New Scottish Houses by Isabelle Priest showcases a multitude of beautiful and varied modern homes built across the regions of Scotland, but she identifies Skye as the starting point of this cultural shift in Scottish architecture. It was there in 1995 that Dualchas founders Alasdair and Neil Stephen built their first house, using a government grant and the ambition of youth.
The introduction explains how it was a desire to create an architecture that was truly Highland, and reject the standard “kit-house” suburban design, that led Neil and Alasdair to draw inspiration from the Highland blackhouse. The result was a long narrow house, open plan with high volumes – and the elimination of corridor spaces. All built with the same technology and to the same cost as a comparably sized kit house.
Rural Design then set up on Skye in 2003, with many more rural-focussed architecture practices following over the years. This included Ann Nisbet Studio and Mary Arnold-Forster, who had worked at Dualchas prior to establishing their own successful design studios.
Commenting on the book, Neil Stephen of Dualchas said:
“When we first set up Dualchas myself and Alasdair were still students. At the time there was talk of a cultural renaissance in the Highlands, but we were aware that not only was Highland architecture not part of this, it was being either dismissed or derided. We decided to do something about it. We couldn’t have imagined that 30 years later our works would be exhibited in the Museum of Scotland, The V&A Dundee and at the Venice Biennale. Seeing our work and our story in this book also adds to the sense of unreality.”
New Scottish Houses: Contemporary Architecture and Living in the Landscape, by Isabelle Priest, features 24 projects – including Dualchas’s Achnacloich and Torrin. The book is available from RIBA Books and other major retailers.