East Coast Scottish home

The classic barn proportions of the single storey home lent themselves well to a sling brace style of frame. Instead of the usual gable ends on the vernacular West Coast architecture we designed hip ends to soften the roof line. These hip ends enabled us to use a design feature we’d not done before – a half sling brace – which were a neat and interesting feature in this open plan living area.

The bedroom wings were built using a softwood timber frame kit to allow for two storeys within the limited height of the building.

Due to limited access on the exposed cliff top site, our team of carpenters used a nimble spider crane for the erection of the frame.

The frame stood erected and unenclosed for an extended period of time, before the building was completed, which led to an amazing finish after sandblasting – the oak has silvered and taken on even more character than usual.

This beautiful home with its oak framed open plan living area sits proudly on this stunning coastal site and is a brilliant example of how much can be achieved with an oak frame, even when only used in part of the home.

“When I found my plot of land in Cove it seemed like a perfect opportunity to realise my dreams of building an oak framed but modern house. When we were discussing the design, because of the proximity to the coast, I asked that if you stood at one end, and looked down the length of the house, could it be made to look like an upturned boat? They absolutely delivered on that score and it’s a constant source of joy. It feels like living in a huge oak sculpture.” – the client.

Photo credit: Savills

We build timber framed homes, extensions, cabins and barns throughout the UK and we love helping our clients achieve their ambitions. Please get in touch with us if you have a project you would like to discuss with us.