Tyninghame, East Lothian
The RIBA award-winning work undertaken at Tyninghame demonstrates the way in which a great house and its estate buildings can be adapted to a new use in a manner which preserves its gardens and character without intrusive development or damaging subdivisions.
Tyninghame House was largely the work of William Burn who transformed the house for the ninth Earl of Haddington in 1830. Simpson & Brown were commissioned in 1988 to divide the house vertically creating ten smaller houses, each with its own front door and roof and with accommodation on three to four storeys.
The original 18th century stable court, also remodelled by William Burn, was adapted and extended to provide a new house for the Dowager Lady Haddington. A small entrance tower with a roof balustrade of 17th century character and a double-height octagonally-roofed conservatory were introduced.
Constructed behind the 19th century greenhouse, the Conservatory House was commissioned to provide accommodation and public rooms. The design took advantage of two existing stone-dressed gateways symmetrically placed either side of the greenhouse. Using traditional materials, simple square pyramid-roofed pavilions were built up from the garden wall linked at the rear by a double-height principal room.
