The Noust Boathouse

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.