ArchitectureHonorary Lecturers

John Addison is a very experienced Civil Engineer who has specialised in structural design and analysis of buildings, bridges and civil engineering structures for 43 years since becoming qualified with 38 of them in old buildings and ancient structures in the UK and Ireland.

He is a graduate from the University of Aberdeen where he was awarded in1970 First Class Honours in civil engineering BSc(Eng). He was Medal Winner in Design 1969 and awarded MICE in 1975, from which he retired a year ago. He was Director at Mott MacDonald, Waterman Partnership and Peter Stephen+Partners and is at the moment Director of Addison Conservation and Design a leading company in conservation he created in 2009 with Krystyna Pytasz. John works mainly as team leader, designer and project manager of heritage projects embracing monuments, buildings and civil engineering.

He has an impresive list of projects to which he has contributed, to name some

• Palace of Holyroodhouse
• Rosslyn Chapel
• Bowhill House
• Mansfield Traquair Church
• Cottier Theatre
• Perth Cathedral
•  Lennoxlove House
• Morgan Academy
•  Catrine Regeneration
• Tarlair Pool
• Egyptian Halls
• Britannia Panopticon Music Hall
• many medieval castles (Cessford, Invergarry, Craig, Girnigoe, Ardvreck, Fyvie, Duchray, Dunure, Banff, Dalcross, Almond, Ballone, Fenton, Stoneypath, Braemar, ...)
• American historic structures at Rosewell (Virginia), Saco(Maine) and Fort Jefferson (Gulf of Mexico).

Since graduating from Edinburgh College of Art as a post graduate in Architectural Conservation, Liz has been involved in most aspects of Scotland’s built heritage. Most recently she was head of Heritage and Design at Glasgow City Council.

Previous to this she led the Heritage Lottery funded Townscape Heritage programme to regenerate the Merchant City. Earlier posts included that of director of Glasgow Building Preservation Trust, a charitable property developer rescuing and bringing back to life numerous historic buildings including St. Andrew’s Square Church, the Tobacco Merchants House, Wellpark Enterprise Centre and the iconic blue ‘Tardis’ police boxes.

Whilst at the Trust, Liz also pioneered Doors Open Day which introduced the UK’s first free mass architectural participation event. A two year secondment to Historic Scotland also saw the development and launch of the multi million pound Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) programme. Previous to that, case work across Scotland for the Scottish Civic Trust has given Liz an extensive background in local vernacular architecture in addition to trustee positions on the former Historic Buildings Council for Scotland, the Architectural Heritage Fund and Strathclyde Building Preservation Trust.

As former chair of the UK Association of Building Preservation Trusts Liz gained a deep insight into both those organisations.

Ranald MacInnes is Head of Special Projects at Historic Environment Scotland. He has extensive experience in teaching and research and is a Honorary Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of Art History, University of Glasgow. He has published many books, essays, articles and reviews on architecture and conservation. He has played a leading advisory and regulatory role in many significant conservation and architectural projects with both English Heritage and Historic Scotland.



Dr Aonghus MacKechnie is an architectural historian. His published work reflects his interest in the architecture and culture of the Renaissance and the Early Modern periods in Scotland, Romanticism, and the history and culture of his native Highlands. He is co-author with Miles Glendinning and Ranald MacInnes of 'A History of Scottish Architecture', published by Edinburgh University Press, 1996, and author of Carragh-Chuimhne, 2004. He is currently guest co-editor with Diane Watters of Architectural Heritage XXV. He has been employed by Historic Scotland since 1979 and is currently the Head of Casework within the Directorate of Heritage Management.

Dr Deborah Mays is an experienced built and historic environment professional with an established capacity to advise on historic buildings, ancient monuments and historic landscapes and their values, evolution and potential.  She is an expert on future management and sustainable regeneration with an excellent record in problem-solving, motivational management and delivery.

She is currently CEO of The Heritage Place, providing consultancy services.   Previously, she served as Director at Historic Scotland, Assistant Secretary at the Royal Incorporation of Architects and CEO of the Scottish Building Contract Committee. 

Built and historic environment resource management is critical in her work and includes grant-aid and fund-raising.  She can draw on diverse and extensive networks across the spectrum of heritage development, conservation and management, from rural to urban, conservation to new build.  She has published extensively and lectured on diverse subjects at home and abroad, including Berne, Newport Rhode Island, Cracow, Dublin, Belfast, Oxford and Cambridge.  

Deborah is currently a member of the RSA's Media, Creative Industries and Cultural Heritage Steering Group, the Hopetoun House Conservation Advisory Panel and the Built Environment Forum Scotland’s Architecture and Place Committee.  She is a Visiting Fellow at the University Campus Suffolk. 

Recent Projects:

• Pollok Country Park Conservation Area Character Appraisal, Aug - Nov 2014.
• Assessment of heritage issues, proposed development, 2 Holland Park, London, July 2014.
• Project draft for IHBC/ English Heritage on benchmarking local authority conservation services, May 2014.
• Rapporteur for National Trust for Scotland, conference 'Towards a National Collection', 15 May 2014.
• Guest editor, Context, magazine of IHBC, Annual School edition, May to Sept 2014.
• Annual Update Conference, Scottish Building Contract Committee, November 2013.
• Community consultation, proposed Festival of Architecture 2016, April to June 2013.

Research Interests include; Standards and measurement of performance, Health and Safety in heritage management, Regulation and Designations, and Scottish architectural history.

Dr David Mitchell is Director of Conservation at Historic Scotland, the national body for heritage in Scotland. He has responsibility for 345 Properties in Care and their associated collections across Scotland. As Director he is responsible for 'traditional skills and materials', conservation science and technical research, major projects and digital documentation. He has a particular interest in industrial heritage and the conservation of metal structures. He is a trustee of the Scottish Ironwork Foundation, The Smith Museum and Art Gallery and The Scout Association in Scotland. Prior to Historic Scotland he was the MD of Heritage Engineering, a firm of industrial heritage consultants and contractors.

Dr Charles Wemyss has given a crucial contribution to existing historiography with his research on the role of the client in Scottish country-house architecture 1660-1800. As a trustee of one of Scotland’s oldest ancestral seats, Charles Wemyss has an unique experience and angle to research. He embarked upon a part-time research project at the history department of the University of Dundee under the tutelage of Professor Charles McKean. Focussing upon the theme of image in architecture, he was awarded a Ph.D. in 2009 for his thesis: ‘A Study of Aspiration and Ambition: the Scottish Treasury Commission and its impact upon the Development of Scottish Country-House Architecture 1667-1682’.

His work has been published in the journals of the Architectural History Society of Scotland and the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain and he has lectured in the United Kingdom, Europe and America. He appeared in Dan Cruickshank’s television series “The Country House Revealed” and is about to release his book “Noble Houses of Scotland 1660-1800”.