All that really matters about architecture on the Outer Hebrides is the windows, as the spectacular natural landscape eclipses all else
When you live here you really just need a window
The island of Berneray has a lot of weather. With gale force winds for most of the year, and accompanying rainfall, everything needs to be battened down, otherwise it’s off and away.
Does that affect the architecture? The original crofting dwellings, the Blackhouses, sit comfortably in their environment as one might expect, and have survived due to their double thickness walls of stone with thatched roofs, anchored down by large stones.
They sit in stark contrast to the suburban development of individual houses and bungalows from the 1960s onwards, that feel as though they’re at risk in every storm of decamping, Wizard of Oz style, to the next island.
However, many of the latest developments have adopted a modern and simple architectural direction with timber clad building forms that exploit the views.
And views are key, because wherever you stay on the Outer Hebrides, all you really need is a window, as the land and seascapes are completely and utterly spectacular.
If the sun shines it is a dazzling, visual paradise and if the wind blows and the rain falls the colours may change in tone, but they are still just as amazing.
And you really don’t notice the architecture, as it’s swamped by the beauty of nature.
Peter Williams is director at MCW Architects
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