The Design Bothy's ARCHITECTURE. Radical home transformation, new build homes, home extensions, interior alterations and refurbishments are undertaken in a deeply considered way, creating homes that feel good for all Scottish homeowners who value good vibes in their homes services A deeply considered design process The Design Bothy believes the best homes begin by imagining (or reimagining) your floorplan + interior spaces. The exterior is then designed to match. My aim is to use architecture and design to create a home that feels so good to you, that you can't imagine living anywhere else. what's on offer? Home Assessment Know what you want + need early. 2D drawings All drawings created on the computer in 2D Measured Survey 2D drawings of your existing home. 3D Model + Visuals Know your design with 3D images. Concept Design The beginning of creating your perfect home. Planning Permission Submit a planning application Get in touch who benefits? There are many different ways to make the home you live in feel better - here are the main categories - which one resonates with you best? Radical transformer Reimagining a new home from an existing one That's me Home extender Adding new spaces to an existing home Absolutely Design refiner Refining an already imagined home design Yes please Mini transformer Rearranging + redesigning existing spaces Sure am New builder Imagining a new home from scratch Let's go How does architecture work? More details on the magic of architecture on its way shortly. In the meantime, here is a wee insight into the architectural design process and the concept design stage. Design process Ready to take those first steps? Head on over to my contact page and choose how you would like to get in contact with me + I will get back to you ASAP. Get in touch

A forward thinking Architectural design studio based in Huntly, Aberdeenshire. The design Bothy specialises in maximising your homes SQM potential. All homes: New builds, Refurbishments, Extensions, Interior space reconfiguration, Planning permissions. | EXTENSION + INTERIOR INTEGRATION + 3D MODELLING | The replacement of a small galley kitchen with an "in-fill" extension to the rear garden and the potential for a large open plan dining kitchen with garden snug and "secret" utility, hidden through and opaque door, enhances this Aberdeen City terraced townhouse. The original house has large rooms with tall ceilings. The new design now brings the kitchen back into proportion with the original space sizes, with the added addition of high level windows and rooflights, to provide lots of natural daylight, and a contemporary + luxury living space, even for a North facing extension. The projects aims were successfully met: a feeling of spaciousness, a feeling of light and strong connection to the garden.

The Clearing, Huntly, Aberdeenshire is a modern 6 person holiday home. It is a highly insulated new building, powered by solar panels and heated via underfloor piping. It is situated in a wooded clearing in the rolling hills of Aberdeenshire. It host's Donna Louise Irvine's artwork. | NEW BUILD + RADICAL TRANSFORMATION + 3D MODELLING | When the soon to be owner of The Clearing approached The Design Bothy, the Planning Permission for a new build home near Huntly, Aberdeenshire, had been approved, with the Building Warrant at the early stages. By taking the "off the shelf" kit home by contractors Sylvan Stuart and reimagining the interior into a custom designed home specifically for the owners needs, this project turned into both a new build home project and a radical transformation. This was done without impacting the planning permission already gained and was coordinated smoothly with the building warrant. The proposed floorplan was enhanced in a variety of ways. The result is an 80% increase in the SQM of the open plan kitchen / dining / sitting room (without altering the outer building dimensions in any way), a larger 3rd bedroom from single to double, two dressing areas adjacent to the upstairs bedrooms, 3 king sized bedrooms in total, a reading gallery at first floor with bundles of daylight, enhanced storage solutions and ensuring a strong connection to the outdoors with the entire layout re-oriented to give maximum gain for South light, privacy and a natural outdoor eating space, while also making gains on natural daylight internally. Don't be fooled though, taking a houses floorplan apart and putting it back together again in a way that exceeds its previous design + better supports the way the homeowner wants it to function, is a complex + process. It requires a deep thinking analytical design process, expertise in Architectural design principles and a solid understanding of the Scottish Building regulations. When done well, it can offer you a vastly improved home (compared to an off the shelf kit), at little to no extra overall build cost. The clients have managed to realise a dream space that provides exactly what they were looking for without knowing they were looking for it - and crucially, within their budget. Pro tip : explore a variety of floorplans when redesigning a space. Your final floorplan will almost always be an "amalgamation" of the various options - one idea often leads onto another, so expect to be taken on a bit of a "design journey" when radically transforming the interior layout of your home. Additional info: 3D visualisations of the interior + exterior were also produced and finalised 2D drawings were created and passed to the builder. On-site design advice was available for any design elements that came up. This all supported the client in getting what they wanted from their new build holiday home project. STAY IN THIS LUXURY ECO HOME + IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE ARTWORK OF THE TALENTED CONTEMPORARY SCOTTISH ARTIST - DONNA LOUISE IRVINE | Click on the links to see either Donna's Art Gallery (past works) online and commission yourself a fabulous work of art, or alternatively, stay in The Clearing and immerse yourself in her artwork and the surrounding woodland for a peaceful stay in a modern eco build holiday home on the outskirts of Huntly in Aberdeenshire. Go Go WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE HOW THIS HOME WAS BUILT ? Here are a few on-site, during construction pictures showing various bit and pieces of the build. See if you can match any of the during construction images with the real life finished article from the pics above. THE CLEARING HAS RECEIVED INCREDIBLE FEEDBACK. Thinking a design has been well created is not necessarily the same as actually achieving it. The Clearing has humbled me with the amount of positive reviews of the interior space. There's no denying the location is 10/10, if you enjoy tranquillity (who doesn't?) and the service that Dave + Donna provide is outstanding. The tradesmen + main contractor did a wonderful job. It's nice that the architecture is appreciated too, especially by those who had no input during the design process. That's when you know you've hit design gold, when people who have never been before love the flow and function of the space. Here is just one random review, Many more available on The Clearings airbnb page.

