Ann Nisbet Studio

We’re excited to share that we'll be taking part in the inaugural Fort William Art and Design Festival with the An Ealdhain Trust in collaboration with the Royal Scottish Academy 200 Years — a Scotland-wide celebration of art and architecture, past, present and evolving.

You’ll find some of our recent work exhibited in ‘Lived Landscapes’ at the beautiful McCallum Art House in Fort William, with an opening night on Friday 6 March, from 5 -6pm. The exhibition is free to visit and will run Tuesday–Saturday until 27 March.

Ann will also be joining artist Ali Berardelli for ‘Design and the Living Landscape’, a conversation exploring the ideas that shape each of their practice, accompanied by a screening of The RSA 200 Collection: Moving Sketchbook on Friday 6 March at 7:30pm at the Highland Cinema, Fort William.
Tickets available here: https://lnkd.in/ev9cCF3H

There are other events being held at both McCallum Art House & Highland Cinema so please follow the An Ealdhain trust for more details

We were delighted that Dundashill: Maltings Wynd project won a large residential award at the GIA Awards last week. Ann along with Patrick Wilson from Stallan Brand collected the award on the night.

Congratulations to the whole team: Stallan-Brand , G3 Consulting Engineers Ltd. CCG (Scotland) Ltd, Doig+Smith, Carbon Futures, rankinfraser landscape architecture llp, HGP and paragon development finance.

As a studio, we consider opportunities for wildlife conservation in our projects from an early stage, often providing spaces for wildlife (including Birds, Bats) into the fabric of our buildings and the surrounding landscape.

An important part of our clients design brief for our Cuddymoss project was to increase biodiversity across the site and provide spaces for wildlife including swallows, owls and bats in the stone ruin and outbuildings. Since the project has been finished, we have seen birds and bats, visiting, roosting and nesting within the buildings at Cuddymoss ( including Barn Owl, Tawny Owl, Kestrel)

Over the last few months, we have had the privilege to watch as six barn owl eggs were laid and incubated, with three owlet’s hatching at Cuddymoss. These are recent photos of the owlet’s being ringed – so they can be monitored when they leave Cuddymoss and make their way into the wider world.

Fantastic that the Ann Nisbet Studio and Stallan-Brand teams won the Residential - (Multi Unit) Gold Award at the Scottish Design Awards last night for our project at Maltings Wynd at Dundashill - with igloo Regeneration and HGP

Delighted that igloo Regeneration and HGP also won the Client of the Year Award. Congratulations to Gary Watt + team. Incredible achievement and richly deserved.

Congratulations to the whole team: Stallan-Brand , G3 Consulting Engineers Ltd. CCG (Scotland) Ltd, Doig+Smith, Carbon Futures, rankinfraser landscape architecture llp, HGP and paragon development finance.

Our Maltings Wynd development in Glasgow for igloo Regeneration and Housing Growth Partnership took home the award for ‘Housing Development of the Year’ (Large, Private Sale) at the Scottish Home Awards last week!

There has been an incredible team working on this project with ourselves and Stallan-Brand appointed as Architects.

Fay Goodwin was at the awards event with Patrick and Tom from Stallan-Brand, Gary from igloo Regeneration and other members of the team to collect the award!

Congratulations to the rest of the team: Stallan -Brand, CCG (Scotland) Ltd, Doig+Smith, Carbon Futures, Rankin Fraser Landscape architecture llp, HGP and Paragon Development Finance.

It was a joy being the Architecture Convenor for the New Contemporaries 2025 at the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA)

Each of the five schools of architecture are represented at the exhibition with wonderful projects by Mari Kristine Helland (ESALA), Jakob Young (Strathclyde), Laura Sutherland (Scott Sutherland), Brendan Kerrisk (Dundee) and Emily Morgan (Mackintosh School of Architecture). The Architecture work exhibited is diverse and voices an important message relating to progressive politics, the climate emergency and social change.

Thanks to the RSA team - particularly Emily and Amy for all their assistance and to the tutors for their time and valuable input.

If you are in Edinburgh, then do visit the New Contemporaries 2025. It showcases 63 graduates selected from the 2024 degree shows, the exhibition is a brilliant overview of the current outlook of emerging Scottish art and architecture. The show is on until 16 April 2025.

