House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade

This house in the Scottish Highlands by London office Raw Architecture Workshop is partly buried into its sloping site and features a kinked plan that directs views towards the sunrise and sunset. (+ slideshow).

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade

Located on a patch of former grazing land on Scotland’s rugged northwest coast, the house was designed by Raw Architecture Workshop for a young couple who wanted to optimise views of the sun rising behind mountains in the east and setting over the islands in the west.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade

“During an initial visit we pinpointed specific axes that would provide [the] best views from the site,” said the architects. “These were translated into physical models and the symmetrical, splayed and cranked plan was derived.”

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade

Starting from the simple gabled form of typical Highland cottages, the architects created a building that provides the space required by a modern family and twisted the plan to direct one end towards the mountains and the other towards the islands.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade

The gable ends were widened to create space for expansive windows and the roofline lowered in the middle to reduce the building’s mass and exposure to the harsh climate.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade

Burying the exposed concrete base into the hillside also protects it from the weather and allows the surrounding soil to provide natural insulation.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade

Wild grasses that will gradually grow up around this submerged section will help to ground the house in its surroundings and the architects chose a black stained timber finish for the exterior surfaces to echo “the characteristics of the peat, gorse and stormy skies.”

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade

To make the most of the spectacular views, the main living spaces are arranged on the upper storeys, with the basement containing an entrance hall, boat room and spare bedroom.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade

“There is a clear distinction in internal arrangement of space and function across three levels denoted by changes in light levels, scale of spaces, floor to ceiling heights and materials,” said the architects.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade

From the dark entrance area, a birch ply staircase leads up to a first floor containing three more bedrooms and a hallway incorporating library shelving.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade

The staircase is filled with natural light from a long vertical window and continues to the open-plan upper floor containing the main living space, which is connected to a kitchen and dining area.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade

In this space the building’s pitched ceiling results in a complex series of angled surfaces as it kinks in the centre before framing windows in the gabled ends.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade

Pale wooden floors and cabinetry add to the light and bright feel of this room, which opens onto a narrow covered terrace with steps leading to the garden at the higher end of the site.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade

Photography is by David Barbour.

Here’s a description from the architect:


House at Camusdarach Sands, Scotland

Over 2000 years ago the occupants of Skara Brae, Orkney used locally sourced materials to build partially submerged dwellings providing thermal insulation and protection from the storm battered climate. The weather definitely hasn’t improved, but for the most part the buildings remain intact.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade
Location diagram – click for larger image

Incorporating these principles, Raw Architecture Workshop has completed a new build house on steeply sloping former rough grazing land at Camusdarach Sands.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade
Lower floor plan – click for larger image

The Clients, a young couple already living and working in this isolated location, were keen that we develop the proposals to capture the spectacular sun rise views over the mountains and sun set behind the islands. Given the topography of the site our early response was to locate the living spaces on the upper portion of the plot, with sleeping accommodation and entry level stacked below.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade
Middle floor plan – click for larger image

During an initial visit we pinpointed specific axis that would provide best views from the site. These were translated into physical models and the symmetrical, splayed and cranked plan was derived.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade
Upper floor plan – click for larger image

Similar forms were also explored in the section to reduce the visual mass, significantly improve the field of view from opposite ends of the space and increase daylight levels, which are critical in mid-winter around this line of latitude. In time the wild grasses will re-grow around the building to further reinforce the idea of a building built into, and not on top of, the hill.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade
Roof plan – click for larger image

Construction is low tech consisting of an exposed concrete base sitting beneath the more expressive timber frame superstructure. There is a clear distinction in internal arrangement of space and function across 3 levels denoted by changes in light levels, scale of spaces, floor to ceiling heights and materials.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade
Section – click for larger image

Entrance is at the lower level into a darker, utilitarian concrete bunker. As you progress up through the building, via the birch ply staircase, spaces enlarge, daylight levels and ceiling heights soar, and materials are characterised by a lighter finish. The angular form of the building is reflected in the black painted cedar internal door handles and handrail detail of the plywood balustrade.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade
North elevation – click for larger image

We were conscious that connection to the garden would be critical for a rural house and felt it important that you were able to step out of the main living spaces directly onto the landscape. This factor controlled the balance between elevating the top floor sufficiently to see the islands and keeping it low enough so that you were only 3 steps from the garden.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade
West elevation – click for larger image

Environmental considerations vary in scale and type, from building position and orientation, local labour, skills and materials, to the inclusion of an air source heat pump and super insulation to provide a U-Value of 0.15 [W/m2k] to walls and roof.

