Kirk House

Garve, Ross-shire

The most convincing way to make this former church a home was not to make it look like a house.

Set at the edge of Garve, the red sandstone Victorian Church of Scotland occupies a constrained site between the railway, main road and a wooded bank, with views towards Ben Wyvis. The brief was to create a family home while preserving the building’s civic presence.

Our response
The exterior remains largely unchanged. Subtle details—a bell-tower light, galvanised rainwater goods, a poured-concrete wood store and a precise stainless-steel handle—signal its new life without domesticating the architecture.

Inside, the former volume is reworked as a sequence of light-filled spaces. Concrete, galvanised steel and timber establish a robust but warm material character, while new interventions remain distinct from the original sandstone shell.

The result is a contemporary family home that retains the clarity and scale of the church, finding richness in the tension between old fabric and carefully controlled new work.

Awards and recognition
Saltire Housing Design Award — Alterations, Renovations and Extensions, 2012
Contributed, with Boreraig, to the Saltire Medal, 2012
Featured in Homes & Interiors Scotland and Building Design