Thank you to the Dundee Institute of Architects and ADAS for inviting Fay to speak about our West Balkello Farm project at Monday’s Pecha Kucha event in Dundee! It was a fantastic opportunity to share the process behind the project and the inspirations that shaped it. Wonderful to hear from the other speakers too.

Throughout the development of the Applecross masterplan, we have drawn inspiration from the unique characteristics of Applecross and the clachans that once thrived nearby. These settlements and communities offer invaluable lessons in living harmoniously with the land—creating clusters of homes and buildings that seamlessly integrated into the Highland landscape.

The masterplan proposes up to 16 new homes and 4 business units, to be delivered in phases based on local need and demand. Designed to connect people and place, the proposals are shaped by a number of key considerations:

Connection: Co-housing was introduced as a model for single-occupancy households, with features designed to foster positive social interaction and wellbeing. Community gardens, BBQ areas, natural play, and a welcoming courtyard create shared spaces to help prevent social isolation.

Sustainability and Energy Efficiency: Siting and orientation of buildings were carefully considered to enhance energy efficiency and resilience to climate change. Intergration of existing community initiatives like the hydro scheme and inclusion of landscaping to minimise hardscaping in favour of natural elements like fruit-bearing hedges, mown pathways, and open water channels.

Accessibility and Flexibility: The buildings were proposed to adapt to the changing needs of residents over their lifetimes, ensuring inclusivity and long-term usability for everyone in the community.

The finished Applecross masterplan is deeply inspired by the local context, history and culture of Applecross Peninsula and the wider West Coast Highlands. It aims to create a ‘place to live and a place to connect’ with the community at its core. The proposal weaves traditional patterns, characteristics, and forms of the clachans with the needs of a modern and sustainable community. It seeks to strengthen local identity, foster a strong sense of place and belonging, and further nurture the existing sense of local stewardship.

We have really enjoyed developing this masterplan with the wonderful Applecross Community and Applecross Community Company, we look forward to seeing how our shared vision will be implemented in the future stages of the project.

As part of the Place Plan/ Master Plan for Applecross Community Housing and Business Units, we undertook important historical research into both the immediate site and the wider Applecross Peninsula. An important part of this work was researching several of the cleared Clachans / Townships including Ach’ a’ Choirce and Langwell, which were located close to the proposed site.

We spent time at Applecross Heritage Centre and spoke with members of the local community who shared with us their knowledge of the history and stories of the Clachans and the communities that lived there. We carried out further archive research into Highland Clachans and visited - the most complete example of a township surviving in Scotland. These are just some of the activities that we undertook to deepen our understanding of Applecross, and create a masterplan that was rooted in place, celebrated West Highland culture and created a strong identity for the site.

The research looked at the compositions and characteristics of the historic Highland Clachans, how these buildings were sited in the landscape, oriented due to local climatic conditions, the creation of public, private and collective spaces and how natural forms were used to define external space.

From our research, previous work and discussions with the community, it was clear that a ‘rural response’ to rural housing developments was required, one that re-engages with the history and culture of Clachans and Townships, in a modern and sustainable way, and moves away from suburban and urban detailing, including roads, lighting and landscaping design.

Applecross Community Company

We were appointed last year by Applecross Community Company to create a Place Plan / Master Plan for affordable community housing and business units for the community of Applecross. We’ll be posting a series of posts over the next few days on some of the research carried out, working with the wonderful Applecross Community, and developing the visioning plan and strategy for the future stages.

Wonderful night at the DIA Awards on Friday night with our West Balkello Farmhouse winning the DIA House of the Year Award! Congratulations to the Caul Family & to the rest of the team!
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West Balkello is a multi-generational home located on a working farm. Its design thoughtfully reflects the rural vernacular of Strathmore, forming a cluster of three buildings around a courtyard, nestled into the surrounding landscape. The orientation of the buildings optimises solar gain, natural daylight, and stunning views of the countryside.

Work has commenced on our garden annex project in New Abbey, in Dumfries. The new building is located within the New Abbey Conservation Area and is situated within the grounds of a late 16th century bastle house, which was sympathetically restored to create a private home about twenty years ago, by our clients.

The new garden annex has been designed to be located within the established garden. A quiet building that compliments and sits in harmony with the existing A listed building.