Architects

Name:

Michael Donald Laird

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Exact Date

Exact DOB:

22/03/1928

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Date of Death:

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Exact DOD:

03/11/1999

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Bio Notes :

Michael Donald Laird was born in Glasgow on 22 March 1928, the son of George Donald Struthers Laird, export agent and his wife Catherine Brown Tennent or Dibley. He was educated at Loretto School where he showed an early interest in designing buildings. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art and was admitted ARIBA in 1952 and ARIAS in 1953. He established his practice in 1954 with an office at 11 Randolph Place, Edinburgh from 1957. He returned to the College of Art as a lecturer in the Department of Architecture and also in the same capacity in the Department in the University of Edinburgh. He was an inspiring teacher.

In 1957 he won a McLaren Travelling Fellowship from the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. He spent some time abroad accompanied by his wife, the artist and art teacher Kirsty Noel-Paton. Later that same year, 1957, Sir Alastair Dunnett, then Editor of the Scotsman, commissioned Laird to draw up a scheme for a Festival Centre for Edinburgh. This was done in association with Alan Reiach who had earlier drawn up a scheme for adding an opera house adjacent to the Usher Hall and Lyceum Theatre. Laird and Reiach prepared a model to be exhibited at the Centenary Exhibition of the Edinburgh Architectural Association. The scheme envisaged the Usher Hall and Lyceum as nuclei and proposed that the Usher Hall was converted into an opera house, as, according to Laird, ‘a building of this period and style already has the slightly romantic flavour people associate with opera’.

In 1959 he became an assessor for the Civic Trust Awards, an appointment which continued for twenty years. During the 1950s Laird compered BBC Television's weekly 'Compass' Programme.

He moved to firstly to North Castle Street, where he had a house above the practice. Laird’s twin son and daughter, Simon and Nicola, were born about this time; they were joined later by their brother, Magnus. In 1960 the practice moved to 22 Moray Place. This had been a nursing home and was converted by Laird into an impressive office with family residence above. The large lift was retained and converted into a mobile cloakroom and art gallery.

The Music School at George Watson’s College, dating from the mid-1960s, with its distinctive parabolic roof, was an important building from the early days of the practice. The auditorium achieved excellent acoustics. The Children’s Unit at the Astley Ainslie Hospital, completed in 1965, is one of the best examples of a carefully detailed precast form building. It managed to incorporate a variety of services and at the same time provided open bright wards, the external blinds giving the exterior a sculptural quality. Laird was elected FRIAS in 1964.

Laird saw his work on historic buildings and his ‘modern’ buildings as separate categories. In the former category he worked on Maxwelton, Dumfriesshire, Blairqhan, Ayrshire, and Easter Elchies. His work at Maxwelton entailed a reconstruction and extension based on original 17th century building and was probably one of the most comprehensive schemes of rebuilding of a Scottish country house in the post-war period.

In 1967 Ian Rogers was taken in partnership, the practice title changing to Michael Laird & Partners. The office moved to 5 Forres Street in 1974. In bout 1971 James Latimer was assumed into partnership followed in 1977 by Alan Black. Several other partners joined in the 1980s.

From the mid-1960s Standard Life became an important client for the practice. Laird’s refurbishment of the Head Office at the east end of George Street began in 1964. This was part of a comprehensive expansion plan, the site being bounded by George Street, St Andrew Square and Thistle Lane and was intended to provide consistent high quality office space. It was divided into several phases, the first and second being carried out in association with Robert Matthew. The second large commission from Standard Life was the new headquarters at Canonmills. The site was divided by the Water of Leith and sensitively incorporated the former warehouse at Tanfield. An extensive roof garden was provided for the benefit of employees and for neighbours who overlook the low-lying site. It was one of Laird’s characteristics that he researched buildings to ensure the quality of the working environment and this was no exception. Standard Life House on a prominent site at the corner of Lothian Road and the West Approach Road, followed in the later 1980s. The head office was moved here from the George Street building in 1996.

The Royal Bank of Scotland was another important client. From them he designed the Computer Centre, Fettes Row, which reused the energy from the computers which ran continuously to heat the offices. Drummond House, South Gyle, also for the Bank, is heated in similar fashion. In his buildings for the Bank and for Standard Life he was keen to incorporate the work of artists, successfully working with Gerald Laing on the Standard Life buildings and with Eduardo Paolozzi at the Bank building at South Gyle. John Bellamy painted a mural in the building of the White Fish Authority.

