Architect
Studio IMA
Contractor
PJ Green
Structural engineer
SF Structures
John Street Lane East
Year
Ongoing
Location
Portobello, Edinburgh
Year
Ongoing
Location
Portobello, Edinburgh
Deep refurbishment and conversion of historic former coach house to form a new family home and contemporary studio space, connected by a glazed link.
The rubble stone coach house had many former uses, including acting as stabling for the donkeys which gave rides on Portobello beach. It had previously been converted to a home, however was in a dilapidated state with very poor insulation and a confused and inefficient layout.
The house faces south and has little opportunity to benefit from the sea view to the north. To address this, we added a 'crow's nest' dormer, half height and accessed via ladder, to be used as a reading nook or occasional contemplation space looking out over the Firth of Forth.
We also took the opportunity to drop the sill on the existing North facing window to create a window seat.
Both windows are sharply finished with contemporary details announcing themselves as new interventions within the rugged materiality of the existing building.
The footprint of the house and garden was small, and we were tasked with fitting two bedrooms and a separate design studio into the plot.
During the process, our clients acquired a narrow strip of land from the neighbouring garden so we took the opportunity to fit as much as possible into the new space, which now houses a deceptively generous shower room and utility, thus freeing up the rest of the ground floor plan for south facing living spaces that address the garden.
The glazed link and garden studio also occupy the additional area of site, allowing the extent of the existing garden to remain unaltered. What results is an extremely efficient scheme with many of the characteristics of a courtyard.
The new studio is unashamedly contemporary in form and materiality, but carefully separated from the historic coach house by the largely frameless glazed link.
The asymmetric pyramidical geometry of the studio roof is designed to allow as much direct sunlight into the garden unhindered whilst preventing overshadowing to the neighbour's land.
The glazed link allows the extremities of the plot to be read from the large gated access to the courtyard garden
The aluminium structural 'fins' of the link are consciously deep to act as privacy baffles and brise soleil, preventing overlooking and overheating and creating a comfortable space used as a 'pergola' dining room.
Seton Steading
