Brief

‘The transformation of the merely functional into a thing of beauty,’ is how Skakel & Skakel managing director Richard Skakel describes the refurbishment of a ScottishPower electricity substation at Edinburgh’s Dewar Place. The site is near the new Edinburgh International Conference Centre and ScottishPower Power Systems managing director Alan Richardson says: ‘Rather than try to hide the substation, we decided to show it off.’ Skakel & Skakel devised a colour scheme for the building based on ScottishPower’s corporate purple and green plus sandstone to reduce the apparent bulk of the equipment. Landscape architect Ironside Farrar introduced purple shrubs and blue/green conifers. But the real show takes place at night. Lighting designer Jonathan Speirs devised a computer controlled lighting scheme which can be programmed to change colour for different effects.