Field Visit
Date 2010
Event ID 881985
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/881985
Fasnakyle power station receives water from the outfall from the Bennevean dam which is conveyed to the station by tunnel and steel pipe. The water is used to drive three recently refurbished turbines and a fourth later turbine in a later additional bay to the east end of the powerhouse. The station has a capacity of 69 megawatts. Originally designed as the control centre for the scheme, the station also includes a number of offices and workshops. Fasnakyle is an excellent example of a medium to large hydroelectric power station with an additional role as the control centre for a large scheme. The architectural detailing of the building is a good example of the delicate balance which was struck between functional and modernist styles. The design also makes a number of conscious references to its setting, in response to concerns about the impact it would have on scenic amenity in the area. The use of local stone for construction ties the building into the landscape, ensuring it merges with the surrounding topography. The window lintels on also contain carved panels, by Hew Lorimer, depicting a number of Pictish symbols clearly tying the building to local traditions and history. This combination of a desire to express the modernity of the sector and a requirement that buildings reference the traditions of their setting is clear in the overall design with a cubic modernist overall form and some modernist motif such as the large areas of glazing to the turbine hall combined with historical detailing to window surrounds and the use of coursed rubble. The end bay of the turbine hall is a later addition, housing an additional turbine and dates from c.2003. National Archives of Scotland (NAS), Ref: NSE North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board Collection (1943 -1990); NAS, Ref: NSE1 North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board Minutes (1943-1990); NAS, Ref NSE2 North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board Annual Reports (1943-1990); PL Payne, 1988; J Miller, 2002, 52: E Wood, 2002, 81, 88; S MacConnachie, Architectural Heritage, XIV, (2003); Scottish Hydro Electric, 2000, 12.
