Balcomie Green

This project originated as a master plan for a residential development on agricultural land in Crail. Fife. The total site area was 3.6Ha.
The brief required us to prepare a development plan for a variety of open market and affordable residential homes and also to consider a phased future expansion. For guidance on the urban design plan layout we adopted the principles of Designing Places as promoted by the Scottish Government. The concept design considered the square shaped site as a walled garden containing landscaped rooms. This idea developed into a structured layout for circulation, open spaces and building plots.

Balcomie Green

The Crail local parish church spire was identified as a prominent landmark when viewed from the heart of the site. An axial viewing corridor to the spire was incorporated into the layout. At this point on the plan there was an opportunity for a new public space. We studied the local vernacular architecture of Crail village and drew inspiration for the details and built forms of the houses, we combined this with a simple palette of materials throughout the design. We were careful to ensure that pastiche architecture did not emerge from these sources of inspiration. Terraced and detached houses were orientated to define hard and soft landscaped courtyards. Parking courts and shared surfaces were adopted through out the layout.  A series of reduced gardens at the front of the houses provided a semi-private space, similar in scale to the building to street relationship of the old market street in Crail.

Balcomie Green

Credits

Private Houses
Crail, Scotland.
2005-2008

Client: Holland Park Homes
Gross floor Area: 6000m²
Architect: Guido MacLellan
 at Cooper Cromar
Structural Engineer: SBA
Contractor: W.Brown Construction
Photography: GMA