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade
East elevation – click for larger image

The final external colour was much debated and in the end black was chosen to tune into the characteristics of the peat, gorse and stormy skies. Perhaps, in a few years, we might try a deep red…

House at Camusdarach Sands by Raw Architecture Workshop has a kinked facade
South elevation – click for larger image

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Steven Holl completes extension to Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art

American architect Steven Holl has completed his new building for the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland, where its geometric matte-glass exterior stands in contrast to the decorative sandstone facade of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s masterpiece across the street (+ slideshow).

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

Steven Holl‘s Reid Building provides modern studios for the Glasgow School of Art and was designed to forge “a symbiotic relationship” with the historic campus building completed by Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh a decade century earlier.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

The new five-storey-high building replaces the school’s Newbery Tower and Foulis Building, but wraps around the three-storey stone Assembly Building, which houses the school’s popular student union.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

One of the main aims of the design was to bring as much natural light as possible into the building, so Holl created three cylindrical shafts of light that he calls “Driven Voids”, which stretch right down from the roof to the basement.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

Spaces inside the building were also arranged with respect to their lighting requirements, so the majority of studios and workshops are positioned along the northern edge of the plan, where they will receive more consistent levels of daylight.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

A central network of staircases and ramps extends around, beside and across the three lightwells, helping students to orientate themselves within the building.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

These link all of the floors, including the two basement levels, and lead up from the lobby, exhibition galleries and seminar rooms of the ground floor to workshops, studios, project rooms and a lecture room elsewhere in the building.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

Artist and former Glasgow School of Art student Martin Boyce was commissioned by the architects to design a piece to mark the entrance to the new building, and his screen of painted steel and glass vines hangs down from the ceiling.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

Describing the piece as “a flourish of coloured glass catching and projecting washes of light,” Holl explained: “We see this colour in positive contrast to the original colours of Mackintosh and an inspiration to students and the community.”

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

The architects are also planting a terrace outside the building, which is intended to resemble the grassy machair plains that are particular to parts of the British Isles.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

Photography is by Paul Riddle.

Here’s some more information from the Glasgow School of Art:


The Reid Building Glasgow, United Kingdom (2009 – 2014)

Following an Estates Review that established, with the exception of the Mackintosh building, the School’s Garnethill estate of some nine separate buildings was no longer fit for purpose, a plan was developed with the aspiration to create a more focused campus of facilities to provide the GSA with world class spaces.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

The core principle of Phase 1 of the campus plan was to create a new, purpose-built academic building housing a broad range of studios and teaching facilities for the School of Design, as well as workshops, lecture facilities, communal student areas and exhibition spaces for the School as a whole, and a new visitor centre.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

Steven Holl Architects of New York, in association with Glasgow-based JM Architects and Arup Engineering, were selected in September 2009 to design and deliver the Phase 1 building, which will be called the Reid Building in honour of Dame Seona Reid who stood down as Director of the GSA in the summer of 2013, to sit fittingly opposite the category ‘A’ listed Mackintosh building.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

The development (including costs incurred in the re-housing of the School of Design during the re-build) has been funded by a grant from the Scottish Funding Council. The development has been delivered on time and on budget.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

The Design

The Reid Building, which replaces the Newbery Tower and Foulis Building, is in complementary contrast to Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art (1899 – 1909) – forging a symbiotic relation in which each structure heightens the integral qualities of the other. A thin translucent materiality in considered contrast to the masonry of the Mackintosh building – volumes of light which express the school’s activity in the urban fabric embodying a forward-looking life for the arts.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

This project’s unique interior and exterior forces on the design are the catalysts for creating a new 21st century model for the art school. Working simultaneously from the inside out – engaging the functional needs and psychological desires of the programme – and the outside in – making connections to the city campus and relating to the Mackintosh building opposite – the design embodies the school’s aspirations in the city’s fabric.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

Mackintosh’s amazing manipulation of the building section for light in inventive ways has inspired our approach towards a plan of volumes in different light. The studio/workshop is the basic building block of the building. Spaces have been located not only to reflect their interdependent relationships but also their varying needs for natural light. Studios are positioned on the north facade with large inclined north facing glazing to maximise access to the desirable high quality diffuse north light. Spaces that do not have a requirement for the same quality of natural light, such as the refectory and offices, are located on the south facade where access to sunlight can be balanced with the occupants needs and the thermal performance of the space through application of shading.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

