Preston Tower Featured in RIAS Quarterly: Building Resilience through Conservation
GRAS’s approach to conservation is profiled in the latest RIAS Quarterly, with an article by Natasha Huq exploring the collaborative process behind Preston Tower, Doocot and Gardens in East Lothian. The issue focuses on conservation across Scotland, highlighting how existing buildings can offer sustainable, meaningful futures when carefully reimagined.
Natasha’s piece reflects on the phased, light-touch approach adopted at Preston Tower, a scheduled monument shaped as much by its community as by its built fabric. The project brought together local contractors, conservation specialists, archaeologists and residents to deliver a series of modest but transformative architectural interventions. These include the consolidation of fragile stonework, the introduction of new galvanised metalwork, and the insertion of a refined metal and stone stair that enables safe access while revealing the historical evolution of the site. Every design move was shaped by dialogue with the client, the community and the constraints of public funding. This process of repair and renewal reflects GRAS’s commitment to long-term resilience, contextual design and shared stewardship.
Our thanks to RIAS Quarterly for highlighting the value of conservation as a public act, rooted in care, collaboration and the future of place.