Ever since Scotland’s first design museum, the Kengo Kuma-designed V&A Dundee, opened its doors in September 2018, it’s served as a prime example of landscape inspired architecture done right. To achieve this feat, a work of architecture must do three things: draw from the surrounding culture, become part of the physical landscape, and stand out while seamlessly blending in.

Taking design inspiration from a landscape requires a certain understanding of the area around it. In the case of V&A Dundee, the architects chose to celebrate the rocky cliffs on Northern Scotland’s Orkney Island. There, the rock randomly meets the water’s edge as the waves crash against it, causing the stratification that gives the cliff faces such orderly horizontal textures. In a similar fashion, the southern part of V&A Dundee rises and stretches out above the water, breaking the flat plane between land and sea with a jagged edge of its own.

When a building is made to look like a part of its surrounding landscape or draws inspiration from locations of topographical importance, it also has to do a good job of fitting the context. One cannot look at the forms of V&A Dundee, for instance, and not think that they resemble a ship. It looks like it’s supposed to be there — not like a foreign object that has descended from space. Even the texture of the concrete blends in with the color of the water, depending on the quality of the sunlight and the ripple of the waves on the River Tay. Yes, V&A Dundee looks like it has existed for decades, even though it’s less than a year old.

Finally, good landscape-inspired buildings are seen without being seen. This is similar to being part of the landscape but goes even further in the way of not looking out of place. Even inside the main hall where the café and shop are, the narrow and short ribbon windows make V&A Dundee seem like the inside of a ship. This gives the visitor a more natural feeling than the regular fenestration found on the building’s second level, where the permanent Scottish Design Galleries are. Where one feels like a ship next to a river, the other feels like a building next to the river. And while we may have become used to both experiences, the former feels much more real and appropriate in this context. To top it all off, the modesty of the building’s exterior allows it to recede into the surroundings and at times become unnoticeable.

Think of all the waterfront projects that go out of their way to make a bold statement with nonsensical, disproportionate forms and flashy materials. But not V&A Dundee. No, this museum shows how even the humility of a landscape can be transformed into architecture, continuing the story of the land in the most natural way possible.

The post V&A Dundee is a Master Class in Landscape Inspired Architecture first appeared on Dornob.

On Scotland’s Isle of Man, a new country home by Foster Lomas expertly blends periods and materials for an effect that’s thoroughly modern yet very much a product of its environment. Set just down the hillside from an existing structure known as Cloud 9, the Sartfell Retreat was designed with utmost sensitivity to the landscape and vernacular architecture in mind. Cloud 9 is itself a local landmark, and its renovation was part of the building project.

“The client, a couple whose background combines biological science, medicine, and education, and who also share a passion for birdwatching, created a brief with a long-term strategy for the restoration, conservation, and management of the seven and a half acres of Nature Reserve on Sartfell Mountain,” explain the architects.

“Foster Lomas’ response to the site goes back to [our] research and experience of drystone construction whilst working in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Building on this vernacular technology, [we] have reinterpreted the local Manx stone structures to create an original building in a unique setting.”

The new home features a cast-in-place concrete core surrounded by thick, naturally insulating hand-constructed drystone walls. The stone — harvested on site while excavating the ground floor and cleaning up collapsed walls on the land — will weather over time and eventually become home to plants and lichens, allowing it to seamlessly blend into the landscape. A ribbon of glass stretches across the building’s facade, set back from the exterior to minimize solar gain while offering the inhabitants the same stunning views of the Irish Sea (and the local birds) they originally craved.

While the use of local stone makes the Sartfell Retreat feel like a natural extension of its landscape, its unique angled silhouette and sleek concrete-clad interiors give it an edge. An open plan creates visual connections between various parts of the interior, including a stunning library that spans three floors within an atrium-like stairwell. The new volume connects to the existing structure through a glazed corridor for a sense of cohesion.

Dedication to the site’s biodiversity and sustainability extends beyond the materials used for construction. The home also features a green roof “designed to carefully emulate the flora of the immediate area and complement the drystone walling,” ground source heating, a natural processing sewage system, and a wind turbine.

The owners plan to rent out Cloud 9 to fellow birdwatching enthusiasts while residing in the new addition themselves. Envisioned as a private nature preserve, the land will also host a visitor center and artist’s studio, both of which will also be designed by Foster Lomas.

