my towerhouse + your towerhouse = our castle

“And though home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in strongest conjuration.” Charles Dickens

The design intent of the project is to create a modern Scottish dwelling that echoes the historical precedent of castle homesteads in rural Scotland, built to last and be admired through the ages. With the clever proportioning and shape of facades coupled with the considered situation of openings the modest home is reinterpreted as the heroic castle. When placed in the immediate site context of a country lane this affords the design a uniqueness that can be embraced throughout the community. The individual aspect is carried through the façade using a vibrant yet contextual coloured render tempered by diagonal timber boardings. Inside the home has a series of zones that explore the constraints of the site as well as the nature of today’s families and house dwellers. Whilst not conventionally open plan, the interior has a flexibility that promotes movement, adaptability and energy efficiency.

Our sustainable approach is to consider the factors of the site that can be used to benefit the interior space and specify materials that are long-lasting and high performance but have low environmental impact. This manifests itself firstly in the provision of a community biomass plant and wind turbine to produce electricity with materials selected add to the environmental performance of the dwelling. Using lime as opposed to Portland cement in the concrete mix reduces greenhouse gases, improves breathability and reabsorbs up to 60% of its CO2 emissions. Structural Insulating Panels are lightweight innovative construction method permitting u-values of 0.1W/m2K for the walls and roof. The pre-manufacture of these units later assembled on site produces no ozone depleting gases and allows the effective management of delivery and on site waste. When in place the panels provide additional floor area and an extra attic space maximising the use of the site. The airtight, insulated panels mean the building has a low heating load and the passive stack ventilation system incorporating humidity controlled vents and window inlets as required ensure comfortable air change rates. The European larch timber cladding is locally sourced, by ASHS members less than 30 miles away. The hydraulic lime render is also capable of reabsorbing 60% of its CO2 emissions during setting. Finally the choice of a low maintenance, long-lasting copper roof with integrated water collection and filtration system provides non-potable water for the dwelling. It is hoped that the budget would allow for extensions over the car port with replaced garden space and a south facing sun space/ dry area covered by a sedum roof to promote biodiversity. The glazing here would concentrate the heat of the sun onto the exposed precast concrete mass inside, storing the energy to provide additional natural heat for the dwelling. We are confident that the proposed dwelling would achieve a BRE Ecohomes rating of excellent.