Architecture Practice, BAILTEAN AILTEIREACHD ’S RÙM DÀNACH:
TOWNSHIPS, ARCHITECTURE & The ROOM of POETICS

Gordon Drive

Context

This side and rear extension transforms a semi-detached home in Netherlee, Glasgow. Creating a series of connected indoor and outdoor spaces that strengthen the relationship between house and garden. Developed as a self-build project in collaboration with the client, a landscape architect, the project demonstrates how a highly constrained site can unlock unexpected opportunities.

Architecture

Gordon McGregor – Architect

Ruairidh Moir – Architect

Andrew Lang – Architectural Assistant

Structural Engineer

Harley Haddow

Commissioned

2022

Completed

2024

Client

Private

Status

Complete

Location

Gordon Drive,

Netherlee,

Glasgow

The Brief

Our clients loved their home and wanted to remain there, but needed an additional bedroom and bathroom to accommodate the changing needs of their growing family. The site presented significant challenges, with very limited space to the side and rear of the house, together with a public walkway running alongside the property.

The design responds by making the most of the site's boundaries. A new extension defines the edge of the public walkway. While the previously underused space between the existing house and boundary wall (once little more than a home for bins) has been transformed into a sheltered courtyard. This quiet outdoor retreat provides a calm outlook from the new family shower room and creates a valuable intermediate space between house and garden.

The new brick boundary wall extends into the site, creating privacy and shelter while shaping the garden into a series of distinct outdoor rooms. Above, the extension volumes rise to capture natural light and announce the new addition with confidence. Brick was chosen for the lower walls for its durability and warmth, while its colour complements the timber-clad upper volumes to create a cohesive and welcoming palette.

The completed project transforms a constrained suburban plot into a generous family home, replacing overlooked and underused spaces with bright, practical and beautifully crafted living environments. More than simply providing additional accommodation, the extension creates a stronger connection between everyday family life and the garden. Demonstrating how thoughtful design can unlock the hidden potential of even the most challenging sites.

EDINBURGH TOWNHOUSE
Our design proposes modifications to the kitchen and dining areas of the property to the rear garden, examining the property holistically in relation to the building character and function.

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HOUSE FOR AN ARCHAEOLOGIST - Building in and of the land. We have also taken cues from extensive analysis of key archaeological sites in the locality, such as Skara Brae and Maeshowe in relation to composition of geometry as well as key drivers and components in relation to the arrangement of domestic life.

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LOBSTER HOUSE. Positioning a new home on a narrow ledge between bedrock and a blackhouse ruin. What to do on a challenging site to amplify the found qualities of the place.

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WINDYHILL. Building on Mackintosh - Windyhill was the first prototype house from world renowned Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh and is his last remaining project still used for its own original purpose.

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A Vessel of Chronicles and Voyages
We propose a building as a campus, placed on the shore line and creating a kind of landscape that evokes the qualities of this place.  Large blocks are anchored against sheltering walls, like ships come into harbour. We propose a dynamic and exploratory building, blending historical narrative with a forward-thinking approach. The vessel navigates through time, filled with chronicles and opportunities for new voyages.    

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Leverhulme Community Hub
The proposal sought to update the original building while maintaining its original character. It transformed the space to serve new functions, preserving the structure for future generations from its former use as a school to a more versatile community space.

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BERNERAY MANSE
Building on our work at nearby Trumaisgearraidh, we have been commissioned to assist with renovation plans to bring the building back into habitable use as well as adapting the house sympathetically to reflect the needs of modern domestic life. 

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Caol Ruadh Gatehouse
This project involves the conversion and extension of an existing outhouse at Caol Ruadh Gatehouse to form a single-dwelling house. The design aims to repurpose the current structure, building within and around it to create a contemporary home that respects and revitalizes the existing fabric.

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QUEENS CROSS CHURCH
Queens Cross Church is a Grade A listed building, designed by the renowned architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh. It no longer serves its function of a church, however continues to be used as a base for the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society.

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COMANN EACHDRAIDH SGÌRE A' BHAC
The site of the former school in the district of Back, Isle of Lewis, has been a vacant wound in the area ever since the school buildings were removed.  It is a site of emotional connection and historical association, with many having either being educated there or being related to those who were.

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COMUNN EACHDRAIDH NIS
Reinvigorating a civic Building by transforming the 1878 former Cross School buildings on the Isle of Lewis into a modern museum facility.

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CRUACHAN BEAG
Reinhabiting a ruin. On the Isle of Eriskay, a two-celled stone bothy lain in a ruinous state situated on a spectacular promontory, was a favourite for onlookers to photograph. This structure was formerly a home, and may later have become a dairy shed. What was clear, however, was that numerous adaptations had been made over time to the building.

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CARLOWAY MILL - Proposals for a Harris Tweed Textile Mill in the Outer Hebrides. The Carloway Mill produces its own yarns and patterns before the beams are sent out to crofters to weave on traditional looms. Following this, the woven textile returns to the mill for meticulous checking, washing, steaming and warping.

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GALLAN HEAD MASTERPLAN
During the cold war the MOD took the headland into their possession to establish a major surveillance including accommodation for around 200 people. This headland and the buildings associated, remained in military control until 2010. The Gallan head community trust has since taken possession of this headland buildings.

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IONAD EILEAN NA H-ÒIGE
The location that inspired Whisky Galore and the site of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s first Scottish landfall, the Isle of Eriskay has an incredibly rich and eclectic history. Affectionately known as ‘Eilean h- Òige’ (the isle of youth), Eriskay was only first populated after the Highland Clearances and has a relatively short history of inhabitants, but a history that could rival any of its neighbours.

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ARTISTS STUDIO
PLACING LIGHT ATOP THE HILL
Across the Outer Hebrides, patterns of former habitations punctuate the landscape. In the case of Lemreway, a remarkable collection of blackhouses sit elevated above the new village, quite forgotten despite their prominent position overlooking the village.

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CROWNING THE CITY - “Rock, Water, Wood and Space” symbolises the natural environment of Finland. The nodes in the landscape is imbued with history and traces of past existences which can be read and understood when presented. Much like a fine Malt Whisky, the landscape provides ingredients for multiple interpretations and close associations between people and their environment.

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GORDON DRIVE This side and rear extension transforms a semi-detached home in Netherlee, Glasgow. Creating a series of connected indoor and outdoor spaces that strengthen the relationship between house and garden. Developed as a self-build project in collaboration with the client, a landscape architect, the project demonstrates how a highly constrained site can unlock unexpected opportunities.

See full project >