Cut Fold Build

Feeling a bit cooped up these days? Wishing you could stretch your legs and head for a holiday in the Highlands and Islands? Or a day out in Glasgow or Edinburgh city centre?

What if we told you that you could bring some sites from across Scotland to you! Introducing: Cut • Fold • Build.

We’ve created 11 templates of Scottish buildings that you can print off and assemble in your own home. It’s like constructing a wee Scotland in your living room. You can build everything from tenements and tower blocks to medieval chapels and 17th century homes. Constructing the buildings is easy – you just follow some simple instructions: a thick solid line = cut; a dashed line = fold; and a dot pattern = glue. We’ve also provided some numbers on the template to indicate the recommended sequence of assembly. Some templates are more complex and require multiple pieces of paper for assembly.

We’ve included some examples of constructed models below, but these are just the beginning. You could do some research into traditional Scottish housing and try to build lifelike paper reconstructions. Or let your imagination run wild – maybe you think Shetland crofts would look nice with stained glass windows, or perhaps a metallic gold tenement is in order! We’d love to see what you come up with, so make sure to share your creations with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by tagging @scotcivictrust and using the hashtag #CutFoldBuild.

Click the links below to download the Cut • Fold • Build templates. We’ve listed them from easiest to more difficult.

Easthouse Croft, West Burra, Shetland

17th century Scottish house

Tenement, Trongate, Glasgow

Scottish tower blocks

Main Street Shops, Tobermory, Mull

Tesco Superstore, Dingwall

Teampull Mholuaidh (St Moluag’s Chapel), Eoropaidh, Isle of Lewis

Stornoway Ferry Terminal, Isle of Lewis

An Lanntair Arts Centre, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis

Rowallan Castle Gate Lodge, East Ayrshire

Rothesay Pavilion, Isle of Bute

Please note: tenement, tower block and seventeeth-century house were designed originally by staff of Scotland’s Urban Past, a community-led programme at Historic Environment Scotland which ran from 2014 to 2019.

Cut • Fold • Build is a Doors Open Days 2019 legacy project delivered by Scottish Civic Trust.  This project is part-financed by the Scottish Government and the European Community Argyll and the Isles and Outer Hebrides Leader 2014-2020 Programme.