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Paper Igloo

Abhainn: Sustainable living in a connected community

A rare community of three contemporary, low-energy homes nestled within a larger urban area, Abhainn provides a peaceful retreat from bustling city life. Proof that urban living can be both beautiful and radically sustainable.

Built on a Brownfield site, this cohesive cluster is Passivhaus certified, ensuring exceptional thermal comfort and minimal energy use, while also delivering low embodied carbon.

Crisp geometric forms are balanced by warm, tactile materials like weathered timber and slate. The adaptable, multigenerational spaces of the interiors are anchored by a spectacular light-filled green core. Abhainn embodies a new model for sustainable urban living – one where architecture and sustainability are inseparable.

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Cameron Webster Architects

Overwater

Overwater is bespoke new build home set within a tight site on the banks the Wyre Estuary in Lancashire. On the edge of a small hamlet, near Hambleton, the single storey, three-bedroom house is designed to sit seamlessly within and enhance the natural distinctive character and landscape of the open coastline. Constructed using local masonry building methods and referencing local agricultural tradition in its interplay of metal pitch roofs, and timber stone and harling cladding, Overwater is a strikingly contemporary yet site sensitive addition to the local settlement, providing a comfortable, modern light filled home for its two owners.

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Cameron Webster Architects

Grianan

Grianan (Gaelic for sunny place) is a new-build site specific two-bedroom house set within a beautiful, landscaped garden created by the clients during the house’s development and construction. Set within an existing settlement in Kippen, the compact, corridor-less single-storey home, sits long and low, and harmoniously within its stunning landscape setting. A low key screened southeast entrance elevation, to shield it from the road and neighbouring properties, features high level clerestory windows flooding light into the house. Contrastingly the glazed wall of the north-west façade takes in breathtaking views beyond the gardens towards Ben Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.

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Loader Monteith

Hameart

Loader Monteith has delivered the renovation and extension of Hameart, an 18th-century cottage in a historic conservation village in Perthshire, Scotland. Hameart was designed as a family home for a retired couple and a close relative who lives with dementia, resulting in a cosy yet open plan that embraces accessibility, comfort and a connection to its riverside setting.

Loader Monteith realised the project with respect for the building’s heritage while creating a warm, accessible home suited to ongoing residential care. The design has created a welcoming home that supports wellbeing without compromising architectural ambition.