Arbor Home by Brown & Brown Architects

Brown & Brown has accomplished a brand new low-energy residence in a conservation space of Aberdeen, Scotland, turning an open plot into a personal, leafy retreat that foregrounds craftsmanship and design.

Designed for a mature couple relocating from a rural village into suburban Aberdeen, The Arbor Home is a up to date, cantilevered residence organized over two flooring with slim Larch batten cladding punctuated by expansive glazing. It’s nestled in a delicate dip on the northern nook of the positioning to seize and harness southern daylight, masking the properties’ quantity beneath the busy sloping highway it neighbors. The Arbor Home has been delivered by Brown & Brown in partnership with specialist contractor, Coldwells Construct and craft workshop, Angus & Mack.

The Arbor Home replaces a dilapidated stone steading that prolonged the size of the tree-lined plot. Many of the cottage was rigorously deconstructed and the masonry reused to craft a low, sweeping boundary wall at road degree, whereas one wall of the stone cottage is left in situ to kind a contemporary colonnade lit by unique window openings.

Brown & Brown organized these layers of salvaged masonry to stability the shopper’s want for privateness and keep the property’s unique connection to the streetscape. The cloistered entry presents a ‘psychological airlock’, marking a transparent separation between the busy highway and enclosed gardens and residential.

Inside, The Arbor Home follows a logical ground plan designed to adapt for impartial residing later in life if required. A custom-fumed oak pivot door leads into a large hallway, the place occupants are drawn by means of the home by uninterrupted views to the gardens previous a utility room, lavatory, and workplace, earlier than arriving in a double-height glazed atrium. This central eating area is lit by a complete wall of glazing, bringing the encompassing bushes into the house.

Regardless of the wall of nature overlooking the ethereal area, a sculptural Birch plywood spiral staircase attracts focus within the atrium. Designed by Brown & Brown in collaboration with native craftsman Angus & Mack, the stair was assembled over three weeks as timber treads have been individually reduce and hand layered to kind a easy, sinuous parabolic curve.

The rest of the bottom ground is devoted to cooking and internet hosting, the place a {custom} chef’s kitchen marks the fulcrum level of the home. A wall of joinery clad in textural slate panels conceals a back-of-house kitchen with floor-to-ceiling storage. The modern DK&I kitchen island includes a micro cement counter that cantilevers out from a blackened ceramic base, reaching towards a wall of floor-to-ceiling glazing.

Extending into the backyard to flank the interior courtyard, the lounge is given over to end-to-end, floor-to-ceiling glazing to drink within the greenery exterior. A timber board-marked concrete hearth anchors the light-weight area, balancing the ethereal inside with a way of solidity.

The second ground of The Arbor Home hosts the sleeping quarters. The primary bed room with a nook glazed lavatory sits on the jap finish of the plan, whereas a second and third bed room and adjoining jack and jill lavatory designed for the {couples}’ grown-up kids sit on the western aspect. The volumes of the primary ground, colonnade, and storage are damaged up by a sedum roof, which blends the rooftops with the encompassing treelines and assists with drainage.

Consistent with the studio’s strategy to sustainability, Brown & Brown designed The Arbor Home to capitalize on pure supplies, heating, and air flow to scale back operational prices and carbon. The big expanses of glazing attract and retailer heat daylight within the thermal mass, and open to passively cool the home in the summertime months. A floor supply warmth pump maintains a toasty indoor temperature within the Winter, supported by the closely insulated construction which has been sealed for airtightness. Air circulates with the assistance of a mechanical air flow warmth restoration system, leading to a really low power in-use score general.

Architects: Brown & Brown Architects; Space: 274 m²; 12 months: 2022; Pictures:Jim Stephenson; Producers: Geberit, Aquabella, DK&I, Kast Concrete Basins, Russwood, Vado Faucets, Woodpecker Flooring; Most important Contractor: Coldwells Construct; Normal Engineering: Design Engineering Workshop;