BALBIRNIE GATE LODGE

The project brief was straightforward: extend the house to allow for an extra master bedroom and an open-plan kitchen lounge that maximised the best use of the rear garden and views. The client also desired to retain the charm and historic features of the original house but with a modern extension focusing strongly on sustainability. The response was a stepped two-story extension that met the client’s brief and was designed to retain all of the building's historic fabric, architectural features, including the surrounding garden, gates, gutters, and trees on-site. This design preserved views from the ground floor while enhancing those from the ground floor bedrooms and sitting room. Materials were chosen to integrate with the existing architecture of the Gate Lodge and minimise the carbon footprint, resulting in a mostly timber structure with responsibly sourced timber cladding for the exterior. Internally, the original stone walls were exposed to emphasise the building’s original architecture. The project was designed to be fully built-in timber, utilising a fully insulated and responsibly sourced European timber frame, timber cladding exterior, and a living wildflower green roof, all contributing to reducing the project's carbon footprint. Efforts were also made to minimise the use of steel as much as possible. The external timber cladding features stained-treated Siberian Larch, adding modern elegance while paying homage to the traditional building style and the light grey sandstone of the house.