R ichard Gibson and I turn up unannounced at a primary school in Hamnavoe, Shetland – a light, airy, steel-framed structure of repeating shallow-pitched roofs designed by him more than 40 years ago. We are enthusiastically welcomed by the headteacher, Helen Robertson, who is delighted by the generous, sociable area he formed between the classrooms. Each also opens on to a semicircular external enclosure which, along with a series of little porches, provides shelter from the north Atlantic weather.
It is the creation of an architect for whom his profession “is not about designing icons but making a framework for people to live their lives”. Gibson, now aged 89, has for decades kept the ideals of public architecture alive. In the 1960s he worked for the London Borough of Camden, then a leader in the design of social housing, feeling like others of his generation that such work was the best possible use of his skills.
When that idea fell away elsewhere, discouraged by Margaret Thatcher’s suppression of council-built homes, he kept at it. In the northernmost British Isles he created thoughtful, well-made places for people to live. His projects respond to Shetland’s windy climate and steep landscapes, and to its hardy, constructive, communal spirit.
Some form sheltered enclaves with sturdy masonry, others are timber structures that light up the landscape with their strong colours. Now, when the need for genuinely affordable homes is pressing, and the quality of their des.