Brown & Brown has completed a new low-energy home in a conservation area of Aberdeen, Scotland, turning an open plot into a private, leafy retreat that foregrounds craftsmanship and design.It is nestled in a gentle dip on the northern corner of the site to capture and harness southern sunlight, masking the homes’volume below the busy sloping road it neighbors.

The Arbor House replaces a dilapidated stone steading that extended the length of the tree-lined plot.Most of the cottage was carefully deconstructed and the masonry reused to craft a low, sweeping boundary wall at street level, while one wall of the stone cottage is left in situ to form a modern colonnade lit by original window openings.Brown & Brown arranged these layers of salvaged masonry to balance the client’s desire for privacy and maintain the property’s original connection to the streetscape. The cloistered entry offers a‘mental airlock’, marking a clear separation between the busy road and enclosed gardens and home.

Inside, The Arbor House follows a logical floor plan designed to adapt for independent living later in life if required.A custom-fumed oak pivot door leads into a wide hallway, where occupants are drawn through the house by uninterrupted views to the gardens past a utility room, bathroom, and office, before arriving in a double-height glazed atrium.This central dining space is lit by an entire wall of glazing, bringing the surrounding trees into the home.Despite the wall of nature overlooking the airy space, a sculptural Birch plywood spiral staircase draws focus in the atrium.Designed by Brown & Brown in collaboration with local craftsman Angus & Mack, the stair was assembled over three weeks as timber treads were individually cut and hand layered to form a smooth, sinuous parabolic curve.

The remainder of the ground floor is dedicated to cooking and hosting, where a custom chef’s kitchen marks the fulcrum point of the house.A wall of joinery clad in textural slate panels conceals a back-of-house kitchen with floor-to-ceiling storage.The sleek DK&I kitchen island features a micro cement counter that cantilevers out from a blackened ceramic base, reaching toward a wall of floor-to-ceiling glazing.The second floor of The Arbor House hosts the sleeping quarters.The main bedroom with a corner glazed bathroom sits at the eastern end of the plan, while a second and third bedroom and adjoining jack and jill bathroom designed for the couples’grown-up children sit at the western side.The volumes of the first floor, colonnade, and garage are broken up by a sedum roof, which blends the rooftops with the surrounding treelines and assists with drainage.