Among the volumes of Adam drawings at Sir John Soane’s Museum in London, number 53 is unique. Whereas its companion volumes were pieced together after Robert Adam (1728–92) and James Adam (1732–94) had died, number 53 was compiled while the Adam office was in business. Comprising record drawings of frieze designs from numerous commissions undertaken by the Adam brothers throughout their career, the volume is the work of a single hand and was produced as a cohesive project. However, despite the extent of Adam scholarship and the unusual nature of the volume, number 53 has received almost no attention. Its date, authorship and purpose are here the subject of detailed observation for the first time.

This article draws attention to the archive generated by the programme of hydroelectric construction in the Scottish Highlands between the 1940s and the 1960s. As well as minutes and reports, the archive consists of a large amount of visual material, including ‘general impressions’ depicting proposed infrastructure in its setting. This significant collection addresses current interest in ‘rural modernism’ by shedding light on the architectural history of the Highlands in the middle of the twentieth century, including the ways in which questions of style and materials were debated. It also attests to the role of infrastructure in a broader state-led programme of modernisation in twentieth-century Scotland, complementing existing studies of urban interventions and the new towns.