![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_sq_HOM-0210-0110.jpg)
House on a Hill by Paterson Architects
Paterson Architects of Scotland have completed a timber-clad extension to a farm cottage on a hill in Aberdeenshire.
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0112](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0112.jpg)
Designed for a young family, the architects describe the unassuming design approach as "good ordinariness".
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0002](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0002.jpg)
All photos are by Keith Hunter.
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0118b](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0118b.jpg)
Here's some text from the architects:
A timber clad extension to an existing farm cottage, for a young family and their children.
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0076](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0076.jpg)
The house on a hill is a response arising from a sensibility and intention about architecture which places an emphasis on the pragmatic and develops our clients brief and their aspirations into, purposeful and appropriate spaces without profligacy or wilfulness.
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0110](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0110.jpg)
The house is contextual, it is site responsive, and it is contemporary. It could not have been realised in its finished form in any other place or time.
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0068](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0068.jpg)
The design aims for a good ordinariness. A pragmatic approach driven by the clients brief and the opportunities of the site, developed without formal agenda or polemic.
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0065](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0065.jpg)
The modern kitchen is the heart of the family home and no longer a detached workplace; it is the place where friends and family are entertained, and children are raised.
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0060](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0060.jpg)
Here it is central to the organisation of the plan in three dimensions, with surrounding space and volume defining circulation and the arrangement of public and private space.
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0055](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0055.jpg)
Corner windows subvert the introverted nature of the simple and appropriately scaled volumes, tracking the sun throughout the day and opening to the landscape and horizon beyond.
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0053](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0053.jpg)
Simultaneously inside and outside they transform the experience of the space from the introverted intimate focus of the hearth, to the expanse of the wilderness beyond.
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0031](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0031.jpg)
Sustainable construction – with FRC sourced timber – is virtually carbon neutral, whilst high insulation levels and considered window openings keep heating and lighting loads to a minimum.
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0030](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0030.jpg)
Whilst an unashamedly contemporary addition to an existing traditional cottage, the architecture is unassuming and robust.
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0022](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0022.jpg)
It sits comfortably and confidently in the unfolding history of a site which has been in constant occupation for the past two hundred years, and will endure and adapt for the inheritance of future generations.
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0019](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0019.jpg)
Cost: n/a
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0009](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0009.jpg)
Location: Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0006](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0006.jpg)
Other information: All photography, Keith Hunter
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0002](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_HOM-0210-0002.jpg)
Contact details
Paterson Architects, 6 Darnaway Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6BG tel. 0131 220 1088: www.patersonarchitects.com
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_House-on-a-Hill-Diagram](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_House-on-a-Hill-Diagram.jpg)
![dzn_house_on_a_hill_050-P_02a](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_house_on_a_hill_050-P_02a.jpg)
See also:
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Fiscavaig Project by Rural Design |
House Szélpal by Felber Szélpal Architekten |
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