Idyllic Highland Retreat

Coorie Lodge is an architecturally significant luxury lodge in the heart of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park in central Scotland. The gorgeous lochside 0.5-acre site is surrounded by native woodland and looks onto panoramic views of Loch Venachar. The project called for a creative solution to incorporate the dwelling sensitively into the surroundings and provide a functional and beautiful space that makes the most of the exceptional views.

Inspired by US mid-century architecture, the lodge has a sculptural form of strong lines and geometric volumes and has been arranged in an upside-down way to enjoy the panoramic views. Using their usual architectural partner for the design, the client chose Fleming Homes for the timber frame construction because of their value for money and experience in producing bespoke, one-off solutions.  The design came with several interesting challenges: the house has a large, cantilevered balcony which is angled towards the views, and none of the rooms are quite square.  The Fleming Homes design team’s response was to use state-of-the-art software to design the entire building in a 3D environment. Not only was this useful in finding technical solutions to the design, the clients and the erectors welcomed being able to see and walk through the model online.

Because of the remote location and unpredictable weather, it was important to get the building wind and watertight as quickly as possible.  The house shell was manufactured in Fleming Homes factory in Duns, and arrived on site with the outside ready for cladding, and the inside ready to be battened out to run the services. The 140mm kit was pre-insulated with 120mm PIR insulation. Erection took just 6 days.

The high tech insulation, careful design and construction, and triple-glazed windows mean the house is incredibly energy efficient, and hardly needs heating between March and October. Add in an air-source heat pump and a wood-fired hot tub, and the result is a highly sustainable house.

The building was a finalist in the 2022 Scottish Design Awards and the 2022 Herald Property Awards, demonstrating that opting for a Timber Frame House should not mean compromising on aesthetics.

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