Open Doors Festival Diary - Part Deux

Yesterday’s central-city events celebrated the art of conservation and preservation with regards to Scottish materials, traditional skills, their history and current status. The series of lectures which took place at St. Andrews in the square newly renovated building, tackled the conservation of Scottish traditional materials and skills by top Scottish conservation experts.

Tom Morton of ARC Architects spoke about Earth Buildings; how local materials and skills had been employed at their best to present a form of vernacular architecture that stood the test of time, and can still aspire in the realm of modern sustainable solutions. For more information, a fascinating study done by Tom Morton for the Scottish Executive can be found here.

Nicola Ashurst of Adriel Consultancy spoke about the conservation of terracotta, especially the conservation project of the Doulton Fountain; a five year project, that cost nearly 5 million pounds, and brought back to life this sculpture masterpiece, that has been beautifully restored and relocated to the front of the People's Palace.
The Doulton Fountain was gifted to the city by Sir Henry Doulton, and first unveiled at the Empire Exhibition held at Kelvingrove Park in 1888. The fountain was then moved to Glasgow Green in 1890.
A sculptural extravaganza, the fountain was designed to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee of 1887, and celebrate Britain’s Imperial achievements - the fountain is crowded with figurative groups representing Australia, Canada, India and South Africa.


Hentie Louw from The University of Newcastle talked about Sash-Windows; an interesting take on the history and development of the Sash-window and its use in the Britain from late-medieval period to the mid 20th century.