“Driven Voids of light” allow for the integration of structure, spatial modulation and light. The “Driven Void” light shafts deliver natural light through the depth of the building providing direct connectivity with the outside world through the changing intensity and colour of the sky. In addition, they provide vertical circulation through the building, eliminating the need for air conditioning.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

Along the south elevation, at the same height as the Mackintosh main studios, a landscape loggia in the form of a Machair gives the school an exterior social core open to the city. The natural vegetation with some stonework routes the water into a small recycling water pond which will reflect dappled sunlight onto the ceiling inside.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl

A “Circuit of Connection” throughout the new GSA encourages the ‘creative abrasion’ across and between departments that is central to the workings of the school. The open circuit of stepped ramps links all major spaces – lobby, exhibition space, project spaces, lecture theatre, seminar rooms, studios, workshops and green terraces for informal gatherings and exhibitions.

Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl
Site plan – click for larger image
Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl
Basement floor plan – click for larger image
Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl
Ground floor plan – click for larger image
Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl
First floor plan – click for larger image
Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl
Second floor plan – click for larger image
Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl
Third floor plan – click for larger image
Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl
Fourth floor plan – click for larger image
Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl
Mezzanine floor plan – click for larger image
Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl
Section one – click for larger image
Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl
Section two – click for larger image
Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl
Section three – click for larger image
Glasgow School of Art by Steven Holl
Section four – click for larger image

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Designs proposed for union jack flag without Scotland

Alternative designs proposed for the union jack flag without Scotland

News: alternatives to the current United Kingdom flag presented by a national flag charity have provoked a debate about whether a new design should be commissioned if Scotland chooses independence in its upcoming referendum.

Alternative designs proposed for the union jack flag without Scotland
The union jack flag with gold St David’s cross added

The Flag Institute, an independent charity dedicated to the study and documentation of flags, asked experts and members of the public to design new versions of the union jack that would reflect Scotland’s independence.

Alternative designs proposed for the union jack flag without Scotland
Design exchanging the blue of Scotland’s cross of St Andrew with the black of Wales’ cross of St. David

The designs were proposed by people responding to a survey conducted by the Flag Institute, in which 65 percent of respondents claimed the Union Flag should change if Scotland becomes independent.

Alternative designs proposed for the union jack flag without Scotland
Design with a colour change from blue to black and symbols representing the different (current) home nations

The United Kingdom’s current flag features the saltire of St Andrew representing Scotland, the English cross of St George and the red saltire of St Patrick for Ireland.

Alternative designs proposed for the union jack flag without Scotland
Design incorporating the green of the Welsh Dragon flag

Suggestion for a possible new flag included replacing the saltire with colours or shapes representing Wales, which was part of the English kingdom when the flag was originally designed.

Alternative designs proposed for the union jack flag without Scotland
Design with black and gold from the St. David flag

One proposal showed the blue saltire of St Andrew replaced with the black ground and yellow cross of the patron saint of Wales, St David.

Alternative designs proposed for the union jack flag without Scotland
Design combining elements from the existing flags

Other designs employed the red, white and green colours of the Welsh Dragon flag, or featured the dragon itself. A design by John Yates fragmented the colours and crosses of each nation into a pattern of overlapping shapes, while others integrated royal iconography.

Alternative designs proposed for the union jack flag without Scotland
Modern interpretation of the flag with the colours of St David’s flag and the Scottish blue

The Flag Institute’s chief executive Charles Ashburner pointed out that the organisation is neither encouraging nor discouraging a change to the flag, but is “simply here to facilitate and inform the debate if there is an appetite for such a thing.”

Alternative designs proposed for the union jack flag without Scotland
Design with the Royal Coat of Arms added and surrounded by a garland of items symbolic of the Commonwealth nations

“As this subject has generated the largest post bag of any single subject in our history ever, there clearly is such an appetite,” Ashburner added.

Alternative designs proposed for the union jack flag without Scotland
Design with the white of St Andrew’s saltire removed and a crown and Royal Standard included

When the alternative flags were posted on the BBC’s online magazine they prompted further suggestions from the public, including many “which kept the shapes in the current union jack but changed the colours.”

Alternative designs proposed for the union jack flag without Scotland
Design with elements of the Welsh Dragon flag (Y Ddraig Goch)

The Scottish public will vote on the issue of independence on 18 September 2014, however the College of Arms, which oversees matters relating to flags and heraldry and acts under Crown Authority, told British broadcaster ITV that there are no plans to change the Union Flag if Scotland becomes an independent state.