Huntly based Architectural Technologist Hazel Irvine. Degree qualified, graduating from Robert Gordon University (Scotland) in 2001 + Constructing Architect (Denmark) in 2002. Getting you the home you want. about "The Design Bothy is blessed with incredible clients, whose enthusiasm for design gives me warm fuzzy feelings and ensures honing my craft in architecture is constantly evolving" Hazel Irvine, Owner Hazel Irvine - Architectural Technologist Architecture can be obsessive... at least, it's that way for me. As a child, spaces held a kind of magic for me, quietly pulling me toward a deeper understanding of the world around me. It never felt like a grand decision (to follow the path of architecture) — just a quiet curiosity, followed one step at a time. Having been lucky enough to study in both Scotland + Denmark, gaining my degree in Architectural Technology from Robert Gordon's University in Aberdeen in 2001 and my Danish Constructing Architect design certificate by 2002, honing my craft began... My pursuit of meaningful work to feed my own soul, has become something deeper: a way to support others in finding peace, beauty, and belonging in their spaces. My practice is rooted in care — nurturing creativity, honouring trust, and always listening for what wants to emerge. To reimagine a space is to tend to the soul of a home, and in doing so, something in us shifts too. When a space is aligned with us, it holds us better — my belief is that feeling held by our homes, has the power to quietly transform the way we live, feel, and move through the world. From this viewpoint, it is quietly sacred work. More "Our homes are where we nurture our vitality, where we create, where we heal, where we enjoy the space to connect deeply with ourselves and others. Our homes are our safe havens" Contact

Regardless of the type of architectural work you wish to carry out, whether its a radical home transformation, a new build home, an extension to add space, or a mini alteration or refurbishment, the design process follows the same key themes. The Design Process Regardless of the type of architectural work you wish to carry out, whether its a radical home transformation, a new build home, an extension to add space, or a mini alteration or refurbishment, the design process follows the same key themes. ENQUIRY | FEASIBILITY | CONCEPT | PLANNING | TECHNICAL | SITE An enquiry begins with design analysis (that will last throughout your project's design) It begins to look deeply at what it is you desire to use architecture for and help inform you how best to take the next step towards enhancing your home environment. I've dedicated a blog post to the benefits of getting lots of design thinking in early in THINK FIRST, BUILD SMARTER. Looking deeply is to investigate what you personally value in a home and how you want to live. If you want to alter what you have, then focusing on working out what your home isn't giving you vs what it can't give you, helps you move towards solving your space probl ems. If you want to build a new home, then focusing on what the site can give you vs what it can't give you is your starting point. Working within the physical limitations set by your existing building + garden, the limitations of your plot if you are building new, the limitations of your budget and to work within the Scottish governments planning guidelines are important elements of design analysis. Getting your early design analysis right, helps you individualise your home to your unique user needs and to spend your money where it matters most. If you would like help to re-create either the whole or part of your existing home, or you would like to get clear on what type of new build home will best suit your way of living, feel free to book an appointment. Let's place your roof, walls, floors, windows, doors, fixtures + fittings in the right place Contact This page will be added to shortly, with the intention of explaining the key stages of the architecture + design of a typical residential project. If you love a bit of architecture + design theory or strategy, then the concept button gives you a taster of what's to come on the more detailed design process page. Concept

Architecture + Me: my wee architectural journey from the mighty bathroom pod all the way to my work at The Design Bothy. Design isn't just about creating spaces, it's a lifelong creative journey to stay open to possibilities. architecture + me My wee architectural journey My craft honing began within a variety of Aberdeen based Architect practices. Branching my way from home refurbishments, extensions and new build homes to include Hotel refurbishments, large scale office refurbishments, new build offices, restaurant refurbishments, school new builds and everything in between. Leading design teams became my normal and managing works on site became all consuming. But something was missing.... My earlier curiosities around the sacredness of our home environments had been put on hold and my soul began to feel empty and lost... in 2018 the Design Bothy was founded to realign my work with my heart. It is now my joy and my privilege to create with and learn from homeowners, helping you work out how to make your home feel better. My work feels nourishing, meaningful and supportive of the empowerment of others. My work Design isn't just about creating spaces It's about the life long learning to remove ego from the design process, stay continually open + curious to new ideas and ways of working and to keep improving the ways in which designs are communicated, not just to you, the homeowner, but to all those involved in getting the ideas from paper into real life. "The ability to look deeply is the root of creativity. To see past the ordinary + mundane and get to what might otherwise be invisible" Rick Ruben The Design Bothy carries out architecture that supports your vision, through listening intently to what it is you want and need and using architectural principles to show you how you can get it. Book a call

| RADICAL TRANSFORMATION | A complete redesign of the entire main floor of this listed 4 bedroom Glasgow Townhouse | RADICAL TRANSFORMATION | A 4 bedroom, listed building, self contained double upper within a terrace house in Glasgow's West End. MORE PROJECT DETAILS COMING SOON

The Design Bothy answers your frequently asked questions about architecture + design (FAQ's) for your home projects. | FAQ's | A list of answers to the most frequently asked questions is currently being created and will be available shortly. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME HERE IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ASK ME SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT MY SERVICE.