Ossian Architects

Ossian Architects We seek to create beautiful, sustainable, long-lasting architecture that works well for all

Our recently submitted proposals for a new house above the Antrim Coast were conceived in close response to the site’s t...
09/06/2026

Our recently submitted proposals for a new house above the Antrim Coast were conceived in close response to the site’s topography, surrounding agricultural landscape and coastal views.

Following last week’s post on the external form and its relationship to the farmland, this second post looks at how that approach is carried through to the interiors.

The internal arrangement follows the natural fall of the land, stepping gently with the site to create a sequence of spaces that move between openness, enclosure and outlook. This allows the house to sit naturally within the landscape while shaping a series of distinct spatial qualities.

Arrival is positioned near the middle of the house, forming a point of orientation within the home. From here, the plan opens towards the principal rooms in one direction, and the quieter, private spaces in the other.

The kitchen, dining and living area forms the sociable heart of the home, opening on two sides to capture views towards both hillside and sea. Bedrooms and workspaces are quieter in character, offering more sheltered moments of retreat. Throughout the house, natural light and carefully composed views help define the atmosphere of each room.

Internally, the material approach is calm and tactile, with natural finishes, integrated joinery and a restrained palette intended to create continuity between the house and its rural setting. Rather than drawing attention to itself, the interior is designed to feel grounded and warm, creating a quiet sense of permanence, shelter and comfort.

For now, we look forward to seeing the proposals move through the planning process.

Ossian Architects

We’ve recently submitted proposals for planning permission for a new rural house overlooking the Antrim Coast.Set within...
02/06/2026

We’ve recently submitted proposals for planning permission for a new rural house overlooking the Antrim Coast.

Set within a working agricultural landscape of open fields, stone boundaries and gently folding terrain, the house is positioned to respond carefully to its elevated setting, with long views east across the coastline and towards the sea beyond.

The design is shaped by the relationship between hill, field and coast. Taking cues from the adjacent farmyard, with its simple roof forms, corrugated textures and working buildings gathered over time, the house is conceived as a quiet and complementary addition to the wider ensemble.

Arranged as a low, linear single-storey form, the building follows the natural fall of the land. A mono-pitched roof gives the house a calm horizontal emphasis, drawing a quiet line across the hillside while allowing it to sit softly within the larger rhythm of the landscape.

The external material palette is robust and restrained, with muted brickwork, zinc roofing and timber elements chosen for their tone, texture and ability to weather naturally over time. Existing stone boundaries are retained, established vegetation protected, and additional native planting introduced to strengthen natural screening and support biodiversity.

The environmental approach is integrated into the architecture, with orientation, openings and shading carefully considered in response to light, views and solar gain. These passive measures are supported by an efficient building envelope and low-carbon technologies, including a ground source heat pump and photovoltaic panels, helping to create a low-energy home rooted in its rural setting.

More to follow shortly, as we share a closer look at the internal arrangement, material approach and framed views within the house.

Ossian Architects

We’re looking forward to taking part in the Edinburgh Architectural Association’s Annual Members Meeting tonight at Cust...
19/05/2026

We’re looking forward to taking part in the Edinburgh Architectural Association’s Annual Members Meeting tonight at Custom Lane.

Martin will be giving a short Pecha Kucha-style talk as part of the Emerging Voices series, sharing a selection of recent and current work, from landscape-led houses to careful interventions in existing buildings.

Many thanks to the EAA for the invitation. We’re looking forward to hearing from the other speakers and seeing everyone there.

Edinburgh Architectural Association
Custom Lane

Image: Cheviots Farmhouse, Scottish Borders

We’re pleased to share early-stage visuals from a mews house we’re developing in Edinburgh’s New Town.The building forms...
12/05/2026

We’re pleased to share early-stage visuals from a mews house we’re developing in Edinburgh’s New Town.

The building forms part of a Category A listed group within the Second New Town, where the mews sits behind the formal terraces as part of the working back of the urban block. The contrast between these two settings has become central to the concept for the project.

The principal townhouse is defined by the architectural language of the New Town – grand scale, proportion, hierarchy and applied ornament. The mews house has a different character. Historically associated with stabling, carriage storage and service spaces, it is more modest, utilitarian and unadorned.

