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Summary

Description

Morris and Steedman, 1964. Large 1 and 2-storey with attics, roughly L-plan modernist house with 2 offset and steeply sloping overhanging mono-pitch roofs. The house is set to the edge of a deep former quarry in its own large private landscaped garden site. Sub-level garage to falling ground to rear. Brickwork to ground floor with contrasting white rendered sections to upper floors and triangular sections forming side walls. The taller roof over the main living space is partially glazed forming an integral sunroom to the west taking in views of the quarry. This section of the house has a box gutter to the eaves in line with a wall below and extending beyond the building line to drain into square rubble built pond. A plain timber open loggia extends from the rear glazed porch entrance leading down to concrete entrance steps and brick retaining walls. There is a landscaped garden around house with various low rubble walls and steps to level changes. The openings consist of large sections of fixed and sliding aluminium casement windows with timber mullions and timber and glazed entrance doors. There are hidden lintels and concrete cills throughout.

There are remnants of stone water features to the quarry floor to the west of the house and the entrance drive bridges the edge of the quarry side.

The interior was seen in 2014. The original plan form and interior decorative scheme dating to 1964 largely survives throughout consisting of large living spaces with smaller ancillary areas to rear and smaller first floor area with bedrooms only. Double height main living space has a horizontal style marble fireplace, fine part-curved narrow strip boarded timber ceiling and glazed partition leading to fully glazed sunroom with louvered detail to ceiling. Plaster walls with simple timber skirting, window trims and dado bands. Timber doors, some sliding. Hygena style fitted kitchen with triple steel sink and Formica surfaces.

Statement of Special Interest

The Quarry is a very good example of a post war, architect designed house by a renowned and important Scottish architectural practice. The design responds signficantly to its characterful site and the building survives largely as it was built. The bespoke interior design detailing is of a very high quality and design and includes timber floors, skirtings and cornice details, doors, door furniture and kitchen fittings. The interiors appear to be largely unaltered and as such is rare and important, raising the interest of the building to a regional level.

Robert Steedman (born 1929) and James Morris (1931-2006) both qualified as architects from Edinburgh College of Art in 1955 and went on to travelling scholarships. In Zurich they met Alvar Aalto, studied under Philip Johnson and Louis Kahn and met Mies van Der Rohe. Meeting these seminal international Architects fuelled their idealism for the modernist architecture of the age and they set up practice in Edinburgh in 1957. Their early contracts were small domestic commissions for forward thinking clients. These houses, which are bold and varied in content and style form, are arguably the most important series of 20th century houses by a single practice in Scotland. Key considerations across all designs were transparency, solidity and the articulation of movement between public and private realms. The Quarry demonstrates all these qualities in its use of large glazed areas, linking the interior to the exterior, and the floorplan, which has a clear central circulation core with accommodation radiating from it into separate zones of public and private spaces.

References

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