A modern wooden house with a sloped roof is nestled among lush green trees with red flowers. The scene is serene and surrounded by nature, highlighting the house's integration into its natural environment.

Strachan House

Aberdeenshire, Scotland

2015 — 2016

Client Private Client

Buildings · Private Homes

Located near Banchory in the rolling landscape of Lower Deeside, Aberdeenshire, this design for an elevated site overlooking the Water of Feugh is organised around a series of stepped volumes tucked under a consistent roof profile.

A modern, single-story home sits in the middle of a vast, grassy meadow surrounded by trees, under a blue sky with scattered clouds. The home's lights are on, creating a warm glow in the serene, natural setting just after sunset.

Although the plan of the house is of a linear nature, it has been angled relative to the line of the site to create, with the help of a garage, a courtyard entrance area on the north side of the site. This courtyard area has been set below the line of the existing ground level of the site, providing a space sheltered from the prevailing wind coming up the valley.

The lowest portion of the house is formed by the foundations and terrace area of the house, built from drystane granite walling. This wall is a continuation of an existing dyke that runs along the south side of the site and forms a solid stepped plinth to anchor the design to the hillside.

A line drawing of a modern house on a sloped landscape with trees in the background, architecture by MOXON Architects.

A modern house on a sloped landscape with large windows and a flat roof, surrounded by trees, architecture by MOXON Architects.

The gentle form of the roofline can be seen to reflect the shape of the distant hills to the south. The eaves of the roof match the slope of the site and together with the granite dyke help to situate the house into the landscape.