{"id":11344,"date":"2025-09-09T08:56:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T08:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/11344\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T08:56:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T08:56:08","slug":"deeply-contextual-homes-featured-in-new-scottish-houses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/11344\/","title":{"rendered":"“Deeply contextual” homes featured in New Scottish Houses"},"content":{"rendered":"

A repurposed 19th-century farm<\/a> and a dwelling clad in burnt larch feature in New Scottish Houses, a book<\/a> celebrating modern homes in rural Scotland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Published by RIBA<\/a> and written by journalist Isabelle Priest, New Scottish Houses: Contemporary Architecture and Living in the Landscape brings together examples of modern homes across the Outer Hebrides and the Highlands.<\/p>\n

The book was published in response to a proliferation of new architectural practices and projects across Scotland in the last decade, which Priest said are “defined by locality, context and tradition”.<\/p>\n

“You could definitely call it a new Scottish vernacular, and what’s exciting is it’s still developing,” she told Dezeen. “That’s why it is the first book of its sort and so relevant to now.”<\/p>\n

\"NewNew Scottish Houses showcases contemporary homes from Caledonia<\/p>\n

Homes spotlighted in the book include Caochan na Creige<\/a> in the Outer Hebridies, a dwelling shortlisted for Dezeen Awards<\/a> 2024 rural homes category, and Iorram<\/a> in Plockton, a cottage<\/a> characterised by a natural palette including Douglas fir.<\/p>\n

“What links the work is an ambition for the architecture to be deeply contextual,” Priest said.<\/p>\n

“The designs uniquely respond to the environments in which they are being designed, drawing on geology, climate, heritage, building conditions and sense of identity.”<\/p>\n

Priest intends for the book to be encouraging for architects, clients and homeowners, showcasing “the amazing possibilities of commissioning, designing and building beautiful contextual contemporary homes in the landscape”.<\/p>\n

Read on for Dezeen’s selection of eight Scottish homes featured in the book:<\/p>\n

\"Caochan<\/a>Photo by Richard Gaston<\/p>\n

Caochan na Creige, Scotland, by Izat Arundell<\/a><\/p>\n

Located in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, Caochan na Creige is a small home designed by local studio Izat Arundell<\/a>\u00a0to “sit respectfully in the landscape”.<\/p>\n

The home is perched in a sheltered inlet on the eastern coast and is intended to blend into the surrounding landscape using blocks of local stone<\/a> called Lewisian Gneiss.<\/p>\n

The building features an irregularly angled plan, which was the result of “working with the landscape rather than against it”, according to Izat Arundell director Eilidh Izat.<\/p>\n

Find out more about Caochan na Creige \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Tidal<\/a>Photo by Jim Stephenson<\/p>\n

Tidal House, Scotland, by Brown & Brown<\/a><\/p>\n

Tidal House was created by architecture studio Brown & Brown<\/a> for a retired couple moving to Dumfriesshire, southern Scotland, for a life in closer proximity to nature.<\/p>\n

Situated on the Solway Coast, the home is designed to balance privacy with a desire to optimise exposure to natural light and the landscape.<\/p>\n

“We weren’t trying to create something that hides away but at the same time the building sits comfortably on the shoreline,” said studio founder Andrew Brown.<\/p>\n

Find our more about Tidal House \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Douglas<\/a>Photo by Murray Orr<\/p>\n

Iorram cottage, Scotland, by Baillie Baillie Architects<\/a><\/p>\n

Iorram cottage by Baillie & Baillie Architects<\/a> is a contemporary interpretation of crofters’ cottages or black houses \u2013 the traditional cottages<\/a> often found in the Scottish Highlands.<\/p>\n

Baillie & Baillie Architects adopted a low-tech, natural materials-led approach to the project, intending to forge a connection between contemporary and traditional Scottish methods.<\/p>\n

“We wanted Iorram to communicate the value of craftsmanship, locally sourced timber and the inherent quality and calmness that natural materials bring to a space,” explained Baillie Baillie Architects co-founder Colin Baillie.<\/p>\n

Find out more about Iorram cottage \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Nedd<\/a>Photo by David Barbour<\/p>\n

Nedd House, Sutherland, by Mary Arnold-Forster Architects<\/a><\/p>\n

Named Nedd after the small village in the Scottish Highlands in which it is located, this house has a cross-laminated timber<\/a> structure swaddled in\u00a0planks of burnt larch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Its designer Mary Arnold-Forster Architects<\/a> divided it into\u00a0three pods \u2013 one for the living spaces, one for the master bedroom and another for the guest bedrooms.<\/p>\n

Large windows and glazing are used to link these three volumes and frame views of the rocks, heather and nearby Loch Nedd.<\/p>\n

Find out more about Nedd House \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Moxon<\/a>Photo by Simon Kennedy<\/p>\n

Ardoch, Aberdeenshire, by Moxon Architects<\/a><\/p>\n

In a decade-long project by Moxon Architects<\/a>, a trio of 19th-century farm buildings were repurposed to create this home and artist’s studio in Aberdeenshire.<\/p>\n

“Where there are new interventions, they are modest yet highly crafted, and seek to emulate the craft, form, and rigour of the 170-year-old architectural fabric,” said\u00a0Moxon Architects\u00a0founder Ben Addy.<\/p>\n

Find out more about Ardoch \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Photo by David Barbour<\/p>\n

Cuddymoss, Ayrshire, by Ann Nisbet Studio<\/a><\/p>\n

Architecture practice\u00a0Ann Nisbet Studio<\/a> designed this timber-framed house to sit within a stone ruin in Ayrshire.<\/p>\n

The 171-square-metre house comprises two gabled structures connected by a glass corridor. According to the studio, minor amendments were made to the ruin to retain its aesthetic, cultural and historic qualities.<\/p>\n

Find out more about Cuddymoss \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Exterior<\/a>Photo by Dapple Photography<\/p>\n

Spyon Cop, Cairngorns National Park, by Brown & Brown<\/a><\/p>\n

Another project in the book by Brown & Brown<\/a> is Spyon Cop, a rural retreat in the Cairngorns National Park.<\/p>\n

Nestled at the base of a hill, the three-bedroom dwelling is concealed by its green roof on approach from the north, but stands out from the south with bold black cladding<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“The landscape of the local area contains varying undulating slopes, and the massing of the building was conceived as a simple play on these forms,” explained Brown.<\/p>\n

Find out more about Spyon Cop \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>Photo by Henry Woide<\/p>\n

An Office and Two Houses, Inverness, by Loader Monteith<\/a><\/p>\n

Scottish architecture studio\u00a0Loader Monteith<\/a> designed two private residences and an office<\/a> on a sloping brownfield site in Inverness, northern Scotland.<\/p>\n

The private residences are distinguished by their lower height and butterfly roof, whereas the office space is defined by its steep gabled roof.<\/p>\n

To create a “common language” between these structures, Loader Monteith used a consistent material palette of timber and metal.<\/p>\n

Find out more about An Office and Two Houses \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A repurposed 19th-century farm and a dwelling clad in burnt larch feature in New Scottish Houses, a book…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[4098,442,498,499,500,489,501,156,111,139,69,7478,11063,13839,1621,1774],"class_list":{"0":"post-11344","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-architecture-books","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-artsanddesign","12":"tag-artsdesign","13":"tag-books","14":"tag-design","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-new-zealand","17":"tag-newzealand","18":"tag-nz","19":"tag-roundups","20":"tag-scotland","21":"tag-scottish-houses","22":"tag-sectionall","23":"tag-sectionarchitecture"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}