Design Awards for Local Architects
TWO constructions in the Upper Tay valley have been accoladed at one of Scotland’s top architectural awards’ ceremonies held in mid November at the Dundee Institute of Architects.
The creativity of architects McKenzie Strickland Associates, which employs a 16-strong team based in Aberfeldy and Crieff, was recognised with with a commendation in the category for Best Housing Project. It stood out from a strong line-up of entries for its work on Castle Gardens, part of the Mains of Taymouth five star luxury holiday cottage development at Kenmore.
McKenzie Strickland Associates worked closely with clients, Blairish Developments, along with Robin Menzies the owner of Mains of Taymouth, on the 38-house project aimed at providing a luxury, self-catering experience. |
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“This project has been really exhilarating to work on. The team here put heart and soul into creating some really exceptional designs for the holiday cottage development which we feel successfully combine the best of contemporary and traditional,” said Eric Strickland, the firm’s senior partner.
“We hope the design of the cottages, and their wonderful setting helps, to ensure visitors to the area have a truly memorable holiday and really get a feel for Perthshire and its famous hospitality,” Mr Strickland added.
This accolade joins a hat-trick of awards for the company, which has recently opened a new office in Crieff as part of its expansion plans.
Debut Winner
The award for Best Private House went to Colin A Smith Architect (CASA) for his own house, Treetops, in Dull, by Aberfeldy. The judges regarded the house to be well considered in how it responded to a difficult site, its sustainability and how the house’s form was carried from the outside to the inside.
Treetops sits on wooded slopes and the seemingly impossible challenge for the architect was to design within the physical constraints of a long ‘strip’ site - at its narrowest being a steeply sloping 10m.
Through clever design the house is erected on a stilted platform, thus overcoming this limitation, maximising views and creating a sense of openness to its external surroundings.
Built on a line of tree-like columns, the house ‘hovers’ over the untouched landscape and reflects the wooded surroundings. It was designed to minimize carbon emissions in both its construction and daily use. It achieves this by being entirely constructed in timber, using high levels of insulation, and with all rooms facing south and the heating system being fired by a wood pellet boiler.
Warmth, Light & Flexibility
Colin, who has been running his practice from home for just over a year, is delighted with achieving an award in competition with architects and their clients throughout the whole of Dundee, Angus, Perth & Kinross and Fife - and so soon after forming his business.
He explained to Comment: “The internal planning arrangements are simple, all service accommodation and storage to the North, and all habitable rooms to the South. This results in considerable solar gain which is then conserved with super insulation.
“When heating is required on the coldest winter days it is sourced from wood pellet central heating and a log burning stove. Altogether this results in a very low carbon footprint.”
He added: “The house has been designed with flexibility in mind to ensure that it can change with the needs its occupants. Currently it has two bedrooms, but with very little intervention it could have three, four or even five, if required.”
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