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Zinc-clad loft extension by Konishi Gaffney creates an extra bedroom

Scottish studio Konishi Gaffney has constructed a wide dormer window to convert the loft of a terraced house in Edinburgh into an extra bedroom.

Zinc-clad loft extension by Konishi Gaffney creates an extra bedroom

Konishi Gaffney, which is led by Scottish architect Kieran Gaffney and Japanese designer Makiko Konishi, added the roof extension to a two-storey house in Edinburgh’s Portobello – a seaside community filled with heritage properties.

Entitled Regent Street Dormer, the zinc-clad structure projects out from the rear of the house’s shallow-pitched roof to double the amount of useable floor space within the attic.

Zinc-clad loft extension by Konishi Gaffney creates an extra bedroom

“The planners were resistant to the idea of a dormer in this location at all, but following long negotiations a rear dormer was conceded,” explained Gaffney, noting that the property sits within the immediate vicinity of over 50 listed buildings.

“We then made a case for a low profile, long dormer, more than twice as long as is normally permitted, because this had less visual impact than a dormer located near the eaves,” he added.

Zinc-clad loft extension by Konishi Gaffney creates an extra bedroom

Pre-weathered zinc gives a charcoal colour to the outer walls of the structure blending in with the existing slate roof.

The west-facing picture window spans one face and sits within a tapered recess. “[It] includes an idiosyncratic splay to let afternoon light in,” said Gaffney.

Zinc-clad loft extension by Konishi Gaffney creates an extra bedroom

A timber shutter at one end of the window lets in fresh air. “This is a nod to my favourite window – located at Louis Kahn’s Fischer House – where the glass is fixed and oak window shutters open for ventilation,” the architect told Dezeen.

The new bedroom is painted white and contains enough space for a double bed and a wall of built-in storage. A wooden staircase connects the room with the two storeys below.

Zinc-clad loft extension by Konishi Gaffney creates an extra bedroom

Regent Street Dormer is one of 24 projects shortlisted for the AJ Small Projects 2014. The winner will be announced next month.

Axonometric dormer detail of Zinc-clad loft extension by Konishi Gaffney creates an extra bedroom
Axonometric diagram of dormer – click for larger image

Photography is by Alan Craigie.

Here’s the project description from Kieran Gaffney:


Regent Street Dormer

The project was to extend a small 1st floor flat into the loft and create a new bedroom with dormer. A simple brief complicated only by the lack of headroom in the loft, the client’s design ambition and conservative planning rules in this conservation area of Edinburgh.

First floor plan of Zinc-clad loft extension by Konishi Gaffney creates an extra bedroom
Loft plan – click for larger image

This street has the densest concentration of listed buildings in Portobello (54 in 120m). The planners were resistant to the idea of a dormer in this location at all but following long negotiations a rear dormer was conceded. We then made a case for a low profile, long dormer, more than twice as long as is normally permitted, because this had less visual impact than a dormer located near the eaves.

Ground floor plan of Zinc-clad loft extension by Konishi Gaffney creates an extra bedroom
First floor plan – click for larger image

The project allowed a west facing picture window with an unusual view. It is clad in anthracite zinc by French artisans and includes an idiosyncratic splay to let afternoon light in, a fixed glass pane and a timber door for ventilation.

Section of Zinc-clad loft extension by Konishi Gaffney creates an extra bedroom
Section – click for larger image

Completed: July 2013
Budget: £32,000
Architect: Konishi Gaffney
Contractor: Gloss Projects
Zinc: Artisan Roofing
Engineer: Burnt Siena Structures

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Fantasy house by Benoit Challand perched on stilts in the Scottish highlands

French visual artist Benoit Challand has combined the visual language of Le Corbusier‘s houses and Santiago Calatrava‘s sculptures to form a vision for a futuristic self-sustaining house on stilts (+ slideshow).

Roost House by Benoit Challand

Named Roost House, the conceptual residence is depicted in a set of photo-realistic renderings in a remote location in Scotland. It would be raised several storeys above the ground on an angular scaffolding structure.

Roost House by Benoit Challand

Benoit Challand designed the building to reference Villa Savoye and Cabanon, two of the most famous houses by modernist architect Le Corbusier, as well as a series of artistic sculptures by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

Roost House by Benoit Challand

According to the artist, the house would generate all of its own heating and electricity. “Using a bunch of new technologies, in terms of building engineering and environmental resources, this house is intended to be fully autonomous,” he said.

