With its zinc roof and spectacular glazed frontage, Laggan House, perched high above the Stirlingshire commuter-belt village of Campsie Dene, has already been hailed as one of the UK’s most impressive small projects of the past 12 months.
Designed by Glasgow’s JM Architects and built at a cost of £250,000, the Millars’ contemporary retreat cements a three-generation love affair with modern architecture. As Diane explains: “My mother dreamt of being an architect and my interest has been carried forward by our daughter who works for the Lobb Partnership in London.
“My parents built their house on this site 40-odd years ago and it had always been my dream to do the same myself one day.”
They split the 1½-acre plot in two and sold off the original house to fund the building of the new one, which sits on a corner plot.
“With our three kids grown up and the old house too big for us, it seemed like the perfect time to go for it,” says Diane. “We’ve been able to exploit this plot with its woodland position and fantastic views down the valley to Blanefield,” she says.
Advertisement
“It’s been good to have an architect in the family to offer advice and reassurance. She’s been able to tell me exactly what to ask the contractors.”
Stan Doyle of JM says the Millars felt that wood and natural materials should feature heavily in the house both because of the rural context and the style of their original home,.
Doyle says: “In some ways it’s a very simple solution. Good architecture is all about the best use of the context and for us the challenge was not so much the design but the country setting. As a practice, we’re known for urban projects such as Graham Square in the Gorbals or Homes for the Future at Glasgow Green, so this was different.”
Diane was keen on a house that combined state-of-the-art insulation with energy efficiency. “In fact, the architects’ reputation for designs that make a feature of sustainability was one of the key things that drew us to them,” she says.
“What JM came up with is a very light, heavily glazed, modern, oak-panelled home, which still maintains a certain kinship with our old house. That house included an amazing timber-panelled interior by the cabinet makers Wylie Lochhead and it must have made its mark in its own time. However, this place is a very modern design solution, in fact, it’s probably the most contemporary looking house for miles around.”
Advertisement
Initially the couple had to overcome objections by the planners. “Originally they were adamant that any new house on this site had to follow the Scottish vernacular tradition,” says Diane. “We really had to charm them round to our way of thinking.”
Designed in oak, steel and glass, the key interior set piece is a space-saving open-tread staircase designed by Annandale Design, the company responsible for the statement stairway in Glasgow’s multi-award-winning Radisson hotel.
Diane says: “We can close down the house when it’s cold thanks to the internal glazing. In summer the house is a magnet for sun and light thanks to the glass. In miserable weather the glass screens create small partitioned rooms. It’s a cold February day but because we’re south-facing, I don’t have any heating on.”
Although pleased with the results, Diane has one minor regret. “If I was doing this again I would choose local tradesmen. People who live locally have a reputation to protect and therefore an incentive to do the job right. Dealing with the zinc roof and the weight capacities imposed by the planners took us to the boundaries of the builder’s capabilities.”