Dishophall Cottage

a449 LTD were appointed to reconfigure an existing farm cottage near Haddington, East Lothian to provide a more appropriate living space suitable for the client and his young family.The existing building comprised a single storey farmer’s cottage dating from the late nineteenth century together with a number of extensions completed in the 50’s, 80’s and 90’s.

Although the extensions provided a number of bright spaces with appealing aspects, none were particularly well executed, leaving the client exasperated with constant running repairs. Furthermore the extensions succeeded in surrounding the central kitchen space, creating a dark, cramped space far removed from how the client wanted to live. Our concept grew from the clients desire to have the kitchen as the hub of the home, coupled with our intention to get as much natural light into the deep plan as possible.

The strategy for the ground floor plan was relatively straightforward, with spaces arra nged around a bespoke Corian kitchen hub. Utilitarian spaces were located where they would have minimal impact on views, with windows positioned to frame the countryside and capture morning and afternoon sun, in particular the glazed doors at the main entrance,and the northwest corner of the extension.The problem of the deep plan was resolved by pushing the first floor plan north to facilitate the construction of a sunken light well above the family space.

This approach also allowed us to push light into the master bedroom on the first floor.