Glasgow architects Studio KAP have completed a new residential project close to the shores of Loch Lomond. Formerly dog kennels for the nearby Rossdhu Estate, the structure lies within the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, a designation that required delicate negotiations with the local planning authorities. Before work starter, the kennels were a low, narrow stone 39 sq m building, running east-west, with crumbling walls and a timber and slate roof that was beyond saving.
New additions sprout from the original stone structure
After a year of back and forth, Studio KAP received permission for what the planners called ‘an exemplar project within the National Park’. Studio co-founders Christopher Platt and Helen Campbell, along with Jodan Stocks, have effectively added another 100 sq m of accommodation to the site, flanking the linear kennels with contemporary, angular extensions united by a Pigmento Red zinc roof.
The Old Kennel seen from above
From above, the new extensions appear to explode out of the plan, with dynamic forms accentuated by the paving and landscaping surrounding the new house, which stands on the edge of a forest. Not only do the additional elements add different levels to the house, but they are also angled to catch long distance views and re-shape internal vistas.
This is particularly in evident in the new living room, an arrow-shaped single-storey pavilion pointed almost due south across the fields. On the north side of the structure is a two-storey ‘twin’ pavilion, two elevated components housing bedrooms and bathrooms with private outlooks onto the woodland.
The 'twin' pavilion structure at the rear houses the bedrooms
Studio KAP’s solution was not just about retaining the core kennel structure but also about minimising the environmental impact of the new house, through energy-saving and insulation as well as an air source heat pump powering underfloor heating in the main space.
‘Our aim was to bring the existing and new architecture together in a composition inspired by the vernacular groupings and their traditional mixture of sizes, scales and materials which characterize farmsteads and vernacular groupings nearby,’ the architects explain.
The main entrance is through the restored gable end of the kennel, with the dimensions and roof pitch of the original building giving shape to a long central room at the heart of the house.
The main entrance through the original kennel walls
From this space, one steps down into the living room or heads upstairs to the bedrooms, with a kitchen and dining located in the heart of the house. ‘Our proposals create the illusion of a small group of autonomous buildings huddled together forming a modest settlement,’ Studio KAP writes, ‘the stone structure acts as the spine of the new dwelling while internally it becomes the social centre of gravity of the new composition, from which all spaces flow.’
The central space houses the kitchen
Another view down the top-lit central space formed from the old kennels
Built-in cabinets and benches are finished in American White Oak, with white walls throughout to maximise the light. In addition, a long roof-light is located above the kitchen to bring light into the heart of the house as well as provide an internal window above the double-height central space.
The rooflight and internal window to the twin pavilion
Studio KAP was established by Platt and Campbell in 2002. Their approach at The Old Kennel is a bold one, yet thanks to the radical scope of the extensions and changes, a disused rural structure has been brought back to life and given a solid future.
The Old Kennel in context with Loch Lomond beyond