Architecture + Design Scotland

Elgin Flood Alleviation Scheme, Moray

19 March 2008

Extracted from a letter to Moray Council:

The design was considered at an internal design review on 11 March 2008. Due to the timescale within which a response was requested it has not been possible for staff or Board Members to visit the site. A+DS was invited to review the design from information forwarded (on two CD's) and relevant drawings contained on the council's website. On that basis we comment as follows.

This is an exciting opportunity to consider the townscape and landscape implications of a design that should be perceived as something more than a technical flood alleviation study.

The river passes through, and the design will therefore impact on, the whole town. We suggest that a design statement should correlate the work with a landscape scheme, and integrate the proposals into a wider public realm strategy for Elgin.  Such a study should consider how the river sits within, and how the design impacts on, the townscape.

We note that a number of trees are proposed to be removed. This will have a significant visual impact, and we trust that consideration has been given to the justification and / or mitigation of this aspect of the design.

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