Basic Biographical Details
| Name: | Andrew Hunter Cairns |
| Designation: | |
| Born: | |
| Died: | |
| Bio Notes: | After he left the Army in 1958, having returned from active service in Cyprus, Hunter Cairns was apprenticed to George Keith City Architect City of Aberdeen, for two years. Following five years at the Scott Sutherland School Of Architecture, in the same City. He graduated with a diploma in architecture from the School of Architecture in Aberdeen in 1965. He qualified ARCUK in 1967. He worked for another 2 years with George Keith, before transferring to Walter Underwood in Glasgow, where he headed up a team winning a limited competition for the Cowcaddens CDA. Deciding his future lay more in high density low rise housing, he was appointed head of the team working on the initial 2,000 houses for Erskine New Town, for the Scottish Special Housing Association winning many Saltire Commendations. From there he was headhunted to take charge of Scottish Specials' new Research and Design Department and the embryonic Computer Aided Design Department which 'went live' in 1976, the first of its kind in the world, interfaced to an automatic billing system. He was also put in charge of the SSHA's computerised maintenance system for its 100,000 housing stock. He then moved to Heriot-Watt University as Director of Studies for the Building Engineering Course, while obtaining private funding for his Computer Team, to create a new 3 Dimensional drawing system for based on a microprocessor. When this research work was completed the team at Arcaid successfully gained a grant of £186,000 for the development and marketing of the Arcaid system to the Construction Industry, from the D.O.E. This they did from Offices in the centre of Edinburgh. Hunter also continued his interest in housing matters contributing a number of new products to the market place. This culminated in Arcaid moving to the Research Park at the Universities new Campus at Riccarton, where Hunter became non-Executive Chairman. Hunter served on a number of National Committees, including the first RIBA Computer Committee, the RIAS Council, its Education Committee, and B/-, the Scottish arm of the British Standards Institute. He became a Fellow of the RIAS in 1996. Following the closure of Arcaid, due to competition from larger American companies, in 1990, Hunter continued his research and teaching at Heriot-Watt University, contributing the largest selling externally applied insulation system to the U.K. Building Industry. He retired for the first time in 1997, and concentrated on writing, teaching in the third world, and presenting papers on his lifetime of research experience. After a short spell teaching in the Department on Building at Napier University, Hunter completed his retirement in the year 2000. In 2010 he transferred to the retired category of the RIAS. In 2012 he presented a paper to the IAHS congress on housing and is noted as being from Heriot Watt University to which he must have been affiliated at this point. Hunter married Dr. Denise in 1971 and they had two daughters and five grandchildren. Andrew Hunter Cairns graduated with a diploma in Additional information obtained from internet. There are many references to his involvement with the Scout Association in Aberdeen as a youngster. |
Private and Business Addresses
| The following private or business addresses are associated with this : | |||||
| Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | |
 | 414, Great Western Road, Aberdeen, Scotland | Private | 1965 * | ||
| 37, Bartongate Terrace, Edinburgh, Scotland | Private | c. 1970 | ||
* earliest date known from documented sources.
Employment and Training
Employers
| The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this (click on an item to view details): | |||||
| Name | Date from | Date to | Position | Notes | |
| Scottish Special Housing Association (SSHA) | Early 1970s | Architect | ||
References
Bibliographic References
| The following books contain references to this : | ||||||
| Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | |
| RIBA | 1965 | The RIBA Kalendar | |||
Archive References
| The following archives hold material relating to this : | ||||
| Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | |
| School of Architecture, Garthdee, Aberdeen, RGIT: former pupils, 1937-1970 | Galletly, James | ||