The Boathouse on Loch Ness was a true collaboration between architect, engineer, timber specialist and principal contractor.
Ptolemy Dean Architects, Narro Associates, Carpenter Oak and Kishorn Heritage first worked together three years before to design and build the green oak framed Home Farm barns on this stunning Highland Estate. Then, they were set a new brief by the client to deliver an exquisite yet functional boathouse structure, befitting the idyllic location on the banks of Loch Ness.
Architectural influence
© Photography by
Tide Design and
Kishorn Heritage
Architecturally, the keel form and detail of the Boathouse references the work of Sir Robert Lorimer, whose work on the Estate in the ‘Arts and Crafts’ idiom included extensions to the Castle in 1905.
The Boathouse builds on the previous work at the Home Farm, in structure and material palette: primary oak frame with Douglas fir internal cladding; larch cladding externally, with reclaimed Ballachulish slate roof and traditional lead detailing; Staffordshire blue brick and Scottish Whinstone foundation.
Timber used
- Structural oak frame: European Oak, France
- Internal hardwood joinery: European Oak, UK
- Internal linings: Canadian Douglas fir
- Larch cladding: Siberian Larch
- Superstructure: 32m3 green and air-dried oak.
An oak frame at the heart
© Photography by
Tide Design and
Kishorn Heritage
At the heart of the Boathouse is a bespoke, hand-crafted oak frame, chosen for its beauty and durability.
With a flood range up to 1.7m above mean water level, the structural oak frame, stud work and meticulously detailed hardwood joinery will withstand the site’s changeable environment.
The keel form of the Boathouse is defined by jointed cruck-blade trusses, in hand selected air-dried oak to achieve the radius of the roof. These stable ribs are scarfed by spline joints to the green oak post and beam structure below, held rigid by knee bracing.
The elevated first floor space commands spectacular views over the Loch, with a cantilevered balcony leading from the glazed gable frame. The joinery throughout is traditional pegged mortise and tenon.
Delivering this Loch Ness boathouse called on every bit of the team’s expertise and experience. Positioned in an ecologically sensitive and hard-to-reach site, all materials had to be brought in by water using a slipway, barge and landing craft.
The Kishorn Heritage team installed outer and inner coffer dams to create a dry dock, allowing the foundations to be cast.
The Carpenter Oak team then used a mini-crawler crane to raise the frame into place. The Boathouse was built using traditional methods, but exceeds modern standards for air and watertightness.
* This article was originally published in Supplying Timber magazine.