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That’s exactly what the committee judging the Ross Pavilion International Design Contest was looking for, so it’s no wonder that this proposal from the American architecture firm wHY took home the top prize, beating out a number of strong contenders from big-name firms like the Bjarke Ingels Group. The shortlisted proposals were selected from 125 entries and can all be seen on the competition’s website.

The brief called for an original design that would enhance Edinburgh’s reputation and image “as a dynamic and creative city,” rejuvenating the existing gardens and enhancing their biodiversity. The gardens not only act as a “green lung” for the city, but they also serve as a tranquil getaway full of visual and sensory pleasures. The brief also called for entrants to incorporate sustainable values, improved physical and intellectual access, a variety of changing usages from dawn to dusk, and a modern, flexible venue space that could host a combination of small and large-scale events 365 days a year into their proposals.

The winning design from wHY features a “butterfly” pavilion and a new visitor center subtly folded into the landscape, ensuring that the castle remains the primary focal point. Drawing inspiration from the gardens’ history and geological features, wHY’s Victorian-style “pleasure garden” offers entertainment, art, and thousands of botanical delights. Plus, sliding the architectural elements beneath the gardens maintains the greatest amount of green space relative to manmade surfaces.

“This is a special opportunity for a special place, not just for Edinburgh but for the world,” says Mark Thomann, wHY’s Landscape Design Director. “The new Ross Pavilion and Gardens draw from the rich natural history, heritage, and creative spirit of Scotland, embodying a model approach for integrating public architecture and urban space in a top global city. Our team looks forward to realizing this vision with the Ross Development Trust and the people of Edinburgh.”

Paved pathways meander around the gardens to provide views from a variety of angles, making them easy to navigate for all visitors. The lines are all fluid and organic. A big part of this proposal’s appeal over those by architectural titans like BIG and Sou Fujimoto is the sense of balance it creates, keeping everything within a human scale so that no one element overwhelms the design’s overall program.

“Their proposal is a landscape scheme that is really more like an energy-field: using animation and drama as well as open vistas, they transform the Gardens and create an experience that is much freer and organic,” says competition director Malcolm Reading. “As is their style, they conscientiously sampled local opinion and have come up with a design proposal that is engaging and refreshing.”

The new West Princes Street Gardens are expected to open to the public by December 2019.

The post Undulating Rooftop Garden Wins Edinburgh’s Ross Pavilion Contest first appeared on Dornob.

Though the house’s circular front door, gorgeous wooden hand-carved artifacts, and overall magical feel are certainly reminiscent of Bilbo’s on-screen abode, owner Stuart Grant explains that he had never seen any of the iconic films when he began building it: “I had not seen the Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit films before I started my project. Those came later. But I’m not aware of them knowing about my house either. It’s all coincidental.”

In fact, the 84-year-old Grant started building his home all the way back in 1984. He had been living in Australia for some time but decided to move back to his native Scotland following a divorce and the onset of a degenerative neuro-immune disease called myalgic encephalomyelitis. He was also broke during this period, stating, “I was living rough. I had a 100 watt bulb, two wooden stools, a camp bed and a gas ring.”

At first, Grant intended to live in a cottage quite close to his Hobbit House’s current location. Instead, he decided to move into that cottage’s shed, which had previously housed a pig, cow, calf, donkey, and even a few chickens. He explains, “It was full of other people’s junk, tools, cement mixers and such like. But it had four walls and a better view than the house so I put a new roof on it.”

That roof is now teeming with vibrant moss, and the walls beneath it have been clad in ivy. In keeping with this natural aesthetic, the home’s circular door has been flanked by a pair of gnarled and twisted tree branches. Inside, you’ll find some intricately painted china, mullioned windows, colorful crocheted quilts, and tables made from the cross sections of tree trunks — all the hallmarks of a fairytale home.

The Hobbit House’s practical use of space only adds to its magical appeal. In the bathroom, you’ll find a washing machine hidden in a nook next to the toilet, which boasts a beautiful design in and of itself. The entire toilet has been encased in wood, and its seat is made from a rough-hewn section of tree trunk. Not a bad place to perch off of when you’re throwing a load of laundry in the washer!

In the yard, you’ll find a greenhouse and a pretty garden with its own pond. Kahlum G, Grant’s nephew and the person who first shared pictures of the house online, claims that his uncle loves receiving guests. That’s good news for anyone who might want to see this 21st-century version of “Bag End” in the flesh.

Grant describes himself as “the luckiest man alive,” and says, “I live in a stunning part of the world, I have a home that looks like the home I had dreamed about and I get by. The fact that even my door looks like the Hobbit doors in the films is… well it is very strange, isn’t it?”

