The Scotsman

If you're considering adding an extension, renovating your house, or converting your loft this year, the expert advice you need is right on hand in the shape of the hugely popular "Architect in the House" scheme, which runs as part of the RIAS sponsored Architecture Week from 17-26 June. For the week's duration, architects throughout Scotland are offering to visit people in their own homes and give up to an hour's expert advice on any aspect of a prospective building project they may have in mind. All they ask in return is that homeowners make a reciprocal minimum donation of £25 to Shelter, to help the charity maintain their fight against the blight of homelessness and poor housing in Scotland. Jeremy Anderson of Edinburgh's Andell Architects has been involved with the scheme since it began eight years ago. "Originally it was just myself and a few like-minded volunteers but now there are architects participating in most areas of the country," he says. "The aim of the scheme is to help promote the benefits of instructing an architect for domestic scale projects. We can give homeowners a taster of how they might profit from having an architect help them realise their home project and by boosting the funds of Shelter in the process, we're putting something back to a charity which, because it's concerned with housing issues, is dear to most architects' hearts."