A SEDA Publication

In association with the Scottish Festival of Architecture.  

It is perhaps best to start with what this book is not. It is not a countdown of the top 100 most sustainable Scottish buildings ever built. It does not provide a description of how to build a sustainable building. It is not a pattern book of ‘off the peg’ design solutions to ick through to and the building of your choice. Depending on how you add up all the entries they possibly don’t even come to 100 and arguably they are not all buildings either. The aim of the book is to showcase the widest possible range of projects where a sustainable design approach has been adopted in response to social, economic and environmental issues. With this book we aim to illuminate the subject of sustainability as applied to the built environment.

We hope that the combination of learned essays, and the diversity of projects that can be found in just one small country, will demystify the common belief that a sustainable approach can only be delivered by narrowing the aesthetic and construction options available to the designer and client. Sustainability is a responsibility and an opportunity, not a hair shirt to be endured.

“This book is not about who is ‘best’; it is more important. It is a celebration of new ideas, of ingenuity, imagination, philosophy and art, a tribute to creativity, joyfulness, human scale design, an expression of our dedication to live with nature and the ow of life, to be genuinely sustainable in every possible way.”

- Robin Harper