Rather than trying to make the mews behave like a smaller townhouse, the proposals build on this distinction. The design explores a quieter architectural language, where character comes through material, craft, light and texture rather than applied decoration.

The proposals rework the compact historic mews building, already adapted for residential use, into a more generous and carefully ordered home. The design seeks to improve the sequence of spaces, the quality of daylight and the relationship between the mews, the garden and the main house.

A key move is the reworking of the first floor as the principal living level, with kitchen, dining and sitting spaces arranged within a single inhabited roof volume. The stair is also being relocated to make the house feel more connected, while rooflights, exposed timber structure and a more open plan help bring light, warmth and scale to the interior.

The material approach brings together exposed timber, natural plasters, timber floors and joinery, natural stone surfaces and textured acoustic linings, creating a calm and tactile interior.

Alongside the spatial work, the project includes a fabric-first upgrade to improve insulation, comfort and long-term performance, with a low-energy servicing strategy currently being developed around a ground source heat pump.

A lovely project to be working through, balancing the constraints of a listed mews building with the opportunity to create a calm and carefully made home.

Ossian Architects
Elliott & Co Consulting Engineers
Lùths Services

A pair of early interior visuals from an outline design study for an upper flat in South Kensington.Set within a Victori...
05/05/2026

A pair of early interior visuals from an outline design study for an upper flat in South Kensington.

Set within a Victorian terrace in the Courtfield Conservation Area, the study explores how the upper levels and roof volume could be reworked within a new mansard roof with dormers, creating a more generous, sociable and light-filled home.

The emerging approach is organised around a new continuous stair, bringing clarity to the movement through the flat and linking private and support spaces below with the principal living spaces above.

At the upper level, the living space is conceived as an open setting for cooking, dining and everyday life, with a close relationship to light, outlook and the surrounding roofscape. A balcony with sliding doors allows the space to open directly to the outdoors, while a roof terrace above completes the vertical sequence, providing additional space for entertaining larger groups of friends.

At this early stage, we are exploring interiors shaped by integrated joinery, timber floors, natural stone surfaces and a restrained material palette creating a calm and cohesive setting informed by the client’s interest in natural finishes.

These visuals form part of the outline study, testing atmosphere, proportion and material direction as the potential of the building is explored.

Hillside House, St Andrews.We’re pleased to share a few more visuals and drawings from this new family home, set within ...
28/04/2026

Hillside House, St Andrews.

We’re pleased to share a few more visuals and drawings from this new family home, set within the St Andrews conservation area between the historic town and the Kinness Burn.

The design is grounded in the slope of the site. Set into the hillside, the house is read as a modest single-storey form from Lade Braes Walk, while opening out to the garden as a more expansive two-storey composition.

A stone base anchors the building into the terrain, with sheltered arrival spaces below and a generous south-facing terrace above. Living spaces are arranged around this upper level, opening out to long views through the trees and drawing daylight deep into the plan.

The material approach is restrained and durable, with a dry-stone character externally and a calm palette of natural finishes within. The landscape follows the natural fall of the site, retaining mature trees and introducing native planting, informal gardens and a rock garden to the rear.

We’ve really enjoyed developing the project, and look forward to sharing more as it progresses.

Narro

Many of the principles that sit behind Passivhaus and EnerPHit are already familiar ones in practice: thinking carefully...
22/04/2026

Many of the principles that sit behind Passivhaus and EnerPHit are already familiar ones in practice: thinking carefully about insulation, airtightness, ventilation, thermal continuity and how buildings are actually used.

Taken together, they provide a useful framework for shaping buildings that are more comfortable, more consistent throughout the year, and less demanding in energy use. As the diagram suggests, buildings designed to the Passivhaus standard can offer a substantial reduction in space heating demand.

EnerPHit applies the same thinking to existing buildings, where the constraints are often greater, but where there can still be real scope for improvement.

While we are not currently delivering fully certified Passivhaus or EnerPHit projects, the principles behind them are relevant to much of our work. They sit comfortably alongside a fabric-first approach, careful material selection, and an interest in robust, breathable build-ups that help manage moisture while supporting good thermal performance.

Within the practice, this approach is supported by Martin Flett’s qualification as a Certified Passivhaus Designer.

