We’re excited to be hosting an exhibition in our shopfront as part of this year’s Archifringe. The window display showcases Delighthouse, one of the winning installations from the Winter Stations competition in Toronto, designed by HLA’s Nick Green and graphic designer Greig Pirrie.

Responding to the competition theme of ‘radiance’, the installation sought to reinterpret a traditional timber lighthouse form into a technicoloured, fairground-inspired landmark to draw visitors to the beach during the harsh Canadian winter. The structure consists of eight frames leaning into each other representing many parts coming together to find strength as a whole. A colourful pattern wraps around the tower, casting onto panels which radiate outwards, anchoring the tower to the ground.

The Delighthouse exhibition is on view at our studios on Marchmont Road until 11th June. For more information, check out the Archifringe website here: https://architecturefringe.com/festivals/2023/delighthouse

Helen Lucas Architects have recently completed a full renovation of a 3-storey townhouse on the picturesque seafront of North Berwick.

HLA have recently completed a new 3 bedroom house on a narrow site in the Belhaven Conservation Area.

It sits to the rear of the site, clad in brick and Scottish Larch. The roof is zinc and the whole house is insulated with breathable wood fibre insulation. 

The bathroom window has been positioned at one of our Highland sites and the view is spectacular.

Eigg and Rum can be seen from the smallest room in this west-coast house.  The timber frame is taking shape quickly in this spectacular spot.

One of our North Berwick projects been featured in Home & Interiors Scotland. 

Read the full article here (.pdf).

A party was held at the site of the new Conacher Reynolds house to celebrate the completion of the foundations.  The neat concrete pads will support the green oak frame giving a light touch on the sloping landscape overlooking the sea.

The sea might be cold but the cedar hot tub installed at this seaside house makes enjoying the water a little bit easier in the north west of Scotland.
 

A new seaside family house is now complete in Roshven, Invernessshire.

The environmentally friendly house is constructed entirely of wood with Green oak frame creating large double height internal spaces. The timber walls have been super insulated with NBT breathable wood fibre insulation and a taped air tight wall construction. This makes the house very easy to heat. Due to the remote location there is no gas or water supply available. An Air Source Heat pump located under the houseuses electricity to generate energy at a three to one ratio to power the underfloor heating and domestic hot water. A bore hole drilled to a depth of fifty metres provides clean water from the rocks which is UV treated to provide the drinking water.

View more photographs of this project >

Helen Lucas Architects have designed a one and a half storey croft house for a remote windswept plot on northern Skye.

The living area is slightly sunken so when seated your gaze sweeps across the top of the machair and out to the sea beyond.

A new build timber frame home in Roshven takes shape. The timber cladding has been added to a new build holiday home on the West Coast of Scotland.

The site overlooks a shingle beach with the building sited just above the high tide line. The siberian larch and iroko cladding will turn naturally to a silver grey harmonising with surroundings.

View the completed project >

Helen Lucas Architects are delighted that this contemporary, new build house is complete.

Overlooking the beach and sea, the colours of the environment leap into this modern stone clad house. The windows were carefully set out to capture the islands scattered in the North Sea at North Berwick, a coastal town approximately an hour from Edinburgh. The house is built from natural materials, stone, zinc and lime render. Wood fibre insulation was specified for breathability and the building was designed to be extremely energy efficient.

After careful consideration the clients decided to keep the interior very neutral to contrast with the colours in the landscape at this magnificent site.

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Delicate concrete feet cast for a new house in Roshven.

The new house stands on a rocky beach just above the high tide line. This low carbon house has a green oak frame. The main timber columns land on these neat little concrete pads. This means that the ground beneath the house is relatively unaffected by the buildings presence.

Wherever possible we would recommend a light touch on the landscape. We have used this strategy on other remote projects in beautiful locations where preserving the landscape is of the utmost priority. Frisealach - another costal project on a rocky site - was completed in 2007.

View the completed project at Roshven >

Window Setting Out at Coastal New Build House The architects for the new build house at North Berwick have been on site to check the exact positions of the glazing.

Facing north, the proposed house has windows arranged to frame the islands of Fidra, Lamb, Craigleith and Bass Rock. In this photo the island of Craigleith is framed by the kitchen window.

View the completed project >

Permission granted for former croft in Sutherland.  The project team were delighted to gain planning permission for a new three bedroom dwelling on remote croft land in Lochinver Sutherland.

Situated on the coast in an area of outstanding natural beauty planning permission for a new house was granted under delegated powers by the HIghland Council in April. Helen Lucas architects are developing the proposals with the clients and are looking forward to starting on site in Spring next year.

View the completed project >