Moxon Studio

Formerly used to winter sheep, this granite steading in Aberdeenshire has been sensitively converted into a temporary workspace for Moxon Architects’ Scottish office, while they await completion of their permanent studio in 2018. Moxon were keen to retain its protective agricultural character through use of similarly robust materials, such as wood and steel.

The wood is wide-boarded maritime pine, a pale reddish yellow, and is used on the floor, ceiling and tread of the staircase to give the small space elegant continuity, while the straight line of the pine boards and grain serve to elongate the space. The addition of the wood-burning stove serves as both a nod to the tradition of its rural surroundings, as well as providing the primary source of heat during the extreme highland winters.

The studio incorporates a steel block insertion, creating a building within a building, containing a kitchen, wet room and storage space. The treatment of the steel has been parkerised (given a protective phosphate coating) and finished with beeswax, allowing the compact space a sense of depth.

The former entrance to the steading – wide, tall and nearly perfectly square, has been glazed with a single sheet of glass. The steading’s durability and practicality fit seamlessly with contemporary lines – invoking an overall utilitarian spirit conducive for an architectural workspace.