rural design architects: the hen house, isle of skye
a holiday home in the scottish highlands uses pilotis, material and aperture to become a 'quiet visitor' on the landscape.
‘the hen house’ by rural design architects, fiscavaig, isle of skye, scottish highlands
image © andrew lee
all images courtesy of rural design architects
situated in the scottish highlands, the isle of skye is home to an idyllic rolling rusticity, one that local firm rural design architects seeks to incorporate into the overall gestalt of the vernacular architecture. ‘then hen house’ is a holiday getaway residence that eschews convention due to this very uniqueposition in the landscape. the architects resolved to raise the house on small pilotis as a method of releasing the design from the hills and to make useof wider context of the topography. deliberately narrowing northward and leaning into the weather, the home creates a relationship to the nearby fiscavaig,a norse word for ‘fish bay.’ the building’s form affords stunning views of a blue-skinned seascape and warm-colored mountainside. the entrance is a mini-bridge that further emphasizes the architecture as a visitor on the vast land, followed by a fully-glazed elevation to the north. asymmetrically placed windows further draw light into the structure and unvarnished timber orthogonally oppose the lines of the surrounding countryside and pitched roof.
the architects were challenged to design a home in a landscape that needed no intervention
image © andrew lee
simple materials brilliantly allow the house to simultaneously break and blend with the landscape
image © andrew lee
an angled roof continues a line of sight into the nearby bay, helped by the lift of the pilotis
image © andrew lee
the interiors are warmed by wooden floors and OSB walls
image © andrew lee
the northern wall is entirely glazed so as to make use of the stunning views
image © andrew lee
strategically placed windows pull in natural light to both floors
image © andrew lee
the hen house is a building centered around context
image © andrew lee
light wood framing and pilotis make up the bones of the building
image © andrew lee
model/ aperture view
image © andrew lee
model/ elevation view
image © andrew lee
(left): floor plan (right): elevation
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