Scotland' Housing Expo

A group of professionals from across Scotland’s design industries will be given a preview of Scotland’s Housing Expo this month before it is unveiled to the public in August.

Members of the Scottish Ecological Design Association (SEDA) will find out more about the Expo as part of the organisation’s AGM, which will take place in Inverness and Culloden from 21-23 May under the theme ‘Sustainability and Identity’.

During the SEDA AGM attendees will be given a brief presentation about the event by Expo development organiser, Highland Housing Alliance followed by a series of talks from the masterplanner Caddell2 and participating architects, which will describe the influences and priorities for the masterplan and urban design layout of the site as well as some of the individual house types.

The delegates will then be able to visit the site of the Expo and view some of the houses under construction including Brennan & Wilson Architect’s Whole Life House; Secret Garden by Rural Design; Courtyard House by David Somerville and John Gilbert Associates’ Massive Timber House.

The first of its kind in the UK, Scotland’s Housing Expo will provide a vision for the next generation of Scottish housing and is based on an established model found in Finland and mainland Europe. It will take place from 1-31 August and is set to put Scotland firmly on the map as an exemplar of sustainable living; a large percent of the Expo homes will be affordable, with the remaining available for sale on the open market.

Fully supported by the Highland Council and a consortium of agencies, the Expo is a result of an architectural competition which was entered by the cream of Scottish architecture to design these unique and state of the art homes. Based on an innovative master plan for the whole site, the winning designs offer a view of future living for both affordable and private housing, using high quality design, demonstrations of sustainable technologies and new construction methods.

A registered charity, SEDA was formed in 1991 with the aim to promote the design of communities, environments, projects, systems, services, materials and products which enhance the quality of life of, and are not harmful to, living species and planetary ecology. The organisation’s AGM will reflect on how the natural resources and characteristics of a place generate and support the design and identity of a building.

Members of SEDA that will have designs on show at the Expo include Brennan Wilson Architects, A+J Burridge, John Gilbert Architects, David Somerville Architect, Malcolm Fraser Architects and Oliver Chapman Architects.

SEDA Development Officer, Mary Kelly said: “Many of our members were successful entrants in the competition to have their designs showcased at the Expo and some of them will be presenting to us during our AGM. We’re keen to take in all aspects of the Expo, share ideas and good practice and find out how an event of its nature will be delivered for the general public to understand.”

For more information about Scotland’s Housing Expo please log on to www.scotlandshousingexpo.com. More information about SEDA can be found on www.seda.uk.net. SEDA would welcome new members to the visit & AGM who should apply via the website.