Orkney Image Library

That place was a dump, big improvement..

How long before they are cutting out the rotten bits!!

Hideous

I totally concur with your observation, Sandy. The old County Home was beautifully stone built and your picture clearly demonstrates the lack of foresight expressed by today's architects. In my opinion the appearance of this landmark building has been completely ruined. Who is responsible? Another shameful architectural disaster are the double storey monstrosities being erected where the GPO buildings once were in Old Scapa Road. How do both these eyesores on either side of a main road leading into and from The City & Royal Burgh ever get through Planning Dept? Do elected representatives of the Council ever do anything to improve matters?

Looks fine to me. I'm sure the whole place will now be fine homes, compared with the grim basic conditions of the old County Home- so surely an improvement, unless you want to hark back to the good old days of TB and rickets? Certainly looks better than the old GPO buildings on Old Scapa Road.

Oh come on Stephen. The GPO buildings were really a picture to behold. (on a dark night after a few pints)

I think if you look at the building as a whole it looks fine.
The older generation does not like change.
They will be happy as long as a room is ready for them at a later date.

Conditions in the old County Home were not "grim" and in no way fostered TB or rickets. The place might be "fine homes" but they will never be fine looking homes.

[I didn't say they fostered TB or rickets, I was merely pointing out that the past wasn't entirely cosy and wholesome. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... - Steven]

The grim basic conditions to which you refer were inside the building. The quality to which I refer was evident on the outside - now tragically gone. To mention the ailments you do is quite pathetic and has nothing to do with the outside appearance. Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.

i totaly agree with Chris Shearer

I think that looks okay.

its an absolute eyesore and a disgrace to do tht to an old building just the measure o the local council alright for them do hideous buildin but if me or you wanted to do that they wid refuse us sayin its not in keepin wae the area the exsisting building absolute joke as far as am concerned they should be ashamed whoever passed tht plans

I pass this building every day and I think it looks great! How would it have looked if it had been built of the usual boring grey concrete, pebble dashed , or clash harrled? You must have variety in the landscape! I think everyone should live in a timber house! I saw a timber Church in Norway that was older than St. Magnus Cathedral so timber can last just as long as any other building material.

Nothing wrong with that.Too much use of stone in Orkney buildings making them looka bit drab and grey.Besides,the original structure was built as a single storey and wouldn't take the weight of another stone storey on top,so it makes sense to use lighter concrete blocks and wood.

I ran my expert eye over this building again the other day, and I thought that not only does the wood look odd on top of the stone, the upper structure looks as if it is a size too big.

I suspect the wooden part is larger than the ground floor so that the rainwater runs off it better without gathering along the join and because if they were the same size the different material would trick the eye into thinking it was actually a size too small (but I am certainly no expert). So I think if an upper storey had to be added, this is as good a way to do it as any. The question is whether an upper storey should have been added at all.