Subtext

Sometimes you enter a space in a building, and your first thought is – I’d love to live in a place like this. Sometimes these spaces are designed to be exceptional like the interior of the East Wing of the National Gallery in Washington DC, designed by IM Pei. And sometimes you’re genuinely caught off guard by the quality of an everyday space.

Ayr Academy has a fair claim to be the oldest school site in Scotland, and, at the rear of the building, overlooking the river, is a wonderful northlit art room. You could discuss its history and architectural references – or you could just say that it is a great place to be in.

‘A great place to be in’. Sometimes, we need to remember that this is always a part of the brief: the subtext of living well in buildings that we ignore at our peril.