Basic Site Details

Name: Semi-rural housing experiment, Cuthill, Prestonpans
Town, district or village: Cuthill, Prestonpans
City or county: East Lothian
Country: Scotland
Parish:  
Status:  
Grid ref:
Notes: First project undertaken by Edinburgh University's Housing Research Unit (HRU) under the direction of Professor Robert Matthew. Low-rise, high-density arrangement of courtyard houses.

Cost £128,863

Later used as a research subject by the Architectural Research Unit of the Department of Architecture (ARU, formerly HRU) to assess the purpose of the housing against the apparent demands of the technical process (Building, p.99)

Building Type Classification

The building is classified under the following categories:
 ClassificationOriginal classification?Notes
Item 1 of 1Housing scheme  

Street Addresses

The following street addresses are associated with this building:
 AddressMain entrance?Notes
Item 1 of 1Inchview  

Events

The following date-based events are associated with this building:
 FromToEvent typeNotes
Item 1 of 528 October 1960 Proposedper Builder p810
Item 2 of 526 February 1960 Plans prepared, construction not yet begunfor 90 houses per Builder p411
Item 3 of 51962 Build/construction 
Item 4 of 57 October 1966 SurveyStudy conducted by Edinburgh University Architectural Research Department reviewed in Building
Item 5 of 5August 1969 Design exhibitedOn display at RIBA before being sent to Buenos Aires for the congress

People

Design and Construction

The following individuals or organisations have carried out design/construction work. Where architects or practices worked together, matching letters appear beside their names in the Partnership Group column.
 NameRolePartnership GroupFromToNotes
Item 1 of 2Edinburgh University Housing Research Unit (HRU) / Architecture Research Unit (ARU) A1960  
Item 2 of 2Robert Hogg Matthew A1960 Prof. Matthew to design housing scheme based on research findings of University team per Builder p810

Clients

The following individuals or organisations have commissioned work on this building/design:
 NameNotes
Item 1 of 1East Lothian County Council 

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this building:
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 4Glendinning, M, MacInnes, R and MacKechnie, A1996A History of Scottish Architecture  p566
Item 2 of 4Glendinning, Miles2008Modern architect: the life and times of Robert Matthew RIBA Publishingp231
Item 3 of 4Glendinning, Miles and Muthesius, Stefan1994Tower Block: Modern Public Housing in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland Yale University Press: New Haven and Londonp380 Gazetteer 2
Item 4 of 4RIBA1975RIBA Directory of practices   

Periodical References

The following periodicals contain references to this building:
 Periodical NameDateEditionPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 8Architects Journal24 May 1967  p1217-27
Item 2 of 8Architectural DesignSeptember 1960  p351
Item 3 of 8Architectural ReviewJanuary 1961  p28-9
Item 4 of 8Builder28 October 1960  'Prestonpans Housing Experiment' p810
Item 5 of 8Builder26 February 1960  'Edinburgh University Housing Research Unit: Appointments to Staff Announced' p411
Item 6 of 8Building7 October 1966  pp98-101
Item 7 of 8Building17 January 1969  p3/99 & p100 , Summay of findings of Architecture Research Unit's study, ("Scottish Environmental Group: Housing Design")
Item 8 of 8Building22 August 1969  p34/38