From Forest to Front Door

By Finlay Ulrichsen, student of architecture at the University of Strathclyde, 29 March 2024

In a way, my experience of the “Which Trees for Homes” SEDA Land event began the moment I got off the train at Waverley Station to begin my journey to Moffat. After an early start, I had the pleasure of an almost peri-panel discussion during the car journey to the event itself, after being picked up by Peter Wilson who, along with Andrew Heald in the car, made up a portion of the panelists at the afternoon's discussion. Both experts in their fields, it was fantastic to hear their opinions and viewpoints on how best to utilise and expand our woodland resources, fostering a sustainable and interdependent forestry and construction industry – a great interest of mine and the perfect warmup to the day's events.

After gathering in Moffat, we headed to the Crofthead Woodland Estate, where we were greeted and led by the fantastic forester Andrew Macqueen, whose passion project was managing this estate. After beginning planting on site in 2018, Andrew and his team created an alternate vision for forestry in Scotland, integrating an ecological approach to silviculture while balancing the need for economic forestry. While trudging through and traversing the close woodlands and muddy slopes, he explained to us in detail the various strategies and species that were being utilised here, creating a place for native and non-native species in the future of Scottish forestry – combatting the biodiversity crisis while ensuring adequate cashflow and resource availability. I found the tour fascinating, hearing from a variety of experts, from foresters to government representatives, helping us designers understand the constraints of land allocation, funding, and climate change considerations that all impact successful silviculture practices.

On top of this insightful discourse, the tour was punctuated by a couple of interludes of skilful fiddle playing and poetry, by Iain Fraser and Stuart Paterson, inspired by the woodlands itself. This lent an artistic and emotional connection to the experience and brought the discussion back to the human scale of what a forest truly represents.

This laid a perfect context for the panel discussion, bringing together various stakeholders impacted by woodland, from researchers and government employees to architects and foresters. Although the conversation sometimes became heated, when tackling the controversial issues of land allocation and environmental impacts (highlighting the vital importance of this issue), the discussion was fascinating and insightful – opening my eyes to the wide scope of opportunities to utilise our native resources in designing our residential environment. Although working on a tight schedule, we were able to pack in many presentations and discussions with the experts, helping find common ground to rewire our construction industry and take full advantage of what the Scottish landscape can offer.

Last but certainly not least, I cannot thank the staff enough at SRCU Barony Campus, for putting on a fantastic lunch spread and hosting us for the event, as well as all the wonderful experts and SEDA members working behind the scenes to create such a memorable and enjoyable experience. The insights gained from the event have been invaluable, helping to guide my research for my Masters degree in Architectural Studies and I’m sure they will stick with me as I progress my career in the field.