FISCAVAIG HOUSE // HIGHLAND


Fiscavaig

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Rural Design
Private client
Fiscavaig, Isle of Skye
Single house
This small holiday house, located in the township of Fiscavaig on the western side of the Isle of Skye, deliberately eschews convention due to its unusual site.
Saltire Housing Design Award 2010                
RIAS Andrew Doolan Award Finalist 2010
Rural Design
e-architect
Saltire

  Working with the
Landscape 
  Respect the landscape setting
  and the traditional building
  patterns of the locality

  Responding to the
Site 
  Consider the immediate context
  and allow specific site conditions
  to influence design

  How to
be inspired 
  Inspirational ideas for
  sustainable, creative
  and innovative design
  • The building is lifted off the ground on small concrete columns releasing the design from convention and allowing it to relate to the wider context whilst reducing its impact upon the natural setting.
  • The decision to raise the building off the ground allows it to connect with its context and take advantage of views to the north and the sun from the south.
  • Simple timber construction connects with the landscape and blends into the setting.
  • Its materials, particularly the Scottish larch boards of its outer skin and the woodchip panelswithin, are entirely appropriate to both its natural setting and its scale.  
  • The form of the house deliberately narrows to the north to reduce the exposed surface area on the northern side and allow the building to lean into the weather.
  • The glazed elevation contributes to the drama and delight within the building.
  • The entrance bridge lifts the access off the landscape and immediately upon entering you are connected with the view through the fully-glazed elevation to the north.
  • The other smaller windows draw light into the two storey volume.
  • Internally the house meets modern living needs as one impressive, double-height
    space, with kitchen and
    seating area at ground level
    and a large bed platform on
    a mezzanine. Below the platform are a small single bedroom and a bathroom.
  • Ingeniously built-in furniture provides storage.
  • It is both contemporary and rural, built to a specification simultaneously more sustainable than much that
    has gone before and attractively natural in its materials, making it a positive contribution to its setting.

 

 

 

Page updated: Monday, April 16, 2012