Treetops
New House, Rowardennan,
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park
A 5 bedroom family home has been designed for an area of vacant land adjacent to the Rowardennan Hotel at the eastern side of Loch Lomond. The house has been laid out to maximise the beautiful views of the Loch to the North of the site whilst minimising energy use and making use of low-energy passive design measures. The new house has been sensitively designed with high quality materials and design features that will enhance and maintain the setting of the site and the wider National Park. The new house responds to and respects the natural environment and brings an empty site into use.
The site already supports a large amount of Lomond stone walling and an impressive bay carved into the landscape which is home to a floating dock and harbor storage. The lomond stone found across the site will be the main material component of the new house, creating a visual link and grounding the proposal in its surroundings.
The proposed home is a contemporary take on a Scottish ‘longhouse’. The linear form allows the main spaces of the house to benefit from large areas of natural light and have generous views of Loch Lomond. A long, elegant, overhanging roof form sits between two gabled elements, bookending the building. The long and low design of the building allows the house to nestle within the surrounding landscape, with the two gabled elements providing variation and interest.
The overhanging roof form rises from the entrance courtyard towards the Loch providing views and natural light to the 4 guest bedrooms and formal living room. On entering the building there are views through the formal living room to the
Loch and views along the corridor to the external landscaped gardens at either end of the building, acting as a transept. This transept creates a connection with the surrounding landscape which provides large volumes of natural light. The transept
is continued upstairs on the mezzanine levels where velux windows are used to give a clear line of sight through the whole building.