Cluain
Ugie River
Project Status
Completed
Project Sector
Residential
Client
Private Client
Surveyor
McCue and Porter
Engineer
Watermans
On the western outskirts of Peterhead is an area called Inverugie, arguably the most desirable area of the town. This site beside the public road, sloped down to the Ugie river flanked by mature trees. A 1950s bungalow occupied the site but was in need of significant renovation to bring it back to a home and our client wished to demolish the house and have a new house designed and built in its place.
The brief was simple, spacious open plan split level living, four bedrooms, garage and storage. This house would be significantly larger than the existing property. The views were mainly contained looking down the garden to the river, but high-level views were possible on the roadside to catch the evening light.
The design solution was inspired by the site and the semi-rural nature of the area, a place where arable land bordered and is interwoven with houses and gardens. This suggested the traditions of farm steadings that were often ‘L’ or ‘H’ shaped in plan. These traditional steadings would have pitched roofs at a 45° angle, shallow pitched lean-to roofs, large rectangular door openings for farm machinery, quirky small openings at unusual heights to permit slurry to be removed from the byres, or power drives to pass from tractors to threshing machines; a general feeling of utility first.
We used these inferences to shape a design solution that resulted in a distorted ‘H’ shaped plan layout with heavily expressed gables and large openings facing the garden and the light. The roadside elevation is more private albeit a first floor terrace was formed to permit enjoyment of the evening sun.
Our client has exquisite taste and we worked together to make her ideas a reality. These included a Japanese bath, textural pebble floors in the bathroom for foot stimulation, and a remarkable wavey timber floor, each board bespoke. It was a pleasure to work with our client to create this beautiful home.