Roost House by Benoit Challand

Walls both inside and outside the house are pictured clad with timber. Protruding floor plates form balconies around the perimeter, while a vernacular pitched roof is topped with solar panels.

Roost House by Benoit Challand

Residents could access the building by climbing a vertiginous ladder (not shown). There would also be a wind turbine attached to the undersides of the lowest floor.

Roost House by Benoit Challand

Spaces inside the house are visualised containing a selection of iconic furniture designs, including the LC4 chaise lounge by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand, and the LCW chair by Charles and Ray Eames.

Roost House by Benoit Challand

Background photography is by Alexis Raimbault.

Roost House by Benoit Challand
Proposed elevations – click for larger image

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The Macallan Masters of Photography: Elliott Erwitt Edition: A conversation with the renowned photographer on whisky and his medium

The Macallan Masters of Photography: Elliott Erwitt Edition


The Macallan Masters of Photography projects have generated fruitful collaborations. In the first three iterations Annie Leibovitz, Albert Watson and Rankin explored the themes and culture of…

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House No.7 cottage and extensions on the Isle of Tiree by Denizen Works

London studio Denizen Works has overhauled a cottage in Scotland‘s Outer Hebrides by rebuilding the original structure and adding two extensions modelled on agricultural sheds (+ slideshow).

House No.7 by Denizen Works

Architect Murray Kerr of Denizen Works completed this project for his parents, who had bought an ageing house on the Isle of Tiree and planned to renovate it and live there for five months of the year.

House No.7 by Denizen Works

After discovering the original structure was beyond repair, the architect had to instead rebuild it before adding two new wings that are designed to reference the local agricultural vernacular.

House No.7 by Denizen Works

“The concept was to create a traditional cottage with agricultural sheds around it, as if the building had grown organically over time,” Kerr told Dezeen.

House No.7 by Denizen Works

The stone cottage now functions as a guest house, with bedrooms on both floors and a generous living room.

House No.7 by Denizen Works

Behind it, a bunker-like structure is used as the main house. The exterior of this building is made from galvanised steel and corrugated fibre cement, and it has a curved roof profile.

House No.7 by Denizen Works

The upper level houses a large timber-lined kitchen and dining room, while stairs lead down to an en suite bedroom that is slightly sunken into the ground.

House No.7 by Denizen Works

“The idea was to create a robust outside, contrasting with the light and airy space inside,” said Kerr.

House No.7 by Denizen Works

The base of the structure is created from the same stone as the cottage walls, helping to tie the two structures together. “After rebuilding the old house, we had some stones left over, so we reused them elsewhere,” added the architect.

House No.7 by Denizen Works

A third wing was also added and serves as a utility area. It contains a laundry area, a wet room where residents can clean sand off their shoes and a studio that children can use for painting.

House No.7 by Denizen Works

Photography is by David Barbour.

Here’s a project description from Denizen Works:


House No.7, Heanish, Isle of Tiree, Scotland

Introduction

We were commissioned in October 2010 to produce a design for a new house on the site of a ruined, B-listed black-house on the Isle of Tiree on the west coast of Scotland. We developed a concept that comprises two houses, a Living-house and a Guesthouse, linked by a Utility wing. Together the elements combine to create a bold insertion into the landscape while reflecting the character and heritage of the island.

House No.7 by Denizen Works

In keeping with the philosophy of Denizen Works, the language of the house was driven by an examination of the local vernacular, materials and building forms with the architecture of the Living-house and Utility taking their lead from the local agricultural buildings combining soft roof forms, chimneys and corrugated cladding.

House No.7 by Denizen Works

Setting off the utilitarian accommodation is the Guesthouse with its deep-set stone walls, black and white palette and black tarred roof resulting in a building that is tied to the landscape and unmistakably of Tiree.

House No.7 by Denizen Works

The Site

Tiree is the western most of the Inner Hebrides, accessible from the mainland via ferry services from Oban or by air from Glasgow airport and enjoys more hours of sunlight than any other location in the British Isles. At around 7.8 ha and with a population of around 750, the island is highly fertile providing fantastic grazing land for livestock due to the mineral rich ‘machair’ that covers the land mass.

