There was a minor tabloid kerfuffle earlier this month when it was revealed that Stella McCartney and her husband, former Wallpaper* publisher Alasdhair Willis, had secured planning permission for a ‘forever home’ on the banks of a Scottish loch.
In their element. A landscape taken from Scottish Modern
Keen-eyed readers would have spotted that the renders for the dramatic waterside residence – described with colourful provincialism by a local councillor as resembling ‘a Second World War concrete bunker’ – were supplied by none other than Brown & Brown Architects, perhaps the pre-eminent Scottish residential designers of the age.
Explore the pages of 'Scottish Modern'
What captured the hearts of the McCartney-Willis household is laid bare in the studio’s first monograph, Scottish Modern (Artifice Press). Marking 16 years of practice since Andrew Brown and Kate Brown set up their studio in Royal Deeside in 2010, Scottish Modern sets out to chart their architectural journey through a very distinctive and delectable portfolio.
Over the years we’ve followed Brown & Brown with great interest, through projects like Tidal House and Lower Tullochgrue House, noting how their fusion of vernacular materials, bold forms and structural gymnastics are somehow contained within the landscape, rather than sitting atop it or attempting to overwhelm what are frequently stunning Highland settings.
Scottish Modern is both vivid portfolio and quiet manifesto, including nods to the firm’s influences (including Morris and Steedman, Peter Womersley and Alan Reiach) as well as the crafts, materials and landscapes that come together to shape each project. Scotland has an admirable history of innovative contemporary architecture and Brown & Brown demonstrate themselves to be heirs to a great tradition.
As well as building in urban centres, the studio gained early acclaim for its standalone country houses, being awarded the Architecture Practice of the Year at the Scottish Design Awards in 2022. It’s the latter houses that really draw the eye, situated in spots like the Cairngorms National Park, the Outer Hebrides, Lake District or on the banks of the Firth of Clyde, incorporating far-reaching views into relatively modest structures with a warmth and respect for their surroundings.
Environmental performance is also of primary concern, given that many of these structures need to be as self sufficient as possible. The studio, which remains based in Aberdeenshire, has become a trailblazer for a rich strand of regional modernism, one that shows no sign of diminishing in popularity or innovation.