These principles continue to inform how we think about comfort, durability and long-term performance, across both new build and retrofit work.

We are currently working on a new project on the Royal Mile, and have been looking more closely at its history.The Royal...
15/04/2026

We are currently working on a new project on the Royal Mile, and have been looking more closely at its history.

The Royal Mile developed along the ridge between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace, forming the principal route through the Old Town from at least the medieval period. By the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it had become one of the most densely occupied parts of the city, with tall tenements lining the street and extending back along narrow burgage plots.

This topography shaped the form of the city. The land falls steeply away to the north and south, towards the former Nor’ Loch and the Cowgate, and buildings were forced upwards, stacking occupation vertically while maintaining a consistent street line. Tenements rose to up to ten storeys, among the tallest domestic buildings of their time.

The closes are central to the story of the Royal Mile. They cut through the depth of the block, linking the Royal Mile to a network of courts and routes below. Places such as Advocate’s Close, Riddle’s Close and Fleshmarket Close demonstrate how people moved beyond the high street, weaving through buildings and descending the slopes.

By the late eighteenth century, pressures of overcrowding led to significant change. The construction of the New Town from 1767 shifted the centre of gravity of the city, and parts of the Old Town were cleared, rebuilt or adapted. Nineteenth-century works, including Victoria Street and later interventions around George IV Bridge, altered the fabric while retaining the underlying structure of ridge, plot and close.

Set against other European cities of the same period, the intensity of built form was unusual. The combination of topography, narrow plots and vertical tenement building produced a form distinctive to Edinburgh, with height and density pushed to an extreme.

The historic images we have been looking at trace some of that longer process and help place this part of the city within its wider development.

We look forward to sharing more about the project in due course.

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Images © National Library of Scotland, ESRI, National Galleries of Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy. Artworks by Jane Stewart Smith, Alexander Nasmyth, Archibald Burns, James Newton, William Leighton Leitch, Thomas Hosmer Shepherd.

We’re pleased to have received Planning Permission and Building Warrant approval for the retrofit and conversion of an h...
08/04/2026

We’re pleased to have received Planning Permission and Building Warrant approval for the retrofit and conversion of an historic villa within the North Berwick Conservation Area.

The proposals support the transition of the building from its former care home use to a single domestic dwelling, creating a comfortable and coherent home for a young family.

A retrofit-first approach has been adopted to improve energy efficiency and reduce operational carbon, incorporating discreet photovoltaic panels alongside an air source heat pump system and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Targeted fabric upgrades include new insulation and replacement sash and case windows, enhancing thermal performance.

All interventions have been carefully designed to be sensitive, modest and reversible, ensuring the character of the building and its contribution to the conservation area are preserved.

The home is located near the Marine Hotel, a landmark Category B listed building originally designed by Frederick T. Pilkington in 1875 as a Hydropathic Institute, later converted by the Marine Hotel Company and enlarged in 1881. This part of North Berwick sits within a conservation area that encompasses the original core of the town and a major part of its later Victorian and Georgian development. The western expansion of the town is defined by architect-designed Victorian, Edwardian and Georgian housing, typically set within large private grounds, contributing strongly to the area’s leafy character.

We look forward to seeing the results.

Narro

Image 1 – Ossian Architects
Image 2 – OS Six Inch, 1830s – 1880s - NLS
Image 3 – NLS (Tiles ArcGIS)
Image 4 – East Lothian Museums Service (Records of the Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network (SCRAN), Edinburgh, Scotland)
Image 5 – HES (Aerofilms Collection)
Image 6 – HES (Aerofilms Collection)

We’re speaking at the University of Dundee this Thursday evening as part of the ADAS Lecture Series.The talk will explor...
03/02/2026

We’re speaking at the University of Dundee this Thursday evening as part of the ADAS Lecture Series.

The talk will explore our practice through the lens of process, examining how research, context and material thinking inform the way we work and make decisions.

We’re really looking forward to the conversation, and thanks to ADAS for the invitation.

Ossian
University of Dundee
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee
Creative Dundee

Project shown: Cheviots Farmhouse
More about this project here - https://www.ossianarchitects.com/cheviots-farmhouse

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80 George Street
Edinburgh
EH23BU

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