House No.7 by Denizen Works

Located on the southern coast of the island, House No.7 is accessed by a grass track and enjoys fantastic views of Duin bay to the south and a typical Tiree landward aspect of lightly undulating machair and traditional housing settlements.

House No.7 by Denizen Works

Like most places on Tiree, the siting of the house is very exposed, with no natural land mass or vegetation to provide shelter from the wind. The design challenge, given the exposure to the elements, was to create a design that maximises shelter from the wind giving places of shelter on all sides, while allowing sunlight to penetrate and warm the house inside and out while utilising the breeze to aid natural ventilation.

Site plan of House No.7 by Denizen Works
Site plan

Architecture

The Living-house, containing living/kitchen/dining spaces with master bedroom below, functions as the social heart of the new home. The living space is a half level up from the entrance with the master bedroom sunk into the landscape with views to the sheltered garden. Access to the garden, created by the removal of the sand blow build up around the existing cottage, and the beach is from the southern end of the space.

Basement plan of House No.7 by Denizen Works
Basement plan – click for larger image

The Guesthouse is constructed in the stone from the original cottage containing two guest bedrooms, a bathroom and a quiet snug/entertaining room with an open link to the main hall in the utility.

Ground floor plan of House No.7 by Denizen Works
Ground floor plan – click for larger image

The Utility is the functional heart of the building containing laundry facilities along with a wet room in which to clean off the sand from the beach or fish scales from the sea and a studio/lego room for painting and play. This third element, with the feel of a covered outdoor space, seamlessly links the other elements of the house allowing family and guests to interact as they choose.

First floor plan of House No.7 by Denizen Works
First floor plan – click for larger image

The interior of the house offers a counterpoint to the robust architecture of the exterior, filled with natural light; the finishes are intentionally robust with inspiration for the palette taken from local Tiree architecture. Heating is provided through an air-source heat pump.

Long section of House No.7 by Denizen Works
Long section – click for larger image
Cross section of House No.7 by Denizen Works
Cross section – click for larger image

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Eight New Whisk(e)y Expressions: Our favorite latest releases from luxuriant single malt Scotch to bourbon-rye blends

Eight New Whisk(e)y Expressions


We’re well into fall and no drink fits the season with as much comfortable class as whiskey. Whether neat or on the rocks, the thoughtful, warming power of this dark spirit continues to deliver upon its historic identity. It just so happens that many of our favorite brands have offered…

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Maggie’s Aberdeen by Snøhetta

The latest Maggie’s Centre for cancer care has been completed by Norwegian architects Snøhetta at the Foresterhill site of the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Scotland.

Maggie’s Centre by Snohetta

Oslo-based studio Snøhetta designed the centre in collaboration with Scottish firm Halliday Fraser Munro as a curved pebble-shaped building.

Set to open later this month, the design features a single-storey reinforced concrete exterior and a timber interior.

Maggie’s Centre by Snohetta

Steel reinforcements were used to form the building’s outer shell, along with thick insulation moulded by hand to fit the shape of the building.

Activity and meeting rooms are primarily located on the ground floor, with a small mezzanine office space above.

Maggie’s Centre by Snohetta

The care centre is set apart form the hospital by a small landscaped area.

“In a world of architectural commercialism, it has been the most meaningful task to seek employment with spaces, materials and landscapes in the service of psychological and emotional healing processes,” said Snøhetta’s Kjetil Thorsen.

Maggie’s Centre by Snohetta

The Maggie’s foundation was founded seventeen years ago to provide emotional and practical support to anyone affected by cancer. There are a number of centres throughout the UK and one international centre in Hong Kong.

Maggie’s Centre by Snohetta

We published the plans for this building when they were originally released. Read the story here.

Other Maggie’s Centres we’ve recently featured include a series of pavilions and rooms overlooking a pond and gardens in Hong Kong, a cylindrical building with a bamboo interior and coloured glass windows in London and a concrete spiral-shaped building in south east Wales.

Maggie’s Centre by Snøhetta
Site plan – click for larger image

Photography is by Philip Vile.

See more Maggie’s Centres »
See more health related stories »

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Bunnahabhain 40-Year-Old Scotch: An accidental discovery at this Islay distillery leads to a limited run whisky

Bunnahabhain 40-Year-Old Scotch


Quietly hidden for over 40 years within the prestigious Bunnahabhain distillery on Scottish island Islay’s northern shore, a long-forgotten maturation continued to develop. When reviewing ledgers dating back decades, master distiller Ian MacMillan uncovered a missing…

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