The owners of this house just wanted a practical solution to the problem of muddy boots, but they ended up with clever, sculptural addition to their home
Choosing to make your home in the Cairngorms National Park is a statement of intent. It’s not everyone, after all, who feels comfortable in such vast and uncompromising landscape. Just 18,000 people live in this enormous stretch of the north-east, but whatever compromises they have to make in order to thrive in what, for large parts, is moutainous wilderness, there are most definitely compensations.
One of these is the breathtaking environment which, not surprisingly, is an inspiration to many locals when it comes to building or extending their homes. The area is known for the use of granite, hewn from the surrounding mountains, as this house, in the town of Aboyne, in rural Aberdeenshire, demonstrates. It had been upgraded and modernised over the years, but when the current owners decided they wanted to add an extension, they turned to the award-winning JAMstudio, for the experience the Aberdeen-based architectural practice has in transforming properties in this part of the country.
After initial consultations towards the end of 2012, a 12-month project began to create a new porch extension. “The clients own a couple of dogs and do a lot of walking in the countryside in all weathers,” says Marie-Louise Dunk, director and architect and JAMstudio. “Their house lacked an immediate entry space that would allow them to come home, take off their muddy boots, hang up soaked jackets and dry off wet dogs before entering the house.
“So the brief was for a new vestibule space featuring a separate bootroom,” says the architect. “They wanted something quite contemporary that would also work with their house, a historic converted granite mill.”
This is just a taster, you can browse the full article with more stunning photography on pages 130-134, issue 98.
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Words Catherine Coyle
Photography Neale Smith
What A covered porch and bootroom
Architect JAMstudio Ltd, 01224 646450
Where Aboyne, Aberdeenshire
