Date: 29 June 09
Author: Caroline Ednie, Web Editor
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Treetops is a family home sitting on the steep wooded slopes of the Tay valley near Aberfeldy in Highland Perthshire.
The historical vernacular in the vicinity is the Scottish longhouse. This building type along with constraints of a long narrow site informed a linear building solution. In contrast with the early stone built longhouses, which were built to protect their inhabitants against the climate, this house does not suggest a series of impenetrable walls, but a sense of openness to its external surroundings.
The steeply sloping roof and curved ridge reflects the thatch profile and together with the larch cladding gives a lightness of structure. The house, built on a line of tree like columns, allows the timber mass of the house to hover over the untouched landscape, reflects the wooded surroundings and allows the house to be high amongst the trees. Internal volumes are reflective of external mass, each room with a distinct character.
The internal planning arrangements are simple, all service accommodation and storage to the North and all habitable rooms to the south, master bedroom to the East and living accommodation to the West, resulting in considerable solar gain which is then conserved with super insulation. When heating is required on the coldest winter days it is sourced from wood pellet central heating and a log burning stove which all together results in a very low carbon footprint. The house responds to the site in a way that suggests it could not be built anywhere else.
Project: Treetops
Architect: CASA
Client: Private
Location: Perthshire
Link: www.casarchitect.co.uk
Images: Nigel Rigden
(Click on images to enlarge)
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