Traditional Homes in National Parks
Designing Traditional Homes in Scotland’s National Parks
Designing traditional style houses in Scotland’s national parks involves heightened expectations. These come from the clients, who understand the privilege of building or renovating in these beautiful surroundings, but also from visitors and other residents, who expect that beauty to be preserved.
This often means that stricter vernacular architectural styles must be adhered to. As national park architects, we reference architecture of the area in our designs and to position and design with sensitivity. This does not necessarily mean that innovation or dynamic details cannot be incorporated, but just that extreme care has to be taken to create something that really does fit well in its surroundings. We strive to produce buildings that are identifiably local in some way.
We have worked on and built traditional homes in both Scottish national parks: Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park and Cairngorms National Park, and understand the intricacies of working with the parks’ planning authorities. However, there is far more to designing traditional homes in national parks than additional bureaucracy. Creating new homes or renovating existing properties within these protected landscapes requires a careful balance between contemporary living and respect for traditional forms, materials, and regulations.
Examples of houses we have designed in Scottish national parks
Homes within Scotland’s national parks come in various forms, from historic cottages, farmhouses, and converted agricultural buildings, to elegant estate houses, country homes, and lochside villas. Our projects reflect these varied styles.
This newbuild country park mansion is a national park project from the Thomas Robinson Architects team with a signature wraparound veranda that both protects from and allows access to the outside. The design nods to classical country house form in its symmetry and simplicity, while the interior is modern and energy efficient.
In a contrasting style, this low-slung luxury lochside lodge is another large national park newbuild reflecting a more agricultural form with its long barn-like shapes. The interior offers stylish modern living, with open-plan design, large windows, heated floors, and expansive views. Another newbuild traditional estate house from our practice offers a homey country style inside and the exterior is a classical take on the traditional rural Highland home.
Lochs are a key feature of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National park, and building on their shores requires care. This multi-level lochside home offers upper-level living with fantastic views, and a contemporary take on the traditional Scottish farmhouse. Framing views and maximizing easy interaction between inside and out are key facets of national park houses that we design. This charming Victorian lochside villa in Lochgoilhead is full of traditional detail, which we intricately replicated for its extension, which has given the owners better connection with the water and the daily changing weather.
And this semi-rural Victorian villa is another national park property with beautiful proportions, that we reworked from the inside, also adding modern yet traditional-feeling extensions that complement the existing house in style, materials, tone, and proportion.
The national parks are also home to farmhouses and holiday homes. Our design for this newbuild Scottish-Scandi style timber farmhouse sits alongside two renovated stone buildings which we transformed into charming holiday homes, complete with extremely low-energy running systems.
And cottages, equally traditional in the national parks, are another staple. This estate cottage needed extending to house a growing family, so we kept the white exterior and gave it a new slate roof and Scandi-Scottish larch-clad extensions to each side, also expanding the windows for floor-to-ceiling views and much more natural light.
What other requirements are needed for building traditional houses in national parks?
We always strive to include and often make a feature of local materials in our national park architectural projects. Creating a connection with outstanding natural settings is a no-brainer. Materials we reach for include Scottish whinstone, timber, and slate.
Weather, too, is always a consideration when designing and building anywhere in rural Scotland. The famously hilly national parks come complete with winter snow and rain and so sturdiness of design and appearance is important, as is the inclusion of inside spaces for throwing off boots, cleaning pets, and hanging wet gear. Materials, sustainability, great heating systems – underfloor warmth is always welcome in these houses – are chosen to make living easy in these dramatic landscapes.
Planning requirements in the national parks of Scotland
Both national parks operate as their own planning authorities and proposals are assessed against specific local development plans and design guidance. Plans are evaluated not only for architectural quality but also for their impact on landscape, character, biodiversity, access, and local communities.
These factors can mean that extra assessments are required before building, all of which we have contacts for and have formed part of our builds in the past.
Less tangibly, national park planners also require buildings to have special qualities. While tricky to define, we would say that all our designs do have special qualities, which come from thoughtful design detailing and an extremely in-depth process as part of our architectural service. An architect’s job is to consider the most relevant factors that should influence a buildings design and to decide on a course that will produce a building fitting for its site and that fits the brief. This is true in all settings, but as we have said, the expectation of all national park users can be heightened, and we are acutely aware of that so extra special care is taken.
We deliver high-quality homes that meet contemporary needs while preserving the distinctive character of Scotland’s most treasured landscapes. For homeowners in Cairngorms National Park and Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, our thoughtful architectural design ensures that new and renewed homes contribute positively to these remarkable places for generations to come. And as people who live and work within Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park ourselves, these considerations and acknowledgement of the privilege of being here are part of our every day.
Contact us today to discuss your Scottish national park architectural project.