As with matters pertaining to his professional life, Laird approached his leisure activities with gusto. He was keen on cars and even in his student days owned an Austin 7 which could be seen parked outside the College of Art. He later graduated to a Lotus Elan, one of the first in Scotland after Jim Clark. He led the University Air Squadron, won the Aerobatics Cup at the Edinburgh Air Show and became a fully trained reserve Fleet Air Arm pilot. He travelled over Switzerland in a hot air balloon and was a good skier. He kept a Drascombe sailing craft on the Forth and enjoyed summer evening excursions. He also sailed in the waters around Tiree where he had a house. He founded his own society, with its characteristically humorous name, ‘SMA’, Society of Master Architects, the motto of which ‘Keep it simple sensible and stylish’ was later adopted by the practice.

As a campaigner for high standards in design he served in the Council for Industrial Design for many years. He contributed numerous articles to the specialist and general press. He gave a home in his office to the young Scottish Georgian Society. His espousal of causes was legendary and was passionate even if his views did not accord with majority opinion. Laird was made OBE in 1983 for his services to architecture. He was awarded the RSA Gold Medal in 1968 for his work on the Standard Life Headquarters in George Street and his work had won a number of awards from the Civic Trust and Saltire Society, among others.

Robert Steedman describes Laird: ‘He was prominent among the postwar generation of young architects in Scotland, with an overwhelming ambition to look at buildings afresh and translate his concepts into a new vocabulary of forms and materials appropriate to the Scottish situation. He regarded innovation as a challenge’.

Laird was forced to retire from ill-health in 1992. He died in the Western General Hospital on 11 March 1998. He was survived by his wife, his two sons and daughter and four grandchildren.

Bio Notes continued...

Additional Notes

The following private or business addresses are associated with this person:

Private Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From Char	Date From Type	Date To Char	Date To Type	Notes
The Ingle/1 Beech Avenue Cambuslang Lanarkshire Scotland	Private
22 Moray Place Edinburgh Scotland	Private/business

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Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date To
11 Randolph Place Edinburgh Scotland	Business	1954
22 Moray Place Edinburgh Scotland	Private/business	1960	After 1987
5 Forres Street Edinburgh Scotland	Business	1974

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The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this person (click on an item to view details):

Employers2 classic

Name	Name Link	Date From	Date To	Position	Notes
Michael Laird & Partners	400344	In year 1954	In year 1992	Partner

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This person was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):

Buildings and Designs2 classic

Building Name	Date Started	Town, District or Village	City or County	Country	Notes
Hauptstadt Berlin competition (Robert Matthew's entry)	1957/4		Berlin	Germany	Included Robert Matthew\'s supporting team
Phillips Electrical Offices	After 1958		Glasgow	Scotland
United Wire Rope Company's factory	After 1958		Edinburgh	Scotland	Extension
Ministry of Public Buildings and Works, Scottish Headquarters	After 1958		Edinburgh	Scotland
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries offices	After 1958	Eskgrove/Lasswade	Edinburgh	Scotland
Astley Ainslie, Children's Wards and Therapy Unit	After 1958		Edinburgh	Scotland
Chamber of Commerce building	After 1958		Belfast	Northern Ireland
Inde Coope Brewery	After 1958	Alloa	Clackmannanshire	Scotland
Gayfield Square police headquarters	In year 1961		Edinburgh	Scotland
Private House	In year 1961		Edinburgh, Midlothian	Scotland
Warehouses and offices, 43-53 Jeffrey Street	In year 1963		Edinburgh, Midlothian	Scotland
Raith, housing	Before 1963	Kirkcaldy	Fife	Scotland
Raith House	c. 1963	Kirkcaldy	Fife	Scotland	Restoration?
George Watson's College, Music School and Auditorium	In year 1964		Edinburgh	Scotland
Standard Life Assurance Co	In year 1964		Edinburgh	Scotland	Extension Phase I - with R H Matthew

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The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Notes
RIBA	The RIBA Kalendar 1963-64	1964
Willis, Peter	New architecture in Scotland	1977		p44-5 University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings
Bailey, Rebecca M	Scottish architects' papers: a source book	1996	Edinburgh: The Rutland Press	p128

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The following periodicals contain references to this person:

Period ref classic

Periodical Name	Date Circ	Edition	Notes
RIAS Newsletter	1999/04	v10, no3	Death note
Builder	1964/05/01		p915-916
Scotsman	1999/03/19		Obituary by Robert Steedman.

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The following archives hold material relating to this person:

Arc ref classic

Archive Name	Source	Source Cat No	Building Id	Item Name	Notes
Records of membership	RIAS, Rutland Square	201006
Death Register	H M Register House	100027

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Basic Biographic Details

Addresses

Private Addresses

Private Addresses2 classic

Business Addresses

Business Addresses2 classic

Employment and Training

Employers2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

Bibliographic References

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Periodical References

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Archive References

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