Description

James Shearer (architect to the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board architectural panel), designed 1952, commissioned into generation 1957. Compact, tall single storey 2-bay power station built into cliff to right (NW) and oversailing tailrace to left (SE) with integrated boundary wall to centre. Random rubble with advanced ashlar eaves course and surrounds. All set within narrow gorge directly adjacent to River Bran. Large vehicular door to right (NW) with small recessed window above. Large transomed and mullioned tri-partite window to left (SE). Boarded teak vehicular access doorway incorporating smaller pedestrian picket door to right (NW). FISH-PASS: cascade of linked pools combining concrete and natural bedrock to form fish-pass to left (SW) of power station.

INTERIOR: predominantly functional plain interior with deep turbine pit to left (SE) and offices and workshops to rear (W). Large gantry crane incorporated at roof level with reinforced gantry and rails along side (E and W) walls.

Statement of Interest

Achanalt power station is a well-detailed example of a small power station with an architectural design directly expressing the desire of the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board (NoSHEB) to integrate buildings into the landscape incorporating the walls of the gorge. The fish-pass is also an unusual combination of man-made and naturally occurring pools. The power station is also a good example of the determination by NoSHEB to utilise all available water, the station uses the head of water provided by a small waterfall before water from the tailrace is re-used further downstream. Achanalt power station is an important component of the Conon Valley hydro electric scheme which was one of the major post-war hydro electric developments by NoSHEB.

Conon Valley was one of a large number of schemes developed in Scotland by the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board (NoSHEB), formed after 1943 as a nationalised body to oversee the development of Scotland's resources for water power. The scheme played a key role in the realisation of the social agenda of NoSHEB by providing power to a remote community. Power generated on schemes in the southern Highlands, such as Tummel (see separate listings) was exported via the grid to the central belt, the profit from which subsidised the provision of power to remote north Highland communities and stimulated economic regeneration. Under the leadership of eminent chairman Sir Tom Johnston the board undertook developments throughout Highland Scotland and his aspirations saw the development of schemes in locations such as Loch Dubh near Ullapool and Storr Lochs on Skye. Johnstone's social aspirations and wider wishes to reinvigorate the economy of the Highlands ensured that schemes in remote areas formed a key part of the NoSHEB development plan.

All of the developments carried out by NoSHEB were subject to parliamentary approval and objections on the grounds of scenic amenity were common. In order to meet these objections the board appointed a panel of architectural advisers. After receiving recommendations from RIAS Reginald Fairlie (1883-1952), James Shearer (1881-1962) and Harold Ogle Tarbolton (1886-1947) were appointed in 1943. Initially the role of the panel was to adjudicate on competition entries for designs, but by 1947 it had become one of designers. The panel had little control over the form of the buildings, as they left this to engineers, but they did influence the appearance and the style of the designs. The rigid views on the roles of engineers and architects during the design process resulted in the development of a style which can be characterised as vernacular modernism. This style is unique to NoSHEB buildings and is a direct product of the strict role which engineers and architects played in the design process and of the increasing desire to hide buildings within the landscape.

Early in the life of the board, following the death of Tarbolton in 1947, and Fairlie's death relatively soon after in 1952, Shearer was able to exert more control on the direction of the architectural style. In line with increasing public concerns over the impact of developments on scenic amenity by the early to mid 1950s the designs for the board began to move away from the rhetorical classical modernism under the control of James Shearer. Shearer spent the early part of his career in the offices of John Burnet and Son in Glasgow before commencing private practice in 1907. He gained a number of high profile commissions, and in partnership with George Annand from 1949 the practice were responsible for some iconic post-war architecture, including David Marshall Lodge in Aberfoyle (see separate listing). Shearer also produced a significant number of designs for NoSHEB schemes, the combination of rugged rubble facings and functional forms with carefully applied architectural features, many derived from vernacular and baronial styles, were a conscious effort to meld the new structures into the landscape and stylistically a number of compositions echo the work of his early mentor Burnet. The designs for NoSHEB also show the influence of Dutch architect, Willem Marinus Dudok, who Shearer visited in 1952 whilst representing the Royal Scottish Academy.

(Listed 2011 as part of Hydroelectric Power Thematic Survey)

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77781986

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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