The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland is the professional body for all chartered architects in Scotland and is the foremost professional institute dealing with architecture and the built environment. This directory is a complete listing of the individual members of the RIAS as at 30 June 2000. It also contains details of the skills and experience of the individual architectural practices.
The directory begins with an introduction to the RIAS and its services. Advice is also given on how to work with an architect, how to understand the fees charged and an overview of the design process. There are then three main sections to the directory. The listing of practices groups approximately 500 firms of architects according to RIAS chapter area ‐ Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Stirling. Within each of these areas, the firms are then listed according to local authority area. For architectural practices to be eligible for inclusion in this directory at least one of the principals must be a member of the RIAS or a chartered architect practising in Scotland. This is therefore not a definitive listing of all companies in Scotland which offer architectural services.
For each practice the information given includes full contact details with e‐mail and Web addresses when available, names of the principals, date established, total number of staff, and often includes other offices, major projects, awards and languages other than English. A short paragraph also describes the practice. These add considerably to the entries and give a flavour of the creativity of the firm, for example “small, friendly, imaginative office”; “specialist in modern design that lifts the spirit”; “to go beyond our clients’ wildest dreams”. Skills charts categorise the architectural skills and types of building experience of the individual practices. Like the practice entries, these skills have been identified by the firms themselves.
The second main section of the directory is a membership listing of the Honorary Fellows, Fellows and Associates giving their contact details. The final illustrated section features examples of recently completed buildings. These are grouped by type of project ‐ leisure, residential, public, retail, commercial, medical, education and religion. The projects featured include The Hub, Edinburgh’s Festival Centre, the Scottish Mining Museum and Homes for the Future.
This is an easy‐to‐use directory allowing architects to be identified by geographic location, by type of project, by practice name and by name of individual architect. The design and construction of buildings is a complex matter and selecting an architectural practice is a task which needs to be undertaken with great care. This directory is a reliable source to turn to in Scotland before commissioning an architect.
