Fingers crossed for Fernaig Cottage

Aunique Highland home, Fernaig Cottage near Strome Ferry has been nominated for one of the UK’s most prestigious architecture awards – RIBA House of the Year 2017.

The cottage, originally a traditional Scottish Longhouse and former shepherd’s cottage which has undergone a stunning renovation, is already a winner of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) Awards 2017.

Located in Wester Ross, the red tin roofed cottage was regarded as a local landmark by residents, but had fallen into a dilapidated state before being rescued by Gillian Scampton and Andrew Barnett, who own the property and are both architects.

The entire project comprised of the renovation, adaptation and extension of the cottage, where much of the original structure was repurposed and recyclable materials were used. The architects also took advantage of solar gain, an air source heat pump as well as materials with high thermal mass.

The cottage has been rebuilt using much of the original stone walls and red corrugated colour coated steel roof made from sustainable GreenCoat® steel.

“GreenCoat steel is very workable and pliable and can be folded to tight tolerances, which you can do while keeping the coating intact,” explained Andrew Burnett of Hopkins Architects, London.

Gillian, who works for Pedder & Scampton Architects, London said; “It was a fantastic discovery that the coating is made with Swedish rapeseed oil instead of fossil fuel oil. It just fell into our sustainable strategy for the entire project.”

The Fernaig Cottage roof installation went smoothly and thanks to the low temperature elongation, the result was a clean look without buckling or deformation for years to come.

The house features in a special Channel 4 series, Grand Designs: House of the Year, presented by Kevin McCloud, and currently being screened, with the winning home being announced later this year.

The Fernaig Cottage is currently nominated and awarded for:

• 2017 Longlisted RIBA House of the Year

• 2017 Winner Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) Awards

• 2017 Winner Resource Efficiency Award

• 2017 Highly Commended British Homes Award

• 2017 Shortlisted Manser Medal

• 2017 Shortlisted AJ Retrofit Award

• 2017 Shortlisted Sunday Times “Britain’s Best Homes” Award Andrew Barnett and Gillian Scampton