During their long saga to build a home with stables on an exposed site on the west coast of Scotland, David and Louisa Wallace discovered that bigger isn’t necessarily better when they had to edit their plans down
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Louisa Wallace had always dreamed of a home with enough land to keep her own horses, and in 2005, she and her partner, David Johnstone decided to realise it. Although their goal was clear, including starting a livery business, the odds were not in their favour when it came to finding a suitable property on Scotland’s west coast. “Property prices were going through the roof, and after a couple of years of searching, we decided we would stay put,” David recalls.
However, one day David came home to find that Louisa had put some property details on his desk. “It was for a steading (farmstead) development with land.” Part of a former (now subdivided) dairy farm in South Lanarkshire, the couple made an appointment to view it. Unfortunately, in the flesh it didn’t really appeal. Adjacent to the development, however, was the remainder of the farmland, which was also being sold off.
David: “We made some enquiries with planning, and I came away with the impression that we could have a house on the site within a couple of years. Firstly, we needed to establish the stables and unfortunately, we hadn’t realised how established that business would have to be before we could take on a house build too.”
The couple bought a new, three-bedroom, static caravan and moved onto the plot in 2007. It took time to build up the business and they ran into some planning hitches, but eventually in 2012 they were granted planning permission for a generous 350 m² new build.
But another setback occurred when planning was granted with obligations, known as Section 75 Agreements in Scotland ( Section 106 Agreements in England and Wales). These can be entered into at any stage of the planning process, and can include financial contributions towards schools, roads, transport, the public realm and affordable housing. In David and Louisa’s case, this slowed down their application to finance the build. After several years they managed to get the Section 75 removed but by this time, the world was a different place, and financing a 350 m² property was now out of the question.
Concise design
“In 2018, after a recommendation, we approached architects Matt Loader and Iain Monteith,” David recalls. “We gave Matt the remit to build a house fit for purpose for to how we wanted to live, and the lifestyle we have.” Following this brief, his design was a fraction of the size the couple originally had planning permission for. Indeed, the 185 m² footprint he initially agreed with David and Louisa was reduced further to 155 m².
“Our first discussions were really about how to make David and Louisa’s budget go as far as it possibly could,” Matt remembers. “What does value for money look like when it comes to architecture? How do you create a building that is a family home but is designed in such a way to allow the money to flow into the areas that make the biggest impact?”
Matt’s concept was to eschew the traditional layout of a family home with bedrooms upstairs and reception rooms downstairs. “If you don’t have a garage within the house there’s quite a bit of ‘fat’ in the property, and that was the case with the previous plans. The bedrooms were upstairs with rather palatial living areas downstairs.”
A more efficient plan was agreed upon by moving one of the four bedrooms downstairs with the further three bedrooms located on the first floor along with the family bathroom.
These were the core principles for the actual building, but Matt also had to take into account the rural location, the views over the 25-acre farm and to ensure that the new build was connected to, but somewhat separate from the business. “The house needed to embrace the landscape and take advantage of the wonderful views and be cosy and warm when the wind
was blowing.”
SENSIBLE SAVINGS
One of Matt’s solutions to keeping costs down was in the choice of materials. “Render, metal roofing in particular, and to a degree, timber cladding, are not expensive materials. The question we asked ourselves was once you make a decision on what something is made out of, how do you make it the best possible version of that?”
David’s original choice was for a stone facade which was, he recalls, prohibitively expensive: “I really wanted a stone gable end so instead, Matt suggested two different styles of render – rough and smooth. It’s worked really well, it’s quite unique and contrasts well with the black painted larch.”
Another suggestion that Matt proposed was for the ‘profile 3’ roof which David wanted to amend to the same profile as the existing barns and stables. “I didn’t think it would fit in but actually now I might change the other roofs to the same profile!”
An external detail that certainly stands out is the ‘red box,’ which is effectively a bay window with an internal bench seat that forms part of the dining nook. “It originated from a very early sketch that we did,” says Matt. “We drew the living room and said that we wanted it to look out over the countryside – and we coloured it in on the sketch. It led us to think ‘what happens if we did actually mark that part out in colour? It’s playful and enjoyable to look at, and from an environmental point of view it’s really good because at the end of its life, you can melt it down and reuse it.” Internally, the splay allows the views to be seen as wide as possible.
