News & Project Updates

RIAS Design Awards 2012

2012-02-24T12:14:58Z

Driftwood Cottage at 157 Findhorn has been nominated for the 2012 RIAS Design Awards under the category for Conservation & Design. The project was descibed to the Royal Incorporation of Architects Scotland as:

"The design of this small ‘fisher’ cottage recreates the footprint of one of the original cottages once located on the site. In itself this building is not an act of conservation however this small new-build cottage has been designed to synthesise and make more obvious the grain and characters that underpin the local conservation area whilst reinforcing the special qualities of Findhorn Village.

Driftwood Cottage is simple in its composition and perhaps traditional in its appearance; respectful of the historic pallet of materials, colours and building forms. The external appearance belies the modern method of construction, achieved high levels of insulation and overall energy performance and contemporary interior of this family living space.

Designed around the needs of a family of 4 the cottage is accessed traditionally, from the south direct into a small hall. Located hard in between neighbouring buildings of the fisher town Driftwood Cottage adds to the density of building, opening directly onto the stryplies, common pedestrian rights of way running adjacent to the edge of the building.

Care in the use of contemporary building materials blends the characteristics of the original dwellings: an acrylic lime render on a ventilated acoustic cladding system provides a high performance interpretation of the old white-washed and harled stone walls adjacent. Careful rounding of building corners, window in-goes and the use of slate sills subtly camouflages the true age of this building. The use and colour of vertical timber cladding breaks-down the scale of the external building forms while harking back to the traditional lean-to smoke houses of ages past.

Natural stone paving, beach pebbles and external landscaping details of groins and picket fences highlight the local area character and add to the cohesive feeling of village infrastructure.

Taken together Driftwood Cottage blends contemporary construction methods with traditional materials to serve as an act of Village Conservation."

For more details see Coast2Coast Architects.

Coast2Coast Architects established

2012-02-01T09:01:05Z

Coast2Coast Architects is established as a new trading brand for AffordableTM Ltd. This new brand is based around the core of our bespoke and site-specific design work in coastal locations across the North of Scotland. It is the intention to develope the brand further with a number of unique design projects currently being build in the Moray Coastal Village of Findhorn where the design strudio is based.

ABERDEENSHIRE DESIGN AWARDS 2012

2012-02-01T08:47:04Z

Steading at Newmachar, Aberdeenshire

Entered for 2012 Design Awards

Conversion of a traditional large Aberdeenshire granite stone steading buildings on an exposed hill top site to form a new family home. This project is a good example of how a steading can be converted in to a modern domestic dwelling while retaining the character and simplicity of the original agricultural structure.

All of the original stonework and ‘window’ openings were incorporated into the new design layout. All existing stone walls were re-pointed, repaired and coped and a new wall-head established to form a clerestory band of weathered larch and glass. This was a controversial design approach and formed and important feature of the new design in order to allow headroom, daylight and views for first floor accommodation. When seen from afar this simple design intervention reinforces the simplicity and grandeur of the original building forms.

Re-use of existing building structures such as the hen house and hay loft along with the sensitive insertion of new functions, combined with a limited pallet of materials provide a new home that is spacious and full of light.

Architect-designed holiday cottage in Findhorn

2011-02-22T13:35:10Z

AffordableTM Architects have recently completed the design & build of a low carbon holiday rental cottage in heart of the Conservation Village of Findhorn, Moray.

Property Marketing Manager describes Driftwood Cottages as

"An architect designed eco cottage that is the essence of contemporary seaside living. Built as a split level, Driftwood Cottage has a simple and calm interior with white timber lined walls, wood floors and natural materials of slate and wood. The Scan wood burning stove in the centre of the house provides warmth and welcome for guests on cooler evenings. The blue and white finished cottage is beautifully situated just a moment from the Bay front and the Piers, yet is quiet and private with a small outside courtyard in which to relax. The furniture and finish of this cottage reflects simplicity".

Driftwood Cottage is set back from the road with off-street parking and is snuggled right into the centre of the old sea town of Findhorn Village. Driftwood Cottage has 3 bedrooms and sleeps 6 and is available for private rent.

