The Kepdarroch Farmhouse is that rarest of contemporary buildings, a new-build house on a working farm. Glasgow-based Baillie Baillie Architects designed the minimalist house for a young family on a plot surrounded by open fields. Colin and Megan Baillie’s studio took inspiration from typical agricultural settlements, groupings of functional buildings that evolve over time. Arranged around an informal courtyard, the exterior of this Scottish farmhouse uses materials that weather naturally, such as stone, wood, and slate, while the sleek interiors feature white walls and polished concrete floors. Internal volumes are pushed to the edges of the house's building envelope, with a generous pitched roof to the main living area.
Minimalist Scottish farmhouse built for longevity
The house was designed to grow and evolve over time with the clients’ young family. ‘They wanted a house that would be a joy to spend time in and could accommodate the changing needs of a growing family,’ says Colin Baillie.
The site, on the family farm, provided an opportunity to do things differently from a run-of-the-mill new-build home, starting with the materials. Caithness stone, charred timber, and reclaimed slate are the primary exterior materials, inspired by traditional drystone walls on the farm, and designed to slowly become part of the surrounding landscape.
The silhouette, formed from three distinctive but differently sized pitched roof volumes, is enhanced by prominent chimneys and broken up by the rhythm of the large areas of glass and the dark charred wood.
The courtyard arrangement provides shelter from the weather, while the components are arranged to make the most of the views and the changing light; south- and west-facing living spaces soak up the sunshine, while the concrete floor slabs are also heated by a ground source heat pump.
From a distance, this Scottish farmhouse has no jarring sense of newness. This sense of ‘familiarity and timelessness’ is all part of the architects’ emphasis on sustainability; the house is intended to last for at least a century, thanks to robust construction, flexible layouts, and careful detailing. Luxurious touches like the freestanding bathtub and sparse but rich material detailing all contribute to a feeling of endurance and solidity.
‘We see longevity as one important tenet of environmentally responsible architecture,’ says Baillie.
INFORMATION
-
Seven kitchens, one fire: inside LA’s hottest new food marketAt Maydan Market, chef Rose Previte turns global street food and layered design into a vibrant, fire-lit experience
-
Zegna’s exclusive new perfume is legacy in a bottleIl Conte, of which only 300 (refillable) bottles exist, evokes the early 20th-century office of company founder Ermenegildo Zegna, still preserved in an Alpine mansion
-
A new American airline hopes to bridge the worlds of private aviation and business classMagnifica Air’s Airbuses have acres of space, private suites and white-glove treatment for your precious luggage, coming soon to a route near you
-
Join us on a first look inside Regent’s View, the revamped canalside gasholder project in LondonRegent's View, the RSHP-designed development for St William, situated on a former gasholder site on a canal in east London, has just completed its first phase
-
The Royal College of Art has announced plans for renewal of its Kensington campusThe Royal College of Art project, led by Witherford Watson Mann Architects, includes the revitalisation of the Darwin Building and more, in the hopes of establishing an open and future-facing place of creativity
-
Power Hall’s glow-up shines light on science and innovation in ManchesterPower Hall at The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester was given a spruce-up by Carmody Groarke, showcasing the past and future of machines, engineering and sustainable architecture
-
Celebrate the angular joys of 'Brutal Scotland', a new book from Simon Phipps'Brutal Scotland' chronicles one country’s relationship with concrete; is brutalism an architectural bogeyman or a monument to a lost era of aspirational community design?
-
Max Creasy on the future of architectural photography and a shift to the ‘snapshot’A show of photographer Max Creasy’s work opens at the AA in London, asking a key question: where is contemporary architectural photography heading?
-
Tour this immaculately composed Islington house for an art collector who loves entertainingAn Islington house by Emil Eve Architects, on coveted Thornhill Road, combines warm minimalism and some expert spatial planning
-
Inside the Apple House, the sustainable centrepiece of Tom Stuart-Smith's gardening EdenThe mission? To explore and celebrate the ways in which nature can impact well-being
-
In Scotland, a derelict farmer’s cottage turns contemporary homeBlack and Stone is the reimagining of a 1930s farmer’s cottage that celebrates its historic nature and Scotland’s dramatic scenery