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A house in the Scottish Highlands features a bent exterior that focuses on direct views of the sunrise and sunset. Built partially into the hillside, this timber home features gable ends on either side and a lowered roofline in the center to reduce the building’s mass and help reduce heat loss in the cold, foggy Scottish winter.

Inspired by the traditional gabled homes of the region, Raw Architecture Workshop came up with a plan that optimized the best possible views with a “splayed and cranked” layout. The concrete base was partially buried into the sloped site to provide natural insulation and climate control.

The concrete, dark-stained cedar exterior and wild grasses help the home blend into its environment, echoing the surrounding mountains and stormy skies.

Inside, the unusual layout creates a dynamic series of bright, open spaces that angle from one room to the next. Slices of glass highlight select landscape features in the distance.

More from the architects

“Over 2000 years ago the occupants of Skara Brae, Orkney used locally sourced materials to build partially submerged dwellings providing thermal insulation and protection from the storm battered climate. The weather definitely hasn’t improved, but for the most part the buildings remain intact. Incorporating these principles, Raw Architecture Workshop has completed a new build house on steeply sloping former rough grazing land at Camusdarach Sands.”

“The Clients, a young couple already living and working in this isolated location, were keen that we develop the proposals to capture the spectacular sun rise views over the mountains and sun set behind the islands. Given the topography of the site our early response was to locate the living spaces on the upper portion of the plot, with sleeping accommodation and entry level stacked below.”

“During an initial visit we pinpointed specific axis that would provide best views from the site. These were translated into physical models and the symmetrical, splayed and cranked plan was derived. Similar forms were also explored in the section to reduce the visual mass, significantly improve the field of view from opposite ends of the space and increase daylight levels, which are critical in mid-winter around this line of latitude. In time the wild grasses will re-grow around the building to further reinforce the idea of a building built into, and not on top of, the hill.”

The post Angled to the Sun: Kinked Facade on a Timber Home first appeared on Dornob.

On the tiny island of Coll with just two hundred residents off the coast of Scotland sits a modest masterwork of modern renovation – a brand new home slotted delicately inside the (reinforced) crumbling stone ruins of an ancient local manor.

Planned around its predecessor, the new construction helps shelter the old, takes advantage of existing wall heights, window perforations and more to create a beautiful balance.

Stainless steel frames were delicately introduced to help hold existing walls together, prop up the sagging chimney and support a new door-overhanging lintel made of local stone. While digging to pour a new foundation, bronze age pottery was found and carefully exhumed.

The open-plan interior has layers of fresh-finished wood, flat reflective glass and sleek black-coated steel right alongside aged stonework walls, setting them apart visually while tying everything together … and placing the rough vintage edges, cracks and crevices in easy-to-touch locations throughout.

For all the polish of the finished product, construction was anything but easy. Between the fragile frame of the building and the fierce ocean winds, simply stabilizing the existing building remnants took WT Architecture months of careful planning and execution.

Outside the new structure, a high performance aluminised builder paper maximizes the insulation value of the building fabric while much sealing was required to bridge gaps between glass windows and stone frames. Overall, the intersections of modern forms and existing elements is beautifully balanced both from a large-scale and down-to-details perspective.

“ The original house at Grishipol (rough bay) on the Hebridean Isle of Coll was built in the mid 1700’s by Maclean of Coll for his Tac man, or Factor.  It was the first lime-built square-cornered house on the island and took on the informal name ‘The White House’ distinguishing it from the basic ‘black houses’ which were the norm on the island.  In 1773 Boswell and Johnston were entertained there whilst stormbound during their famous tour of Scotland.  But for all its grandeur the White House had been built on sand and was deserted in the mid 1800’s as it started to crack.”

“When Alex and Seonaid Maclean-Bristol inherited the building some 150 years later some of the cracks in the roofless ruin were more than a foot wide but the basic structure remained miraculously intact. Alex was brought up on Coll and returned to farm on the island with wife Seonaid after  spending some years away in the army.”

“They were keen to create a house for their new family on the site but the nature of the ruin presented a problem.  Should they restore it or build a new house nearby?  It was at this point that we suggested that neither of these approaches should be taken and that the essential ruined nature of the structure was what gave it much of its magic.  So the idea of partial occupation of the ruin was explored with the intention that other new accommodation would be visually separate but physically connected to the ruin. “

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