For more information on Driftwood Cottage visit FindhornHolidayCottages.co.uk

Stained Glass Workshop nears completion

2010-10-01T08:39:30Z

Morning Glass Designs have been working hard over the last few months to construct their new workshop premises. Designed with a low carbon footprint this minimalist timber workspace is crafted around the use of available timber products, sourced locally.

For a updated view of their building project check out Morning Glass progress and to see more of the beautiful work of Morning Glass see their www.

Winner - IAA Design Awards - Best New Building in East Highlands & Moray 2010

2010-08-13T17:07:13Z

AffordableTM Ltd has just been announced as Winner of the Best New Building category in the IAA Design Awards for East Highlands & Moray.

With over 60 projects entered in the regional IAA Design Awards competition, a final of 5 shortlisted projects were visited last week by a panel of judges. Greig & Kathleen Munro of AffordableTM Chartered Architects were announced as Winner of the Best New Building category for their work on Fisher Cottage at 32 Findhorn at the Awards Ceremony held recently at Moray College.

In summing up the short-listed projects a panel of Judges led by Donald Lunan (recently retired as the Head of Planning & Development from The Moray Council) and Mr Rennie said that "the Fisher Cottage at 32 Findhorn was a real gem of a project, beautifully constructed and integrating new design within the very fabric of the traditional architecture of Findhorn". While only a small two bedroom cottage this building had been carefully designed giving a light & spacious interior, detailed with a strong environmental specification and demonstrating AffordableTM's commitment to their sustainable design agenda.

In receiving the Award, Greig Munro said that so much of the success of this small project was down to the flair of his Clients and the care and skill of Russell Construction Moray Ltd, as Main Contractor.

IAA Design Awards - Commendation for Best New Building in Central Highlands 2010

2010-06-11T07:53:05Z

AffordableTM Ltd has just been awarded the IAA Design "Commendation" for the Best New Building in the Central Highlands 2010 for a recently completed Private Residence in Inverness.

The final shortlisted projects competing in this category comprised The Garden Town House in the heart of the Inverness Crown Conservation Area; a new Chapel and the Highland Archive Centre in Inverness. The judges commented that the range of project types in the Best New Building category made comparison between the final shortlisted projects extremely difficult as they presented the Commendation Award to Kathleen Munro of AffordableTM Chartered Architects and the winning Award to LDN Architects for the Highland Archive Centre.

For more information see: IAA Design Awards

It is great to see two local Moray Design Practices setting the standard for new building in the Highlands and it is intended that all the Shortlisted IAA submissions will be on public display at the Highland Housing Expo later this summer.

North Harris Trust - Zero Carbon Business Start-up Units

2010-04-19T17:27:42Z

AffordableTM has just been appointed to undertake a Project Feasibility Study for the North Harris Trust to develop a number of zero carbon business start up units. The initial project stages will seek to identify the optimum site location, develop a project renewables strategy, establish a building cost plan and set the planning & design framework.

"Following a careful short-listing process supported by the RIAS we were invited by the North Harris Trust to Tender for this forward thinking research study. It will be a real challenge for us to apply our knowledge of sustainable design & construction from our domestic projects in the Highlands to small commercial units in the remote and wild landscape at the heart of the Outer Hebrides".

The Trust successfully bought the 55,000 acre North Harris Estate, including approx 130 crofts and 17 townships, including the main population centre Tarbert. The Trust consists of directors from within the community. For more information on the NHT see their own www below:

http://www.north-harris.org/trust.htm

The project will deliver two or more micro-business starter units. The unique selling point is that they will showcase “zero carbon” design and incorporate renewable technologies that, with the new “Feed-in Tariff” scheme for local electricity generation, will make the units cost neutral, even when vacant.

This community project is supported by:

and the

AW Laing wins Construction Contract for new Eco-Croft House in Boat of Garten

2010-01-08T14:40:42Z

AW Laings have secured the Contract to build a new 4 bedroom Croft House on a bare-lands croft site in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park. The contract is due to start January 2010, weather and snow permitting.

