Castleton

Private House, Dollar.
The property is located at the base of Castlehill, in Clackmannanshire. The original steading buildings date from 1873 with the principal farm buildings being 19 century. The farmhouse is constructed of fine ashlar detailing around the windows and random stonework to the walls. The original steadying plan forms a formal courtyard, with an open side facing the hills. The lofted barn was originally a mill with it’s own water supply from a millpond further up the hillside. Attached to this mill building is the “Dutch” barn, which forms the corner of the “L”, shaped plan. The building is not listed.

Castleton

Our Client purchased the Steading and estate in the early part of 2009.
Our design brief was to create a family home that respected the original characteristics of the steading buildings and the agricultural setting. The surrounding estate land will continue to be farmed by our client. We were also to investigate a sustainable solution for the heating and power for the project and reduce the carbon footprint of the project. Finally we were asked to maximise the potential for a larger floor area by incorporating the large redundant mill building into the farmhouse accommodation.

Castleton

Our design ideas identified key issues that were fundamental to the success of the project. A clear and well-proportioned circulation route needed to be designed to connect a linear plan without it feeling like a corridor space. We recognised that the existing buildings that we were attempting to connect were very different in there scale and presence on the site, for example the farm house is of a traditional residential scale, with 8 paned Georgian glazed windows and steep pitched dormer windows, together with decorated detailing at the roof, window and doors. The mill building on the other hand has a larger industrial aesthetic that had no need for the finesse of farmhouse. As the design progressed we explored the idea of the original farmhouse retaining a more traditional conversion language, and a contemporary approach for the conversion of the mill building.

Castleton

The mill building has a large double height space formed by steel framed openings. A glass balustrade bridge crosses this space at first floor and connects to a feature stair in the dinning room. The majority of the work is internal; however there are clues on the outside of the building that a new life has been inserted into the shell of the old stonewalls. We have attempted to maintain a separation between the new and old work i.e. the conservation work from the modern interventions into the building. The house has a new water supply from the existing burn and is filtered at source. A bio mass boiler was considered to be a better solution for the heating source. The ground floor has under floor heating with radiators on the first floor. Organic insulation and gas filled cavity glass was used within the sash and case windows.

Castleton

Credits

Private House.
Dollar, Scotland.
2008-2011

Client: Private
Gross floor Area: 450m²
Architect: Guido MacLellan
Structural Engineer: Bill Henderson
Contractor: Tricorn Construction