Designs That Come with an Ecology Not to Be Sneezed At

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Byline: JENNY SHIELDS

Jenny Shields finds an architect who believes that new buildings do not need to come with a health warning

SCOTLAND'S dreadful health record is well documented, with high rates of lung cancer and heart disease. We also have the highest rate of asthma in western Europe, a condition that is often attributable to poor-quality buildings.

It is not just sub- standard housing that is to blame.

Expensively constructed new schools can be responsible for ill-health, absenteeism and lack of concentration among all who use them, according to a renowned environmental architect.

A recent survey by the Educational Institute for Scotland (EIS) revealed an anxiety among some teachers about a lack of consultation when new schools are built or old ones refurbished.

They felt this had led to schools which may not provide adequate facilities fit for the delivery of a 21st century education for Scottish pupils.

Howard Liddell, head of the Edinburgh-based firm of architects the Gaia Group, has spent his …