GRAS

Carpenter's Tables — @thegatheringhand Designed by GRAS and made in collaboration with @corkinho_world in three forms: dining, low and side. Each table is made using traditional joinery and finished by hand, allowing the natural character of the materials to speak. The result is an object that feels both ancient and immediate, raw, refined and deeply tactile. @thegatheringhand grows from five decades of architecture and conservation practice, brought to object scale. thegatheringhand.com Photographs by @richardgaston and @elinewillaert , drawing by @alistair_byars

Steel. Concrete. Brick. 130 years of making on the Shore. A building that holds everything it has ever been. Photography: @richardgaston Brown's of Leith. 4-6 Shore.

Happy Earth Day🌿 Tonight Zoe Alston, Director at GRAS and RIAS Advanced Conservation Architect (@zoea_gras ), speaks at Riddle's Court for the final event of the SHBT lecture series: Nature-led Conservation: Can Heritage Survive Without Nature? With more than twenty years in the heritage sector, Zoe leads GRAS's conservation work and its programme of professional development and education. Working with WildLand means entering a collaborative process where design becomes a tool for stewardship — rewilding vast landscapes, repairing fragile buildings and developing sustainable forms of tourism require architectural, ecological and hospitality expertise working together. From vernacular detailing to low-impact materials, from the return of native species to the revival of traditional skills, every decision weighs its effect on land, community and climate. WildLand’s work is driven by responsibility to Scotland’s ecosystems, rural communities and future generations. Zoe’s talk addresses that interdependence directly. Tickets still available through SHBT. 6–8pm. Riddle's Court, Edinburgh. Link to journal in bio. @wildland.scot @scottishhistoricbuildingstrust Photographs: (1) @murrayorr (2-8) @franmart_ for @wildland.scot

House & Garden has included GRAS in its #HG101 for 2026 — the publication’s annual list of Britain’s most influential architects, interior designers and decorators. It’s a wonderful moment to be seen for the work that drives us. We are grateful to @houseandgardenuk for the recognition, and to the clients, collaborators and our team who make the work possible. Read the full list via houseandgarden.co.uk Photography — @franmart_ for @wildland.scot @murrayorr @melodyjoyco @martinkaufmann @evieaitken @gabiesilveira @paula__szturc

How beautiful is this map of our neighbourhood — hand-drawn by architect and artist Estefanía Macchi @tefi.mac / @cafe.y.paciencia ✨ We took it to Cannes earlier this month as part of the RIAS delegation to @mipim_world — to ground our conversations in place. We’re hosting a post-MIPIM gathering at @browns.leith on 22 April. More details coming — message us if you’d like to join → [email protected] ✉️ @riasmembership @scotlandatmipim @custom_lane @natasha__huq @dondazzle82 @gunnar_gras @robertsongroup @wovenwhisky

‘Huq has deftly demonstrated a new paradigm for what is undoubtedly an architectural practice for the future, driven by collaboration, contingency and containment of risk,’ writes Ruth Lang (@sundaegirl ). @natasha_huq from GRAS (@_gras ), shortlisted for the MJ Long Prize for Excellence in Practice 2026, led an act of historic restoration of Preston tower in the Scottish town of Prestonpans. Originally built in the 15th century, Preston Tower had a further two storeys added in the I7th century. For ndreds of years, it stood as a partial ruin together with a dovecote in a walled garden in Prestonpans. The tower's masonry walls were repaired, and a new staircase wraps around the ruin, with large blocks of sandstone at the base and lighter timber steps held by a steel structure. The monument is now accessible to the public again – for the first time in 40 years. Read the full story in the W awards issue and at the link in our bio. 📸 1, 4: @murrayorr , 2,3: @paula_szturc

Natasha Huq has been shortlisted for the MJ Long Prize for Excellence in Practice, as part of the W Awards — an honour that recognises exemplary work by women and non-binary people in architecture and culture. Over fifteen years in practice, Natasha has developed an approach rooted in close attention: to fabric, to material longevity, to the conditions that allow a place to sustain itself beyond a single intervention. Her work moves through repair, reconfiguration, and stewardship — setting each decision within a framework of future care. At Preston Tower in East Lothian, that meant stabilising structure, selecting materials for repairability and drawing client, contractor and community into shared custodianship. The repair of a single stone understood as part of sustaining the whole. You can read more about Natasha's process in Ruth Lang’s essay in the March issue of @thearchitecturalreview , published in association with @architectsjournal . Congratulations to all those shortlisted: Jennifer Pirie of @henleyhalebrown , Rowan Seaford of @carmodygroarke and Evelynne Vanhoutte of Sergison Bates. Read more about Natasha's work and approach in our journal → gras.co/journal @natasha__huq · @architectsjournal · @thearchitecturalreview Photograph from the site by @murrayorr

