Award-winner David draws inspiration from innovation

Architect David Somerville at his home and office at Abriachan

DAVID Somerville reckons he is a pretty lucky man, and not just because his office at the Abriachan home he shares with his Czech-born wife Helena provides a sweeping view across Loch Ness, giving him possibly the most inspiring view any British architect enjoys from their drawing board.

No, David reckons he and his fellow north architects are lucky because of the range and innovation of the work they do across the Highlands.

Work currently on the books at David’s award-winning practice ranges from doing up the old kirk at Applecross to installing a composting toilet on the island bird sanctuary of Handa by way of converting a former nuclear bunker in Gairloch into a museum.

But, yes, David agrees he is also lucky to live in Abriachan, his home for the last 20 years.

"We are on the edge of big wilderness areas, but we’re only 20 minutes from Eden Court or the Aquadome," he pointed out.

Before coming to the Highlands, David’s professional career took him from his home city of Edinburgh to London, Manchester and even across the Atlantic to Boston.

"I was there when Bob Dylan was on the go," he recalled. "It was a fantastic place to be."

Nor has David put his musical interests behind him, and every Saturday morning can be found with his fiddle taking part in the weekly session at La Tortilla Asesina on Castle Street, while sons John and Misha, both members of the band Croft No 5, are professionally involved in music.

Accordionist John is a member of various bands including the Treacherous Orchestra, Box Club and Babelfish, while Misha now makes concert-standard whistles.

David’s Highland career began in the public sector with Ross and Cromarty District Council. Though he was glad to take the opportunity to start up in private practice in the 1990s, in those earlier days the local authority was a pioneer.

"I’ve always been interested in energy — the biggest issue that affects us is the inevitable end of fossil fuels — and when I was with Ross and Cromarty, we were putting solar heating panels into council houses 20 years ago," he said.

"It was all quite adventurous, but the low cost of oil and gas at the time made it more expensive. It would be different now."

That interest in sustainable energy has carried on into David’s private practice, but he holds to a more basic principle to guide him.

"The American architect Buckminster Fuller said: ‘We are all in the shelter business’ and we should always remember that."

However, as with the clothes they wear, people also want to feel a connection between themselves and the house that they live in that goes beyond the mere functional. Often a client’s house will reflect its owner’s personality.

"If you are designing a house for someone with a cautious personality, it will usually end up quite traditional," he said.

"If they are outgoing, they will usually go for something bold, but you sometimes get the people inbetween, the ones who are quite conservative on the outside and quite bold on the inside.

"The worst case is when you have a husband and wife with different ideas. Usually we solve it by letting the wife have the design of the kitchen and the man other parts of the house."

David is sorry people do not have a chance to help design their own home.

Rising prices have made it difficult for people to see a home as other than an investment, he suggests, though on the other hand there are clients who come to him with designs they have done themselves.

"I’m quite happy to help and get them over the hurdles that exist," he added.

"I think something like the Channel 4 series ‘Grand Designs’ has opened people’s eyes — though sometimes for the worst because they think they can do it all themselves. You very rarely see an architect on these programmes."

David’s favourite clients are the open-minded ones, whether housing agency Albyn Housing or wealthy individual clients, and he much prefers working on a new design than any renovation work, which he adds is fraught with problems.

Somerville Design had a chance to showcase its work at last summer’s Scottish Housing Expo at Milton of Leys. The firm’s contribution was a detached three-bedroom town house with projected annual heating costs of just £146.

Though the Expo was much criticised for lengthy delays and the amount of public money invested in the project, David points out it brought a lot of money to the area at a time when the local building industry was on its knees.

Beyond that, it also helped the public see innovative designs with very low energy costs.

"The volume house builders have had it easy for too long," David suggested.

"People could go to the housing fair and see that there’s an alternative which they weren’t being offered by the volume house builders.

"If you look at the south side of Inverness, individually the houses are fine, but they don’t add up to anywhere I would say had a unique sense of place. We have just finished a project in Drumnadrochit, converting the old school there, but I think that’s got a sense of place just by being something different."

For larger projects, clients often look to firms based in the south, sometimes because of European Union procurement rules, but naturally David and his Highland colleagues would love to be involved in some form.

"I think in some ways we are leading things in the Highlands," David suggested.

"There’s a fair level of experience up here. We work in more challenging environments, we are more experimental, and that’s all to the good."

However, David revealed that firm does not do much work in Inverness itself. Instead many of its designs are for the west coast where David has found clients to be really progressive and open-minded.

One woman left Applecross for Chicago and has now returned to use modern technology to run her American business from the west Highlands.