David enthuses: “The red box is all from Matt, and I love it. Everyone comments on it, and internally the design affords us more room in the living area. The installers constructed it all on site, did all the folding, and it was great
to watch.”
Material savings were also made internally with cleverly considered design decisions such as the staircase which in itself is a piece of architecture. Here, the biggest cost was the design aspect of the staircase rather than the actual materials and build time. “It’s a standard off the shelf stair,” says Matt. “We designed the handrails and specified the floor finishes to make sure they complemented each other. It was reasonably inexpensive to build, but we invested design time in it to make sure it drew the light down from the top of the house.”
Longer term savings were made with the installation of an air source heat pump, a highly insulated shell, triple glazing and underfloor heating. “Never scrimp on windows,” Matt cautions. “Especially in a severely exposed location such as this. These decisions are what save you money in the long run. Likewise, financially the heat pump was a good sustainable option with the schemes that were available at the time.”
REACHING OUT
While there weren’t many changes made to the original design, there was one development that occurred during the construction phase, and which David is delighted he instigated. “At the very start we had planned an outdoor space under the span of the roof on the ground floor, but we decided against it.” However, once the build commenced, the builders mentioned that they effectively had a room with empty space above it. You arrived at the top of the stairs and were met with a window, when you could actually go out further. “We went back to Matt, and he came up with the balcony underneath the roof which is absolutely brilliant. It’s great for watching the sun come up with a wee cup of tea or for a beer at the end of the day.”
“Fortunately, David and Louisa were happy to spend a little bit more money to make this happen and it’s a really nice little space,” adds Matt. “We designed the house so where the views are the neighbours aren’t.”
Maximising the views and avoiding overlooking the neighbours was also one of David’s initial concerns, along with how the house would fit into its surroundings. He thinks that Loader Monteith has done a fantastic job
of siting the property into the location.
It is oriented so that the ridge of the house runs north to south, with the main elevations east and west. To the south there are farm fields until the next property a mile and a half away. To the west are other properties, but all the reception rooms look out to the east. “The house was designed to not overlook the neighbours, and to benefit from the fantastic uninterrupted views. The picture outside is simply what the weather’s doing, and I really like that.” David adds: “I wanted a property that was in proportion to the 30-acre plot that it sits in. There’s a bit of me that would have liked it a bit bigger but then I think – why? However, I think Louisa would have reduced it even more.”
Going from a 350 m² design to a 155 m² result is quite a leap, but did living in a 35 m² caravan for 14 years help? “It certainly prompted us to decide what we really needed,” says David. “The caravan might have sufficed were it not for the fact that the bedrooms were tiny, we had already decided that we wanted a living space that was similar to what we had in the caravan – open plan kitchen/diner/sitting room.”
Having finally moved into a ‘real home,’ there’s not quite as much family time now. “Our kids are obviously older – 15 and 18 so they are out more – but in the caravan, we had to use the open plan area to congregate, as their bedrooms were so small.”
Today, however, the house is everything that David and Louisa wanted, and gives the family everything they need. “We’re 18 months in and we use every single room in this house albeit the spare bedroom and the snug less so, but they’re handy to have. Whether this would be everyone’s cup of tea I don’t know? If you were a big socialiser, it might not work – but Louisa, the kids and I are outdoors a lot.” He concludes: “We asked Loader Monteith to design a house for us and how we live, and this is exactly fit for purpose.”
HIGH POINT
“There were several, but after 14 years in a caravan waking up and not knowing what the temperature is outside is still right up there!”
LOW POINT
“I was skiing in Italy and stopped halfway down the mountain to take a call from Matt and he told me the proposed contract price. I thought well that’s never going to happen; time to buy a new caravan! I’m pleased to say once we returned home, Matt managed to reduce the footprint, changed things about and eventually the price almost halved!”
MATT’S TOP TIP
• “Never scrimp on windows, especially in a severely exposed location”
CONTACTS/SUPPLIERS
ARCHITECTS
Loader Monteith
MAIN CONTRACTOR & JOINERY (INCLUDING STAIRCASE, BOOK CASES AND BENCH SEATING)
Las Construction Projects Ltd
07540 613732
DOORS/GLAZING
Rationel Windows UK
KITCHEN
Archispek
TILES
Mrs Stone Store
Topps Tiles
WOOD FLOORING
Jewson