Currently showing at Fire Station Creative in Dunfermline is an exhibition of paintings by James Shearer RSA and other architects who brought hydropower to the Scottish Highlands. This is a special edition of the acclaimed SSE exhibition Power from the Glens, shown first at Eden Court in Inverness and featured on this website, as it shines a spotlight on Shearer – a visionary architect who was instrumental in the transformation of the Highlands into powerhouses, and was the architect of Dunfermline’s old Fire Station, where the exhibition is staged.
In the 1940s and 50s, under the motto Neart nan Gleann (Power from the Glens), the Hydro board – a nationalised enterprise – identified 102 potential sites for dams and power stations. With power stations requiring massive infrastructure such as dams to create lochs, and buildings above and below ground, the planning process would take into careful consideration formal planning requests, often provoking critical comment. So a panel of architects was appointed who would ensure that the buildings were, where possible, more than simply expressions of their function, and artists were commissioned to produce images to show how the proposed infrastructure would ‘fit into’ the natural environment.
This exhibition shows the artists’ impressions for many of the schemes, alongside architectural drawings – all very much in the style of the time.
Hosted by Fire Station Creative in celebration of the Royal Scottish Academy’s 200th anniversary, the exhibition brings together large-scale artworks on loan from SSE’s collection of stunning watercolours, detailed architectural drawings, and engineering plans from Shearer and his contemporaries — the talented architects and engineers who helped design and construct 54 power stations, 78 dams, and over 300 kilometres of underground tunnels. The display celebrates the creativity, collaboration and vision that brought affordable, hydro-electric power to Highland communities, transforming how people lived, worked, and connected to the landscape.
Entry to the exhibition is free.
