In conversation
Five questions I get asked at the first meeting
Answered here so that the first meeting can be about your site instead.
Why stone?
Because it is what the country is made of. Half of Scotland is standing on sandstone, whin or granite, and the buildings that have lasted here are the ones that admitted it. Stone is also honest about time: the weathering tells you how long a wall has been standing, and I like buildings that do not lie about their age.
What do you say to a client who wants a glass box?
That I can draw one, and that they should picture it in February. Most people come back wanting deep walls, a window seat and a fire. The ones who still want the glass box get a very good glass box, on a stone floor, with a wall to hide behind when the wind gets up.
Why so few projects?
Four or five a year is the number I can be on site for. A drawing set is a list of intentions; the building is decided by people standing in mud, and I want to be one of them. Every project on the Work page had me at it every fortnight from the first dig to the last joint.
What do you draw with?
A 2B pencil on tracing paper for the first month, then Archicad for the sets, then a red pencil on the printed sheets on site. The red pencil is the one that matters. A drawing that has never been marked up in the rain has not been tested yet.
What is the studio like?
One long room over a bookshop on Candlemaker Row with a north window, a plan chest that came out of a shipyard, a wall of pinned sections, and a kettle that gets more use than the plotter. Clients are welcome; bring boots if we are going to site afterwards.
The studio
Where the drawings are made
A north window, a plan chest and enough grey board to model the whole of Edinburgh at 1:500.
Recognition
Awards, press and talks
Curriculum vitae
Registration, practice and teaching
The full CV is one click away, and the PDF is generated from it so the two never disagree.
Isla Renwick
Architect · stone, brick and timber · Edinburgh
- [email protected]
- +44 131 496 0847
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- strata.folio.page.dev
I run a one-architect practice in Edinburgh working on houses, retrofits, studios and small civic rooms across Scotland. I draw everything myself, take on four or five projects a year, and stay on site through construction. Registered architect since 2012.