Since opening in November, Brown's of Leith has been written about by @gcsoutar for @the.scotsman , @ailsa_sheldon for the @guardian and @chitgrrlwriter for @theobserveruk . Last week Time Out named Edinburgh third in their World's Best Cities Index for 2026 —with our project among the places cited. Each piece pointed to what happens when existing communities, economies and buildings are repaired and activated. GRAS has been doing that work — with care — in Scotland for the past few decades. This is most visible in Leith, where the built fabric carries the weight of the city's industrial and merchant history — Lamb's House with @lambspavilion and @custom_lane . The former George Brown & Sons Engineering Works on the Shore — a metalworks for over 130 years — is the latest. The ground floor is now home to @haze.shore , @civerinos_official , and @shrimpwreck 's shuck bar — food, drink and making under the same roof. Two key material gestures define this vast space. The steel furniture, made by @theritualworks , takes soft, organic forms in stainless steel — designed as sculptural objects, distinct from the retained industrial fabric. Sandstone, from @huttonstonecoltd 's Darney quarry — waste from the stone brick manufacturing process, open-grained and rough-arrised — is coursed into the long bar at the end of the room. The mortar allows the structure to be dismantled and the stone reused. We're grateful to everyone who has joined and supported this project so far — our partners and team: @gunnar_gras @david_james_allan @alistair_byars @oohmince @dondazzle82 @paula__szturc Photography by @richardgaston The full case study is on our website — link in bio.

Today we celebrate Gabriela Chojnowska (@gabjgabi ), who has successfully passed her Part 3 examinations and is now an ARB Registered Architect. Gabriela’s current portfolio focuses on conservation and adaptive reuse. She is most engaged when on site: undertaking condition surveys, recording historic fabric, or navigating scaffolding to observe construction details taking shape. A deep interest in the intersection of historic structures and contemporary intervention drives her methodology, informing how she reads and responds to the built environment. Her approach to design is defined by focus and deliberation—whether resolving a complex detail, painting, or competing in ultra-trail marathons. Each discipline demands the same fundamental rigour: clarity of thought, precision and endurance. Having graduated from the Kent School of Architecture in 2018, Gabriela was awarded an MArch with Distinction from the University of Strathclyde in 2022. She joined GRAS in 2019, and we are incredibly proud to see her achieve this culmination of her architectural training in 2026. Congratulations, Gabriela. 📸 @murrayorr

Meet us in Cannes. 9–13 March. This week, Natasha Huq, Gunnar Groves-Raines and Daryll Bunce are representing @_gras and @custom_lane at @mipim_world bringing our perspective shaped by the specific gravity of Leith. Our work moves across scales and disciplines, from adaptive reuse and urban thinking to furniture, objects and the everyday life of place. We think beyond the conventional role of the architect. We look at how to conserve, repair and adapt the built environment, shaping the physical structures as well as human conditions that allow a place to breathe and grow over time. We advocate for a Scottish model of development rooted in quiet craft, heritage and long-term value. The conversation on grassroots regeneration, placemaking and cumulative development continues back home. On 22 April, we host a gathering at Brown’s of Leith, returning to the very physical fabric from which our practice grows. To join us, write to [email protected]. @riasmembership @mipim_world @scotgov @scotlandatmipim @natasha__huq @gunnar_gras @dondazzle82 @wovenwhisky @browns.leith

Preston Tower is among 14 projects shortlisted for the 2026 RIAS Awards. We are so grateful to see the recognition for the GRAS approach to conservation, and the collaborative process at the heart of this project. The phased, light-touch approach adopted at Preston Tower, Doocot and Gardens, a scheduled monument shaped as much by its community as by its built fabric. The project brought together local contractors, conservation specialists, archaeologists and residents to deliver a series of modest but transformative architectural interventions. Our thanks to @riasmembership for recognising conservation as a public act, grounded in care, collaboration and the future of place. Congratulations to our clients, the project team and the community who have safeguarded the monument’s future: @natasha__huq Dr Stewart Stirling @arianecporter @johnrobson_87 @eastlothiancouncil @nationaltrustforscotland Prestonpans Community Council @friendsofprestontower @candsgroup Graciela Ainsworth Sculpture Conservation CFA Archaeology Ltd. AOC Archaeology TD Tree & Land Services NBC Environment Andrew Turner Blacksmiths @morham_brotchie @narroassociates @ltclarkuk Artibrand Studio Winton Bob Marshall Piers Dixon 📸 @paula__szturc / drawings @arianecporter

Glassblower’s Vessels, seconds sale at @custom_lane Starting Tuesday 3 February Designed by @_gras in collaboration with glass artist Edmond Byrne, each piece is hand-blown and, while still hot, immersed in cold water, shocking the surface into a distinctive crackled texture. Asymmetry, light play and textural depth shape each vessel, while subtly tapered forms ensure balance, stability and everyday use. Vase — £40 Carafe — £25 Tumbler — £15 Limited quantities available at Custom Lane HRBR residency — 03.02–20.02