Scotland’s national building conservation centre opens to the public

The Engine Shed, Scotland’s national building conservation centre, is inviting people to come and find out what the new national building conservation centre has to offer as it opens its doors to the public for the first time today.

Based at Forthside Way, Stirling, the new learning and visitor resource will serve as the national conservation hub, using world-leading innovation to bring Scotland’s built heritage to life through technology and hands-on activities.

Open six days a week, from Monday to Saturday, the centrepiece of the free visitor experience is a large-scale map of Scotland compiled from hi-resolution satellite images, from which additional information can be accessed using an iPad as an augmented reality device, providing people with the opportunity to explore Scotland’s buildings, plus the chance to discover how the Engine Shed is digitally documenting Scotland’s heritage.

To celebrate the opening, from Monday 3 July, visitors can enjoy a suite of activities and workshops, including joining a tour of the building to find out more about its purpose and what it will offer the public, getting creative by carving a masterpiece from soap, or signing up to a talk from Historic Environment Scotland’s Head of Technical Education and Training to hear more about the building’s development from former MOD munitions shed to pioneering learning hub.

Dorothy Hoskins, technical outreach and education manager at the Engine Shed, said: “We are absolutely delighted to open the doors and welcome the public into the Engine Shed. We have so much planned for the opening with lots of activities and workshops on offer throughout the summer, we really want people to come down and experience the Engine Shed first-hand and get involved in the different activities that are on and find out more about what will be coming up later in the year too.”

People from across Scotland are invited to visit the Engine Shed to find out more about its summer programme of events designed to encourage a greater understanding of Scotland’s historic buildings and traditional craft skills, as part of Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology.

Every week during the summer, the Engine Shed will host different building-related themed activity sessions, talks and demonstrations. Workshops will include creating pieces inspired by Mackintosh’s designs currently on temporary display at the Engine Shed, which were recovered from the fire that affected the Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh building in 2014.

Dorothy added: “Our summer programme is designed to inspire people and demonstrate the range of skills, materials and technologies that are used in preserving our traditional buildings across Scotland. The Engine Shed is an inclusive space where everyone can come along and discover more about our historic environment through workshops, exhibitions, events, tutorials and training. We hope the public will be really impressed with what we have done with the space and what will be on offer.”

The Engine Shed has also launched eight internship opportunities centred around the new learning and visitor resource. Applicants are being encouraged to apply for the range of internships, covering subjects such as conservation science, climate change, collections management, traditional materials, digital visualisation and conservation architecture.

Each internship will last between 12 – 18 months and will provide students with the chance to learn within its specialist science, digital or climate change teams, studying the impact of climate change on Scotland’s historic environment and the adaptation of traditional buildings.

For more information on the Engine Shed and its summer programme or internship opportunities, please visit engineshed.scot.