In Unit 3 we reconsidered architecture’s relationship with existing structures, embodied materials and waste. Working directly with Scottish buildings at risk of demolition and the associated stakeholders, our studio aims to catalyse a transition from the wrecking ball of “blank slate-thinking”—in Scotland, approximately 50% of total waste comes from construction and demolition—to the care and attention of building deconstruction, disassembly, and reuse.

Working across and peeling back the “shearing layers” (Brand, 1994) that make up buildings at risk of demolition or collapse, students developed methods for surveying, researching, salvaging, classifying and evaluating the structure, components and materials of three sites: (1) The Cambusnethan Priory, North Lanarkshire, (2) The Madelvic Car Factory, Granton and (3) the former Tynecastle High School, Gorgie.

Students prototyped new architectures that sprang directly from the opportunities identified on the sites, from local and regional material flows, and from the latent potentials discovered and activated in existing buildings and components.