The design of the new dwelling is intended to recreate the traditional building form and materials associated with rural Steadings throughout Strathspey. However the construction of the new dwelling is contemporary in its use of materials and their associated energy efficiency and environmental performance.

It is hoped that this project will help the CNPA set new sustainable design standards: at the core of these the minimisation of CO2 emissions will be achieved by adopting a 3-layer strategy:

Build Tight & Insulate Right – reduce demand for energy input
Use of Renewable Energy – and plan for future energy supplies
Use Local Skills, Materials & Suppliers – minimise carbon miles

1 - Dwelling Construction - Build Tight & Insulate Right

The timber frame construction is insulated to current building regulations mineral wool products with formaldehyde-free binders and made from bio-based materials (instead of petroleum-based chemicals) which is up to 70% less energy intensive. These insulation products contain no dye or artificial colour, are free from CFC’s, HCFC’s and any other material with ozone depletion potential in its manufacture and content: classified as Zero ODP and Zero GWP.

In addition to this basic level of insulation a second internal wrapping layer of insulation has been applied. This secondary insulation material eliminates all thermal bridging as it is applied to the inside face of the structural frame construction; performs as internal ‘air barrier’ ensuring airtight construction and provides for the ducting of all electrical & plumbing services ensuring detailing that prevents air leakage of the construction system. This insulation material comprising outer layers of coated metallised film with the core of the product consisting of layers of polyester fibre wadding separated by metallised film layers.

The novel combination of these insulation systems provides a cost effective super-insulated building envelope and significantly reduces the energy load required for heating purposes.

2 - Renewable Energy – Heating & Hot Water Systems

A heating strategy that balances the type of dwelling, the site-specific location and the requirements of seasonal variation has been developed. Each of the systems has been chosen to operate with degrees of efficiency depending on the time of year, outdoor air temperature and homeowner preferences.

A high efficiency wood burning stove located in the principal warm / living space at the centre of the building is used in conjunction with a ventilation heat recovery system augmented by geothermal ground collectors heat-pump and solar panels to provide a seasonally balanced and resource efficient heating & hot water system. The ventilation heat recovery system eliminates the need for multiple envelope penetrations and electric fan motors as required by traditional room extract vents.

3 – Use Local Skills - Materials & Suppliers

The main dwelling construction uses C16 grade structural timber frame construction. Only this grade of structural timber can be sourced from local sawmill suppliers. External building timberwork & cladding is specified as Scot-Larch sourced by Russwood Ltd in Newtonmore. Overall a light-weight on-site construction system requiring no specialist installers, equipment or lifting equipment.

The Main Contractor for the project is a well known family business A W Laing, based in Grantown-on-Spey. Each of the sub-contracted Trades is based within a 20mile radius of the site with the associated multiplier effect of the local supplier network, ensuring where possible that the value of this small project is retained within the Cairngorms National Park economy.

Greig Munro, for AffordableTM Ltd - Chartered Architects

New Office - Due for completion February 2010.

2010-01-06T18:41:42Z

A Room with a view - our new workspace. Our new workspace - a Room with a View. Not quite this view but very similar.The new AffordableTM office is of compact design using the best of local trades and materials. Built by John Harris of Findhorn.

Externally the building has been clad in Larch boards, painted 'off-white' to blend in to the background of Findhorn Conservation Village with the new copper roof slowly oxidising to a 'sea-green' patena. Large sliding doors give a huge view out to Findhorn Bay with external 'sun louvers' that can be drawn to keep out the ravages of stormy days.

Breathing wall & roof construction has been used to give a balanced indoor environment, with PanelVent sheathing board, recycled plastic bottle insulation and Knauf ecose rock wool insulation products. External rain screen Larch Cladding supplied by Russwood Ltd of Newtonmore. Windows & Doors were built by Russell Construction Moray Ltd.

Internally Horizontal Larch lining boards and a black pre-finished Oak flooring was also kindly supplied by Russwood.

All together a small haven in which to contemplate .... perhaps larger projects.