Kames House, Argyll Home Photo, Scottish Cottage Images, Residential Project Architect

Argyll House : Kames Property

The Pier House, Residence in Western Scotland design by Studio KAP, Glasgow

post updated 2 August 2023

Three essays in white render and slate

Design: Studio KAP Architects

Argyll Property

2. The Pier House, Kames, Argyll

images supplied by Studio KAP Architects

The site of the former coal yard in Kames comprises a fine natural stone pier extending some 40m seaward from a bar of levelled ground encompassed by low retaining walls in a mix of beach pebble concrete and stone. At the southern end of the site stands a ruined fisherman’s cottage.

Being in the front row to the sea the site is overlooked by much of the village and a popular mooring point lies off the beach. The character of this “front row” is traditionally one of robust, relatively low-slung buildings of a non-domestic quality – fishermen’s cottages, boatsheds and so on. A building fitting into this general typology seemed appropriate and an overtly domestic architecture surely undesirable – not a site for pretty dormers or garden fences.

The building proposed was therefore long and low, orientated parallel to the shore with simple, clean lines and few openings to the landward side. Its walls and a wooden deck extend to engage the existing elements, in particular using the stone shell of the cottage to complete an embrace of the site and create sheltered, defensible external space.

The heel of the building pins the springing-off point of the pier. By careful placement we intended the house to find anchor in its site, avoiding the “drop in” look which so often afflicts new buildings in a rural context.

Having pinched one of the best seats in the village the building does not seek to attract undue attention to itself. A simple essay (albeit with a few tweaks) in rough harling, natural slate and painted timber thus befits both modest company and a modest budget. Locally it is known as “the hen house”.

Kames House images / information from Studio KAP

1. Broomhill Studio Kap, Strathblane, Stirlingshire
2. The Pier House, Kames, Argyll
3. Glenboig Cottage, Fintry, Stirlingshire