Fasnakyle Power Station

Fasnakyle Power Station

Designed by James Shearer, architect to the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board (NoSHEB) architectural panel, and completed in 1950, with sculptural panels by Hew Lorimer. A later single-storey bay forming a separate turbine hall was added to the left (east) around 2003.

The main building is a large, roughly rectangular-plan, eight-bay-deep single-storey-and-attic turbine hall, flanked on three sides — north, west, and south — by a similar but lower range containing offices and workshops. The walls are built in squared Morayshire Burghhead sandstone rubble with tooled ashlar dressings. There is a banded base course and a banded string course to the turbine hall, with a narrow banded eaves course that breaks into a pediment above the main entrance, beneath which sits the NoSHEB coat of arms. The entrance bay is advanced and features tooled ashlar surrounds with windows set in recessed panels. The windows to the turbine hall are set within full-height raised ashlar panels. Ground floor windows are predominantly large, with plain chamfered-edge surrounds. The smaller attic storey windows have rusticated blocks to their outer frames, with large carved panels above depicting Pictish symbols. A large vehicular entrance doorway to the right (west) has teak doors and a carved panel above inscribed "FASNAKYLE POWER STATION". Glazing throughout is multi-pane metal in painted metal surrounds, with some casement windows. The roof is flat, with rainwater goods hidden behind a parapet, served by cast-iron hoppers and downpipes.

East (side) elevation: approximately two bays, forming part of the 2003 extension, with a single large window to the centre in a surround similar to that on the principal north elevation.

South (rear) elevation: similar in character to the principal north elevation, but oversailing the tailrace on large concrete piers. Additional smaller ground floor windows sit beneath the large full-height windows in surrounds matching those on the north elevation.

West (end) elevation: eight bays, with a deeply recessed bay to the far left (north) and an advanced stair tower to the left (north) flanking a five-bay section, with a lower single-storey bay to the far right (south). Rubble rybats and lintels throughout. Fenestration is roughly regular, with small bipartite windows to the stair tower irregularly placed. The stair tower bipartite windows have large bracketed advanced cills and a carved Pictish symbol above. Four ensuite vehicular access doors to the ground floor of the centre section are set in plain concrete surrounds, with a small off-centre window to the left.

Interior: predominantly plain and functional, with some tiled and wood-block flooring and timber door surrounds to the entrance and office spaces. The turbine hall interior is plain, with a tiled floor and piers to the walls supporting a large travelling crane.

Fasnakyle is an outstanding example of a large hydro electric power station, representing the archetypal vernacular modernist design philosophy of James Shearer. It was conceived as the control hub for the Affric and Cannich scheme — one of the major post-war hydro electric developments undertaken by NoSHEB — and forms a key component of the Glen Affric hydro electric scheme as a whole. The station is also a preeminent expression of Shearer's design ideals: his determination to integrate large industrial buildings into their natural settings through the use of local stone and Pictish symbolic carving. The scheme played a significant role in delivering NoSHEB's social agenda by bringing power to remote north Highland communities and stimulating economic regeneration.

The 2003 addition of a fourth turbine bay to the east of the original turbine hall is in keeping with the original design, replicating the materials and form of the rest of the building, though it lacks the attic storey of the original range.

Historical and architectural context

The proposal to develop a hydro electric scheme in Glen Affric had attracted considerable criticism even before NoSHEB was established in 1943. The board was acutely aware of this sensitivity when it brought forward the scheme and took care to ensure that major elements were designed with their setting in mind. Two stations — at Deanie and Culligran — were built underground, and the main storage dam for the Fasnakyle scheme was located in a separate watershed (see separate listing for Mullardoch Dam). This sensitivity to landscape is equally evident at Fasnakyle itself, in the choice of high-quality local stone and the incorporation of Pictish motifs, consciously linking the building to its setting within an area of historic Caledonian pine forest.

All NoSHEB developments required parliamentary approval, and objections on grounds of scenic amenity were common. To address these, the board appointed a panel of architectural advisers. Following recommendations from the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS), Reginald Fairlie (1883–1952), James Shearer (1881–1962), and Harold Ogle Tarbolton (1869–1947) were appointed to the panel in 1943. The panel's role initially was to adjudicate on competition entries, but by 1947 it had evolved into one of direct design involvement. The architects had little control over the form of the buildings — that was left to the engineers — but they did influence their appearance and style. The strict demarcation between the roles of engineer and architect, combined with a growing desire to absorb buildings into the landscape, produced a distinctive architectural approach characterised as vernacular modernism, unique to NoSHEB buildings.

Following Tarbolton's death in 1947 and Fairlie's in 1952, Shearer was able to exert greater influence over the board's architectural direction. In response to increasing public concern about the impact of such developments on scenic amenity, the designs of the early-to-mid 1950s moved away from the confident classical modernism seen at Sloy and Pitlochry (see separate listings) and toward simple primary shapes clad in local stone — something Shearer was passionate about — giving the buildings a vernacular character rooted in their landscape. Carved panels depicting Pictish motifs, as seen at Fasnakyle, were a further development of this theme.

James Shearer spent the early part of his career in the offices of John Burnet and Son in Glasgow before beginning private practice in 1907. From 1949, in partnership with George Annand, the practice was responsible for some iconic post-war architecture, including David Marshall Lodge in Aberfoyle (see separate listing). Shearer's NoSHEB buildings are characterised by rugged rubble facings and functional forms combined with carefully applied architectural features derived from vernacular and baronial styles — a conscious effort to embed new structures in the landscape, with several compositions echoing the influence of his early mentor Burnet. Shearer's designs for NoSHEB also reflect the influence of Dutch architect Willem Marinus Dudok, whom Shearer visited in 1952 whilst representing the Royal Scottish Academy. Dudok's style is characterised by the dramatic massing of primary shapes and the use of deep overhanging eaves.

The station was originally designed with three 22-megawatt turbines. An additional 17-megawatt turbine was installed in 2005 in the additional bay to the east of the original turbine hall; it runs continuously on the compensation water provided to the river. The station has a head of 159 metres and an average output of 254 million units per year.