Ravens Craig

Ravens' Craig, Ian Begg, 1987-9 Modern tower house on the steeply wooded Crags above Duncraig, built as the architect's own home. Firmly rooted in the time-honoured traditions of its genre, it is nonetheless unashamedly a late 20th century building, with concrete walls, underfloor heating and a lift shaft. Inside, the form is immensely sculptural, as if the spaces have been modelled from a solid block. A central core of principal rooms rises three storeys to support the roof, a circular stair in the northern tower ascending anti-clockwise to the great hall on the first floor. From here, the bedrooms above are reached by a spiral staircase in the angle turret over the entrance. Deep cavities between the inner and outer walls are utilised, in a manner borrowed from ancient brochs, for a stair, w.c., and other small, interconnecting chambers, creating further spatial patterns. With its emphasis on the vertical, and its highly textural use of natural materials, Ravens' Craig evokes the robust, weatherproof form of medieval lairds' houses. But, as if to allay any impression of earnest historicism, it incorporates some delightful idiosyncracies, such as a projecting Italianate loggia.

Taken from "Western Seaboard: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Mary Miers, 2008. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk