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Summary

Description

Robert Matthew of Robert Matthew, Johnson-Marshall (James Dunbar Nasmith, project architect); 1955-60; 1961 compost shelter and dovecot. Single storey with basement to SE, roughly rectangular-plan with enclosed inner courtyard, Modern Movement house, set centrally within a large garden on steeply sloping site. Buff-coloured brick base course, predominantly vertically boarded cedar cladding to timber structure; harled brick to basement, side walls of W elevation and garage; timber eaves course. Advanced timber window surrounds. Courtyard garden with single storey, rectangular-plan building to SW on lower ground. Compost shelter to E. Dovecot to S.

NE (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: cantilevered canopy, rear section glazed, over recessed entrance to centre. Integral double garage to right, with harled brick pier separating flat-arched former garage door openings, now blocked with original metal roller doors behind, horizontal clerestorey glazing above former openings; wide flat-arched opening to left return of garage in entrance recess with sliding timber and glazed doors.

SE ELEVATION: principal section cantilevered over basement; timber boarding to underside of cantilever. Timber door at basement to left. Harled brick, recessed bay to left with timber flower box beneath window opening.

SW ELEVATION: advanced 3 bays to left; concrete ramp to entrance at centre, with timber and glazed door and rectangular fanlight.

NW ELEVATION: timber and glazed entrance doors flanking horizontally boarded section with strip windows; concrete step to entrances; cantilevered timber canopy over door to left.

INNER COURTYARD: tiled base course; vertically boarded cedar cladding with openings facing inner hard landscaped courtyard. 2-leaf timber and glazed doors to NW elevation now converted to window; later 2-leaf doors to NE and SW elevation. Glazed strip to SE elevation.

Predominantly original plate glass double glazing in timber framed fixed pane with side casement windows and some with top-hung hopper; some original triple glazing to fixed pane section of windows to W elevation; predominantly 2 layers of original double glazed units to courtyard windows. Late 20th century door to inner courtyard. Flat felt roof; pitched felt roof to advanced bays of W elevation. Red brick stacks. Buff-coloured brick retaining wall extending from S corner and topped with original painted metal railings, quarter-turn staircase with concrete treads wrapped around retaining wall.

INTERIOR (seen 2011): Modern interior, characterised by timber panelling and timber fixtures and fittings to principal living spaces. Parquet flooring. Sliding window shutters to living-room concealed in recess behind fixtures, brick fireplace with integral firescreen concealed in timber panelling above. Window shutters to kitchen. Timber tilting post hatch to partition between entrance lobby in NW elevation and utility room. Original square ceilings tiles.

DOVECOT: circular plan. Tapered sandstone rubble walls; small square opening below eaves with projecting timber sill. Slate, conical roof. Rubble wall extending to S.

COMPOST SHELTER: rectangular plan, sandstone rubble; high level timber hatch. Pyramidal slate roof to pit to W, late 20th century flat felt roof to pit to E. Forestair to N with concrete treads and painted metal balustrade.

Statement of Special Interest

Millbuies is an innovative and experimental energy saving house and a rare surviving example of early post-war Modernist design in Scotland. The house is also the only post-war domestic commission by the renowned architect Sir Robert Matthew. The house retains many original fixtures and fittings, including an early use of double glazed units, which did not become prevalent in the UK until the 1960s.

Millbuies was designed for the philanthropist George Boyd Anderson and his wife Kathleen, who had a keen interest in experimental energy conservation, gadgets, gardening. The design of the house was combination of these interests. The building was designed with double and triple glazing, underfloor heating, wind turbines, internal and external shutters and the ceiling tiles of some rooms were coated in a reflective material to reflect the heat. The energy consumption could be monitored per room, with monitors situated in the garage. As well as utilising up-to-date technology the house is designed to benefit from the natural features of the landscape. It is positioned at the lowest part of the garden, with the north elevation of the house almost set into the gradient of the site, and the principal living spaces are orientated to the S and W of the plan to maximise the solar gain.

Nature, and bringing the outside indoors, is a significant theme in the design of the house, and is architectural concept that was prevalent in the work of early 20th century architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Rudolph Schlinder. Millbuies was designed on a courtyard plan, with an internal courtyard and open plan principal living spaces. The original house also had an internal glasshouse, and glazed roof to the sunroom, which were removed as part of late 20th century alterations when the house was used as offices. The use of natural materials, such as the cedar boarding, internally and externally blends the house into the landscape.

Nearing the completion of Millbuies, Boyd Anderson began to plant out the large garden area surrounding it, known as Suntrap. He intended the site to be an educational garden and planted a series of small gardens, including a sunken garden, to illustrate to others what could be achieved in a small space. Matthew also supplied sketches for a dovecot and compost shelter. A house for a gardener, incorporating a propagation shed, was built to the north of the site.

Boyd Anderson trained as an engineer but later made his fortune in tea plantations in Burma. He was philanthropic and gifted his Millbuies estate, Morayshire and his Edinburgh estate for recreational and educational use. He also established trusts for recreational improvements to the town of Lossiemouth and for Lothian children and families to receive skiing training and equipment.

Robert Matthew was one of Scotland's leading 20th-century architect. In May 1946 he was appointed architect to London County Council and was responsible for the expansion of the school building programme, the masterplanning of new housing estates and the celebrated Royal Festival Hall. Matthew maintained an active interest in architectural, town planning and conservation issues in Scotland and by mid-1952 he returned to Edinburgh as Professor of Architecture and establish his own practice. In 1956 Matthew took Stirrat Johnson-Marshall into partnership, forming Robert Matthew, Johnson-Marshall (RMJM). The work of this large and highly successful practice was wide-ranging, including industrial, commercial and educational buildings.

References

Bibliography

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