November 28 2023

Groundworks have begun for 89 homes at the site of the former Killearn Hospital, unusually including 14 two-bedroom bungalows. 


Ballagan Woods is bucking a national shift away from on-the-level living to embrace single-storey housing, with CALA Homes turning to the unglamorous house type as a unique selling point. 


This follows a stark warning from the National House Building Council that bungalows risk becoming extinct, with just 228 registered in the third quarter of 2023 - the lowest figure recorded in 80 years and a 70% collapse from the same period last year. 
 Other features include a village green and play area with a dedicated foot and cycle path offering active travel links to the village centre. 


Ruairidh MacKinnon, site manager at Cala Homes (West) Ballagan Woods, said: “The team has made great progress against the demolition, remediation and preparation works to date before we get underway with the housebuilding construction and start to see the homes come out of the ground." 


Ballagan Woods is the first development to showcase a new exterior design that is said to blend rustic influences with Scandinavian style.

9 Comments

#1 Posted by Graeme McCormick on 28 Nov 2023 at 11:55 AM

an imagination bypass !

#2 Posted by Randall Sloan on 28 Nov 2023 at 13:48 PM

Ah, I didn't realise all it took to be Scandinavian was to stick on some brown composites

#3 Posted by Dave on 28 Nov 2023 at 14:33 PM

What exactly is "Scandinavian" about this? @UR, cant you do at least a bit of journalistic critique here rather than regurgitating whatever tripe you've been fed by the developers?

#4 Posted by Fat Bloke on Tour on 28 Nov 2023 at 15:18 PM

Colour costs nothing.
Texture costs a penny.

Cala really pushing the boat out.

#5 Posted by UR on 28 Nov 2023 at 20:00 PM

We relay what is said, I'll leave the straight talking to you! Although we could have done with a pair of inverted commas.

#6 Posted by Jonathan on 29 Nov 2023 at 09:25 AM

I have always really liked the range and designs of Cala homes in the past (all across Scotland in their award winning schemes) but these house types are really awful.

I will praise the endeavour of using some different materials (sustainable?) but by placing them produ of the main wall and putting them in small sections instead of larger areas - really makes them look like they are 'stuck on.' Surely we can do better than this!

#7 Posted by Dave on 29 Nov 2023 at 10:29 AM

@#5 UR - so your comment on a news story on 17th November was relayed by whom? Or was that an original text written by UR - it sounds a lot like a critique to me...

I quote:

"[the scheme] adopts a more serene approach to Highland domesticity than the more bombastic approach taken by a high-profile neighbour."

#8 Posted by Dan D. Lyon on 1 Dec 2023 at 14:29 PM

More Cala Crap, shoud've just left the asbestos where it was

#9 Posted by Vivian Rush on 19 Jun 2024 at 18:24 PM

Bungalows are usually sought after by older people. Why don’t you build detached with garage as we imagine people downsizing will be still looking for decent space indoors and outside with nobody through the wall who could be noisy.

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