We are pleased to announce that our project for a new house near Arisaig has been granted planning permission. Commanding fantastic views over Loch Nan Ceall, the proposal is for a new build house featuring a Douglas-fir frame and constructed sustainably using breathable wood-fibre insulation. 

We are pleased to announce that our project for Burr’s Garage, Tongue, has been granted planning permission. At the local planning committee the proposal was unanimously granted approval, receiving high praise for an extensive and detailed submission which will provide a world-class attraction and community focused gathering space for locals and visitors alike. Further details of the committee's decision can be found in the Northern Times article here.

Our colleague Christina is cycling the North Coast 500 with a 3-person team from Proper Adventure Journal, which features ordinary people doing extraordinary things. This is a considerable undertaking, involving 500 miles cycling (with over 35,000ft of climbing) in four days around the incredible scenery and roads of the North Highlands of Scotland.

Helen Lucas Architects recently hosted a community consultation for a new project in the village of Tongue, North-West Highlands. We found it greatly beneficial to discuss our proposals with the local community and they were enthusiastically received. The proposals seek to renew and add to an existing garage, shop and shed buildings formed around an enhanced ‘mercat’ street. We will be providing a new shop with fuel pumps, a restaurant, flexible pop-up shop area, event space, accommodation for tourists and a business start-up unit envisioned to house a microbrewery.

Helen Lucas Architects entered a recent competition by Highland Council for the design of three roadside shelters at Locharron, Achnasheen and Braemar Junction.

Taking the view, orientation to the sun and exposure to the surrounding environment as the inspiration, the project sought to provide places of ‘prospect and refuge’ for visitors to the area. The shelters used a combination of local materials and pre-fabrication to make construction and repair as easy as possible in these often remote locations. 

Although we were not shortlisted in the final three entrants we very much enjoyed developing these proposals.

The Kylesku Hotel in Sutherland has been included in the "Architectural Guide to the North Coast 500 with meanderings" produced by the Inverness Architectural Association in celebration of the Festival of Architecture 2016.  The NC 500 is a recently established tourist route that passes the hotel.  It comprises of a 500 mile route from Inverness, up the west coast and back via the rugged north coast taking in some of Scotland's most beautiful scenery.  Copies of the booklet area available in tourist centers, arts venues and the RIAS bookshop in Edinburgh.

Helen Lucas was recently invited by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to discuss the practice of Architecture in the UK. In the podcast Helen shares her unique perspective on the profession, the workplace, sustainability, and what made her originally want to become an Architect. 

Click here to listen to the podcast

After a busy winter on site, HLA are delighted to announce that the Phase 1 of our Kylesku Hotel project is complete, with the hotel bar and restaurant open for business! Thanks to some fantastic weather our latest site meeting was held on the deck, in the warm sunshine.

Helen Lucas Architects were delighted to attend the 2014 Inverness Architectural Association Convention on Skye. Enjoyable presentations included those by Hugh Strange, Jonathan Hendry and Malcolm Fraser amongst others, as well as a talk by Helen Lucas entitled 'Building on the Edge'.

The office was delighted to be awarded a Commendation for Best Use of Timber at our Croft House, Stoer, which was collected by Project Architect Claire Metivier.

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.

Helen Lucas Architects were delighted to obtain planning permission for the refurbishment and extension to a Highland Hotel this month.

The proposals include a new accommodation block, extended restaurant and refurbished bar and dining area.  One of the most exciting additions is a timber deck that will cantilever over the loch to provide breathtaking views and alfresco dining.

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.

This green oak framed house, completed in 2008, was featured in the homes section of the Guardian on Saturday 5th October.   The photographs show how the house has weathered into - and become a natural looking part of - the landscape.

View the article here >

More information on this project >

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.
 

It is fifty times bigger but even we were surprised by how similar the completed kitchen at Stoer is to the cardboard model made almost two years earlier to help the clients get a sense of the space beneath the oak scissor trusses.

You can see from the finished photograph that the clients decided to add some additional top light during the design process but little else has changed during the later stages of detailed design amp construction. The double height space is the heart of this rural home beautifully sited on a Sutherland croft.

Photos of this croft house in its unique setting can be seen here >.

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.

Horizontal Siberian Larch Cladding gives this house a controlled furniture like appearance. The ebauer corner posts and window frames produce a subtle contrast with the siberian larch cladding.

More details of this project >

Before and after pictures of the staircase at Dunbeg House, near Fort William.

The existing servants staircase to the basement was cramped and dark. The client wanted to make the lower ground floor of the property feel like part of the house.

The link between the floors has been greatly improved by the removal of a partition wall to enhance visibilty and sense of space on the staircase. The details of the stair have been merticulously matched to those elsewhere in the property. The client used skilled craftsmen to match the wood panneling, spindles and plasterwork incuding the newel post at the bottom of the staircase which was hand carved from Oak.

Helen Lucas Architects oversaw the extensive redevelopment of this Listed Property situated on the banks of Loch Leven.

View more posts on this property >

Simple Shepherd's Cottage transformed into generous family home in the Highlands.

A contemporary, light extension to a small original cottage creates comfortable, airy living spaces with spectacular views out to the hills.

A wind turbine is sat distanced from the house and solar panels have installed on the south facing roof. This project was recently completed and featured in this month's Grand Designs Magazine.

View photographs of the completed project >