the project

The clients for this project are thinking about their future. Their original house, an old cottage-style farmhouse on the same site, was full of faults, having been added to over the years with insubstantial and badly arranged extra sections; it was draughty and in need of a lot of building attention. 

It was decided that the best solution was to start again.

We proposed a house to fit into a similar footprint, but which maximises the space far more effectively. It still has a traditional Scottish farmhouse feel, in tune with buildings in the surrounding area, here in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. But our design is full of modern comforts, warmth, sustainability and practicality – so is far more suitable for a couple and their visiting family members.

 

How we worked

The existing house was long and narrow. We adopted a similar compact form for the main body of the new house – a classic narrow, one-and-half-storey stone cottage with single-storey wings to the side.

But this simple house has important detail and subtleties of design. The upper-storey dormer windows, which are a continuation of the wall below, have a carefully considered design. Although this looks like a typical traditional Scottish farmhouse, when closely examined the subtlety and detail of how the window panes are divided up link it to its particular place in Scotland. Narrow horizontal rectangles are typical to West Dunbartonshire where this is located. Understanding and including subtleties in the design such as these panes is critical to successful planning applications in The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. This also applies to this project where we wanted large contemporary windows on the principle elevation of the ground floor. The design of the contemporary bay is clad in reddy brown zinc. The narrow horizontal pattern is a nod to the narrow horizontal window panes, and the colour to the typical red sandstone of the area.

The house has the benefit of keeping the length of each elevation in similar proportions to the existing house. Robust materials used comprise of traditional slate roof, wet dash rendered white walls, and smooth render bands around timber windows with contemporary zinc details and cast aluminium gutters.

 

 

 

 

Success of the project

This project has proved to be extremely successful. From the brilliant views from its main public room, which allow you to feel as if you're living in the landscape, to the light-filled space which flows well, the project feels very at home within the landscape of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. Another key success is the dramatic double volume hall with views down Loch Lomond to Ben Lomond.

This impressive house has been delivered on budget and the clients are thrilled with the results.

We would like to pass on our condolences to the family of Mark Capon, the builder who successfully completed this project and who has sadly passed away.

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