Gibbs House, Contemporary house design

The site is located in a woodland setting on the edge of the village of Kippford.

The house was a speculative new build for a developer. The design responds to the brief by providing public rooms on the ground floor positioned to address the sun and the view and giving access to the garden. The first floor contains the private bedroom and bathroom accommodation.

The exterior expression is a contemporary interpretation of traditional rural dwellings with natural slate roofs and self coloured render to the walls. The panels of untreated cedar boarding, appropriate for a woodland setting, is used to differentiate the master bedroom on the first floor and the main public rooms below.

The house is highly insulated with an efficient and economical timber frame construction. High performance scandinavian windows complete the external envelope. The tiled, concrete ground floor slabs provide thermal mass and capture solar gain through the full height glazing. The wood burning stove to the sitting room provides space heating and a conventional boiler provides the rest of the heating requirements and domestic hot water.