Education is the foundation of all professions.

The Society has put at the forefront of its drive a cohesive and agreed standard of education that should define the career route to a profession.

The first step was to adopt and clarify the pan European minimum standards of a degree education.

The second step was to only offer student membership to those on a degree course so as to support those individuals who have elected to invest time and energy in academic study.

Academic Papers by courtesy of Frazer McDonald Hay (School of Interior Architecture, Napier University, Edinburgh) member of The SBID Educational Committee:

• ScotlandSystems to Recycle Buildings & The Interdisciplinary Nature of Interior Architecture
  The intention of this paper is to highlight the environmental merits of recycling buildings, to present methods [or systems]
  developed to tackle this form of environmentally sensitive construction and to discuss the potential advantages of an interdisciplinary design and construction Pedagogy... read more

• Can Modernism and Post-Modernism be Scottish? Were 20th Century architects in Scotland able to naturalise their buildings to the Scottish scene, and, if so, how? “The distinctive characteristics of any national style of architecture depend in part upon endowed geographical factors and in part upon the circumstances of political and economic history. Scotland’s geographical endowment, in comparison with that of many other western European countries, is a markedly unfavourable one. Small in size and remote in situation, saddled with difficult terrain and harsh climate, the country cannot be said to present many natural advantages for pursuit of architecture”. [Dunbar J 1966]... read more

• History and Theory. There is a fine balance between architecture and humanity. The buildings we design directly influence the way in which we live our lives, they direct and manipulate the way in which we engage with our social values, educational, commercial and spiritual needs, even our appreciation of the arts. This means the balance between society and architecture is in a constant state of flux, buildings and people evolve repeatedly, new buildings are built to facilitate our social development but more often than not, it is the existing buildings which are re-shaped... read more

• World Heritage - West Bank Wall. This document proposes the West Bank Wall separating Israel from Palestine be listed as a World Heritage site. This important site has huge cultural significance internationally and is a key iconic structure which highlights the struggle between cultures and religious beliefs. The West Bank is nodifferent from the other walls in our history which have divided people and fuelled conflict and oppression... read more

• Re-use. “Only a fool will build in defiance of the past. What is new and significant always must be grafted to old roots, the truly vital roots that are chosen with great care from the ones that merely survive. And what a delicate process it is to distinguish radical vitality from the wastes of mere survival, but that is the only way to achieve progress instead of disaster." [Bartok, 1962 page xvii]... read more