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Wormistoune Pavilions

Wormistoune Pavilions

Wormistoune Pavilions

Wormistoune Pavilions

Wormistoune Pavilions

Wormistoune Pavilions

Wormistoune Pavilions

Wormistoune Pavilions

Wormistoune Pavilions

Wormistoune Pavilions

Wormistoune Pavilions

Wormistoune Pavilions

The stable block is dated on a stylistic basis between 1780 - 1820. It is set some distance away from Wormistoune House at the south-east corner of a walled garden which occupies a substantial area to the east of the main house. Three ranges around a courtyard form a U-shaped plan facing south. The west and east wings have symmetrical south ends with Palladian pediments over three centred arches.

To justify the cost of the repair and restoration of the stable block and to enable it to ‘earn its keep’ in the future, the buildings are intended for use as holiday letting. In order to meet the new use, the buildings required extension. It was decided not to alter the original roofline or to extend the stable block in a matching design, but to build two new pavilions in the corners of the garden to form a symmetrical east end to the garden,  around a gate on its central axis. This follows many precedents in early 18th century Scottish walled and formal garden layouts. The axis and landscape focuses on Balcomie Castle and leads to broader views of the sea. 

The style of the new pavilions is deliberately historicist. It was felt that a self-consciously modern intervention would create a jarring note within the subtle character of the walled garden and would also be contrary to the purpose of the new buildings. The proportions, character and detailing of the pavilions were derived from those at Melville House by James Smith after 1703. 

The pavilions have been designed with complementary male and female symbolism. The shape and colour of the finial, lead flashings and door mouldings of the ‘female’ north pavilion contrast to those on the south pavilion. The weather vane on the south pavilion is a cockerel and the north has a hen on a nest. This symbolism 
continues in the paving and the design of the interior, which represents the moon (female) and the sun (male).

Wormistoune House has been awarded The Georgian Group Architectural Award 2005 for best New Building in the Classical Tradition.  

www.wormistoune.com

Project name: Wormistoune Pavilions
Client name: Private
Awards & nominations: The Georgian Group Architectural Award for a New Building in the Classical Tradition (2005)
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