Scott Abercrombie

Scott Abercrombie is an associate director at John Gilbert Architects. He has overseen the growth of the conservation sector for the practice in recent years and helped to secure commissions including work on category-A listed properties such as the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow.Scott is accredited in conservation by the RIBA and in interdisciplinary conservation by the IHBC. He fell for conservation once in practice and built his experience through being mentored by John Gilbert and enthusiastically engaging with heritage activity in Glasgow. Scott is the former conservation committee convenor of the Glasgow Institute of Architects having held the post for three years, taking on the position at a time when the committee faced being lost, and building its numbers back up. He remains an active council member and trustee of the GIA.He is currently the chair of The Alexander Thomson Society, a charity which promotes the work of the Victorian architect Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson. Through his work with the charity Scott organises an annual lecture series, which has attracted speakers of the likes of Eric Parry and Niall McLaughlin to Glasgow, coordinated design competitions, and contributed to the research of Thomson’s life and work. His role also involves campaigning for the preservation of Thomson’s work, most notably Egyptian Halls. His work encouraged the establishment of a new body, Save Egyptian Halls, led by Scottish Civic Trust, which aims to take on the building. Scott now serves as secretary for this new organisation.John Gilbert Architects is renowned for its involvement in the repair and maintenance of tenements, and this was a passion instilled in Scott through working with John. Scott recently developed and launched a new service, the Tenement Toolbox, a fixed price tenement condition survey for private homeowners aimed at making seeking professional advice less intimidating and more affordable for owners. Scott represents a young generation of conservation architects trying to establish a foothold in an area of the profession traditionally dominated by older architects. He was recently selected by the RIBA as one of their Rising Stars in architecture, the only Scottish, and conservation-focused, member of the 2021 cohort. He cares deeply about the preservation and future-proofing of Scotland’s built heritage and has devoted his career thus far, as well volunteering his own time, to this aim.

Scott has worked at John Gilbert Architects for the past 10 years, having previously also worked at 3DReid. He has worked on a range of projects during his time in practice, from new-build housing through to post-war retrofit, but it is in the conservation of historic buildings that his career to has focussed. His most prominent completed project was the conservation and retrofit of Basil Spence’s B-listed Canongate Housing in Edinburgh, which garnered significant attention and has been shortlisted for the AJ Retrofit awards as well as receiving a special commendation for conservation at the GIA awards. This £1m project restored the Spence’s block, whilst also reducing the energy demand of the properties by 50%. Scott is now involved in leading the conservation of some of Glasgow’s most significant buildings – these include works to restore Provand’s Lordship (including reinstating it’s original harled finish), conservation of the Gallery of Modern Art, and ongoing repair works at Holmwood House – all A-listed properties. Alongside having recently completed works at the A-listed Garnethill Synagogue to form new education, exhibition and function space. He is also a capable designer, resolving a planning stalemate with a redesign of proposals for 36 flats as part of a facade retention scheme for the Inn on the Green – a fire-damaged former hotel opposite Glasgow Green. Other signifiant projects include Scott’s main project on site currently, the £3.6m redevelopment of a church in Kilmarnock in to a regional climbing centre. The renewal and improvement works to 17 shopfronts in Govan which is currently on site. The recently completed restoration of the B-listed Smiths Hotel in Glasgow and ongoing restoration of the former Wellington House on Wellington St (both supported by Glasgow City Heritage Trust funding). Works beyond Glasgow include the restoration of 3 County Place – a tenement in Paisley; 32 Spittal St – a tenement in Stirling; and working as part of a team delivering the conversion of the former police station in Langholm in to social housing. Scott is a prolific young architect who is passionate about the conservation and sustainable refurbishment of historic buildings, and he actively encourages others to share in that passion. Given the imperative to retain and reuse our built fabric, his skills and enthusiasm are incredibly relevant and important at this time.