The Noust Boathouse
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The ply box beam portal structure creates a clear, unobstructed working area
Neil Boyd Download Original
A community boathouse on the Isle of Tiree, built by architecture and engineering students as a live-build summer school
The challenges in achieving Tog Studio’s first permanent building were clear; find a client, source funding and produce a design that could be constructed in one week by a team with no on-site experience.
The Noust Boathouse was delivered for the Tiree Maritime Trust; a charity formed to ensure the preservation of the island’s maritime heritage. It was built by architecture and engineering students from across Scotland as part of a live-build summer school, teaching practical construction skills and site experience.
Designed to be robust, spacious and lightweight, the Boathouse utilises a ply box portal frame structure, where the curvilinear forms were imagined as an upturned boat. This precise structural solution was partially prefabricated to accelerate construction time and the tapered frames allow future extensions. The Russwood vertical timber cladding and Marley Eternit profiled sheeting create a utilitarian aesthetic, with the curved ridge referencing the vernacular buildings of the island.
Data
- Begun: Jun 2013
- Completed: Jul 2013
- Floor area: 36m2
- Sector: Industrial
- Total cost: £13,000
- Funding: Tiree Community Windfall Fund
- Tender date: Jun 2013
- Procurement: Live-build summer school
- Address: Scarinish, Isle of Tiree, PA77 6UH, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Tog Studio
- Client: Tiree Maritime Trust
- Structural engineer: Tog Studio
- Self-build tutor: Duncan Roberts
Suppliers
- External timber cladding: Russwood
- Mineral Fibre cladding: Marley Eternit
- Stainless Steel Fixings: Spax
- Ground anchors: Hilti
- Structural timber : BSW Timber
- External plywood: James Latham