Dualchas Building Design

A house on the Isle of Skye has been shortlisted for the prestigious AJ Small Projects Awards for 2009.

The Shed, in Tokavaig on the Sleat peninsula, is the home of Dualchas architect Mary Arnold-Forster, and is one of 24 projects from across the UK to have made the shortlist.

From Tokavaig to Nova Scotia

Admittedly there’s a bit of a dearth of cheer on this year’s seasonal front, but there are a few positives around well worth highlighting. The first is the hour-long programme broadcast this week on a completely obscure Sky channel about the construction of the Shed at Tokavaig, Mary Arnold Forster’s house on Skye. Mary, for those of you foolish enough not to memorise the contents of each week’s Wrap, is the member of Dualchas I reported on a couple of months ago who has the energy to kayak to site meetings on nearby islands. Mary took some serious ribbing from her partners on that one but I think it would be hard for the twins to be churlish this time about her well-deserved 60 minutes of fame.

Skye scored a major success at the prestigious IAA Design Awards on Friday night, as two of the island's architecture practices won top awards.

Dualchas Building Design picked up two, with “the Shed” in Tokavaig on the Isle of Skye winning the award for the best New Building category, with “An Gearasdan” – a renovation of a kithouse in Glenelg, winning the award for New Life for an Old Building.