Chamber and committees

‘Creating Places’, the Scottish Government policy on architecture and place, published in 2013, encourages project clients, commissioners, designers and approvers to take advantage of locally-sourced materials to facilitate sustainable development. The Scottish Government supports Architecture and Design Scotland to provide advice on the use of sustainable materials, including stone.

An overarching aim of the policy is that design should respond appropriately to context. However, it is recognised that use of specific materials may be subject to EU procurement rules on open and fair competition for the supply of material and provisions in the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, which require contracting authorities to consider, before carrying out a regulated procurement, how it can improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of their area.

On behalf of Scottish Government, Historic Environment Scotland and the British Geological Survey have worked in partnership with a number of local authorities to identify local natural stone resources for potential use in the conservation, repair and maintenance of traditional buildings; these include Orkney Islands Council, East Ayrshire Council, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. Through its education and outreach programme, Historic Environment Scotland continues to raise awareness of the importance of natural stone resources to our sense of place and encourages local authorities to actively investigate local building stone resources and to recognise the sustainable economic development opportunities that an indigenous stone industry can provide through local employment, particularly in rural areas.