The building is designed as an ‘object’ volume made of Caithness stone for Plot 2 of Scotland’s Housing Expo 2010. The ‘Stone House’ is deliberately positioned within a tradition of building with stone in Scotland. With its somber expression and subtle layer of craft using nothing but a stacked arrangement of caithness bricks and recessed mortar joints to cloak the terrace; it is basic but also iconic and memorable.
NORD’s response is to create a ’heavy’ and permanent gateway building on Plot 2. The Continuity between architecture and landscape, building and context is something NORD are always attempting to connect in their work. In this case it takes on a more overt physical expression through the use of stone, which routes the building to the site and locates the building in the wider Scottish Landscape.
The ‘Stone House’ is a terrace of four family sized houses with three bedrooms and kitchen on the ground floor level orientated around a private garden. Open plan living areas are on the upper level with access to a private terrace.