminated through Architecture and Design Scotland. Commissions to the value of £2M for five further residences, in similarly sensitive sites across Scotland, have resulted in a maturing vocabulary toward more spatial sophistication and to explore highly energy-efficient `Passive House' technologies. Three further commissioned dwellings have resulted from Planning Authority recommendations to prospective rural developers to examine Drummond House — `The Shed' as an appropriate modern rural archetype.

C. Established benchmark references for guiding planning and design judgements for sensitive rural locations [Corroborating evidence 5.9 and 5.10]

`The Shed' is cited as an exemplar regarding appropriate design responses to rural landscapes in the RIAS Information booklet `Why Choose an Architect' (Ref. RIAS 2010). The planning authorities of two district councils also refer potential developers to the design as an exemplar of how to approach building in the countryside. As a result of the design principles inherent in `The Shed' a grant of £15,000 was secured from the Scottish Government (2010) to research the optimum approach for articulating and embedding `Design Coding' for the proposed new highland town of `Tornagrain'. This is a pilot project to test mechanisms for ensuring design quality over time in lengthy and complex development programmes for several new sustainable communities being proposed in Scotland.

D. Transcribed rural design research into the broader debate about architecture in the rural and urban built environment [Corrborating evidence 5.11 and 5.12]

The benefits extending from the profile of `The Shed' and its contribution to a new awareness of landscape formed architecture include Hutton's invitation as a juror informing the selection and procurement of Kengo Kuma's Landform design for the first outreach of the V&A's internationally significant collections in Dundee, to wide critical and public acclaim. The `landform' ethos also sits as a key constituent part of the international Landworkers network (including artists Will McLean and Arthur Watson and architect Juhani Pallasmaa) sponsored by The Geddes Institute, RIAS and Dundee Contemporary Arts. Pallasmaa visited `The Shed' in 2009 during the Landworkers International Symposium exploring landscape, culture and heritage as conceptual drivers for ideas across a range of disciplines including art, literature and architecture.

Sources to corroborate the impact

A. To inform directions for professionals' architectural design relating to designing for predominantly landscape contexts:

1. http://www.scotlandshousingexpo.com/houses.php
2. http://cargocollective.com/chasegoitia/following/all (BriggsKnowles)

B. To inform wider society of the critical debate surrounding appropriate architectural designs for rural contexts:

3. http://www.bestbuildings.co.uk/housing/drummond-house/
4. New York Times `In a Shed, Seeds of a Scottish Farmhouse' 27^th January 2011 — 2.3m readers/day. Cf.
   http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/greathomesanddestinations/27location.html?_r=0- 30m hits/month.
5. http://www.wallpaper.com/architecture/interactive-floor-plan-drummond-house-perthshire/3574
6. Scotsman `Q) Is this an award winning piece of architecture, or a shed? A) Both' 22^nd May 2009 — 40,000 readers/day. Cf. http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/architecture-awards-list-shops-but-obviously-no-carbuncles-1-1039140.
7. Sunday Times `A shedload of class' 1^st November 2009 — 100,000 readers/day. Cf. http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/style/homes_and_gardens/Buying_and_Selling/article188939.ece.
8. http://www.studio-international.co.uk/architecture/drummond-house-2011.asp

C. To establish benchmark reference approaches guiding planning and design judgements for sensitive rural locations:

9. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/AandP/InspirationalDesigns/ProjectType/Singlehouserural/Drummond
10. Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland publication `Why Choose a CharteredArchitect' http://www.rias.org.uk/files/2011/156/F4940062-17D6-5007-4DE4-4D0701095742.pdf

D. To transcribe rural design research to a wider public building context:

11. http://www.urbanrealm.com/news/2930/VIDEO%3A_Kengo_Kuma_
12. http://www.dundee.ac.uk/geddesinstitute/projects/landworkers/symposium/