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Summary

Description

Duncan and Dorothy Cameron (for themselves), 1967. Single storey, T-plan, flat-roof, Modernist house of brick and glass, on gently sloping garden site with open aspect to River Tweed and Eildon Hills. Drive-in garage forms T-junction with central core arrangement of living spaces with bedrooms to outer arms. Sand lime brick construction with floor to ceiling plate glass timber-framed windows and painted timber fascia board. Small sun-room addition to principal bedroom at E elevation (Duncan Cameron, 1994).

Predominantly timber-framed windows with single glazed unframed sliding doors.

INTERIOR: Modernist interior retaining its original circulation of spaces with exposed pinned timber structural framework delinating the arrangement of the main living areas. Hardwood sliding doors with metal fittings. Boarded timber ceilings. Fitted cupboards and shelving to kitchen and bedroom partition walls. Underfloor heating. Interior presently enhanced by numerous items of contemporary 1960s Scandinavian furniture (2009).

Statement of Special Interest

Achnacairidh is a fine and largely unaltered example of a 1960's brick and glass 'box in the landscape' built with much attention to detail by local architects Duncan and Dorothy Cameron as their family home in 1967. Relatively modest in its use of materials, the building is notable for its design integrity, both inside and out, and retains a remarkable amount of its original fabric. It shares some characteristics, such as circular plan of movement between internal spaces, with the domestic work of renowned architect Peter Womersley, whose office Duncan Cameron previously worked in, and who also built his house in Gattonside (The Rigg - see separate listing). Remaining largely as designed, the interior of Achnacairidh reflects Scandinavian approaches to design with ideas of spacial planning prevalent during the 1960s, to the fore. Fitted cupboards and bookshelves are carefully worked into the design.

Achnacairidh was recognised by the architectural community in 1968, receiving a Civic Trust Award and a Saltire commendation. It is built on ground formerly belonging to Gattonside House (see separate listing) situated to the N.

Duncan Cameron (1929-2007) began his architectural career with an apprenticeship at the Glasgow firm, Watson, Salmond & Gray and later worked in the offices of Peter Womersley. He established his own practice in 1963, which over the years expanded to open offices throughout the Borders, as Cameron Associates. The RIAS obituary of Autumn 2007 noted that Cameron considered Achnacairidh to be one of his most satisfying professional achievements.

References

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