Wista (phase two), Shetland

The second phase of a social housing development on the top of one of Lerwick's highest hills. née gibson architects were commissioned by Hjaltland Housing Association to design six new-build dwellings on a pre-developed site. As an ongoing drive to provide urgently needed rented housing for Shetland, Wista's six dwellings comprises two 2 bedroom semi-detached houses and four 1 bedroom flats. As architects, we always look to ensure appropriateness for context, which was more of a challenge here with a small site at a very prominent and exposed location. Despite heightening the houses, the client requested full height upper storeys to simplify air tightness detailing. This paid off with all air tightness tests confirming rates of under 2 which will hopefully optimise the efficiency of low temp heating system and mitigate the wind chill expected from the highly exposed location. The heating system consists of Air to Water heat pumps for both space heating and hot water, due to the development being on a level that was too high for the district heating scheme to serve. We were asked to complement the existing phase one properties at Wista, and did so at the request of the client to have double pitched roofs using the same roof tiling. Rooms are modest in size as designed to the strict space parameters of both the government and the client’s own design guides. However, the experience internally is of a more spacious interior with stunning panoramic sea and lofty townscape views. Achieving sheltered spaces within the curtilage of our buildings is essential in rural locations. All entrances are within recessed pockets or tucked away from prevailing winds. An existing and failing drystone ‘hill dyke’ was removed during construction and beautifully rebuilt along the same boundary using the original stone. Together with fenced and planted boundaries, physical enclosure and protection from inclement weather is achieved. In terms of material specification, durability is always key to minimise ongoing maintenance programmes along with robust sustainability and energy performance. Achieving all of these on budget became a huge challenge during the pandemic necessitating some compromise on budget. Externally, highly durable Siberian larch was specified (pre Ukrainian conflict) for the main body of the houses, complimented with selected blocks of vibrant colour of which we consider important in Shetland’s architecture. This combination greatly lessens maintenance for the client where wind driven rain will remove paint within a few years.