Scottish studio WT Architecture has overhauled a Victorian boathouse in East Lothian, restoring its original storage area and adding a wood-lined studio accessed by a footbridge.
The project also involved the addition of a compact bothy to the woodland site, providing the client with guest accommodation and additional storage space.
Unified by ash cladding and timber framing, the two structures were designed by WT Architecture to offer a tranquil space for the owner “to enjoy being close to the water” with their friends and family.
WT Architecture has revamped a Victorian boathouse in Scotland
“The client’s ambition was to both renovate the Victorian boathouse and create spaces that enabled them to enjoy being close to the water and out on the water,” the studio told Dezeen.
“A new space over the original boathouse was to provide a tranquil, flexible space for writing and relaxing and the original boathouse was to be reactivated for its original function,” it explained.
“A separate small building was to provide basic overnight accommodation for two people, with washing facilities and a small kitchenette. This small bothy also provides storage space for kayaks and paddle boards.”
The project involved the addition of a studio and a bothy
According to WT Architecture, the revamp of the original boathouse was deliberately pared back. The studio restored its original jetty and dock for two small boats on the banks of the man-made lake, while adding gates operated by a pulley system.
Meanwhile, its pyramidal roof was replaced with an upper floor containing a flexible studio space, a small kitchenette, a shower room and a plant store.
The studio sits in a first-floor extension
“The boathouse below is kept purposefully simple and features a jetty to dock two small boats,” said WT Architecture.
“A new counter-weighted pulley system was designed to open and close the double gates to the boathouse from the jetty. This required some trial and error working with the contractor, but the result works perfectly.”
Its original storage space and jetty have been restored
On the first floor, ancillary spaces have been hidden behind a partition wall on the north side to maximise open, usable studio space for writing and dancing with views across the lake.
Key features of the studio include a wall of folding desks on the east side, as well as a built-in window seat. It is crowned with a pyramidal roof that nods to that of the original boathouse.
Its first-floor studio is designed for writing and dancing
“Externally, the elevated pyramidal form allows the building to sit comfortably in its setting, nestled into the branches of its neighbouring oak tree, as if the tree has grown around it,” said the studio.
“Internally, the pyramidal form becomes even more expressive. Reflected light from the water plays over the folded panelled ceiling, creating a great sense of height and drama, yet the space feels calming and peaceful.”
Access to the first-floor studio is granted by a timber walkway that matches the studio’s exterior. It traverses the site to meet a covered entrance at its northwestern corner with an integrated bench.
It has a pyramidal roof that nods to the original boathouse’s design
The bothy is deliberately compact. It contains a small shower room and kitchenette, as well as a wood-burning stove and pull-out bed.
Its main elevation is punctured by a huge shutter, which doubles as an awning for the terrace outside when opened up.
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While providing guest accommodation, the bothy also houses storage for kayaks and paddle boards, as well as wetsuits, life jackets, tables and chairs.
To ensure the boathouse and bothy read as a pair, the two buildings are positioned to frame a courtyard for gathering in warm weather and are clad in the same ash cladding.
The bothy has a huge shutter on its facade
Ash cladding was chosen to contrast with the restored stone walls of the original Victorian boathouse, while nodding to the mature ash trees that fill the site.
The wooden finish on the boathouse’s upper facade extends up and over its roof, emulating the monolithic look of the building’s original slate-tiled roof.
Inside, ash veneer lines the surfaces, teamed with engineered oak flooring in the studio and stone tiles in the bothy.
It provides guest accommodation
As part of the project, WT Architecture updated the landscape surrounding the boathouse and bothy, maximising the accessible outdoor space and introducing low-maintenance flowers in keeping with the surrounding woodland.
Wood-burning stoves provide heat for the buildings, in tandem with underfloor heating powered by an air-source heat pump hidden behind the bothy.
Other boathouses featured on Dezeen include a prefabricated, glass-walled structure by Building Arts Architects on a lake in Ontario and one in Austin that Matt Fajkus Architecture wrapped in perforated metal facades.
The photography is by Dapple Photography.