Dramatic exterior for Aberdeenshire property

Fulfilling a life-long dream to build his own home, Mr D incorporated practical aspects of house-design into his impressive contemporary exterior design.

A three-year labour of love, the house combines warm homeliness with state-of-the-art entertainment systems and futuristic aesthetics. High ceilings and Velux windows flood the property with natural sunlight and bespoke fixtures and fittings evoke a modern Scottish way of living.

Working with Tinto Architecture and the house owner, Mr D, James Aiken Engineering Solutions was required to provide bespoke guttering concealed within modern cladding.

Determined to stick to the property’s clean and smooth interior design, Mr D was certain that the property’s exterior would be ruined by plastic rounded guttering. James Aiken was contracted to find a solution to provide effective guttering, on a roof with varying heights, designed with dramatic sharp square edges.

The client was an experienced amateur builder and house-designer with a clear vision of the internal and external aesthetics. As the project evolved, changes were made to the initial plans, in order to enhance the appearance and performance of the building and maximise efficient use of the site.

Despite its striking appearance, the home had to be built in keeping with other properties in the neighbourhood, and in particular it was vital that the height of the building was level with the surrounding traditional houses. To expand the living space therefore, Mr D decided to build underground rather than upwards, creating a unique one-and-a-half floor living space, the spacious lower floor featuring a roomy nine-seater premium home cinema, music room and airy gym.

The client required concealed guttering, behind sleek weather-proof dramatic cladding. The design of the exterior of the house, with roof levels of varying elevations and directions, led to numerous solutions, each with individually produced large-scale aluminium pieces. As specialists in metal fabrication, James Aiken Engineering Solutions was ideally placed to devise, design and install each piece.

The project brought further challenges with properties located on three sides. Scaffolding was erected, which allowed the James Aiken installation team to seamlessly fit the gutters and cladding.

To meet the house owner’s and the architect’s challenging designs, James Aiken produce a first-class, bespoke aluminium cladding solution, fabricating 100 linear metres of aluminium cladding and 40 linear metres of aluminium guttering. To create the dramatic effect of the roof line, each section of cladding was individually programmed and formed on a 4m long press brake, then folded to shape ready for assembly on-site.

To align with the square edges on the roof, the guttering was attached piece by piece to the cladding, and only an elegant thin aluminium lip is visible. The cladding itself was powder coated in slate grey, adding to the dramatic monochrome appearance of the property.

The project was completed successfully, and the client was delighted that the guttering was concealed, and the cladding is a major feature on the house. The solution is weather-proof and durable, and the client is pleased with the performance and simple yet stylish façade of his dream home.