 Strachan, and his brother Alexander, who was hired as the technical instructor of stained glass, opened a stained-glass studio-workshop in Edinburgh.The added stress of working on his own stained glass commissions while teaching and acting as department head, led Strachan to resign his position at the school in 1911.From 1911 until he retired in the 1940s, Strachan worked primarily on stained glass commissions.