The last few weeks have passed in somewhat of a whirlwind and our Substack rota has gone slightly out of sync so a huge thank you for bearing with us as we get back into the flow of things. We are making great strides with the second issue of our printed journal and are excitingly sending the first complete draft to our editor this coming week. We will share more on that soon and how you can help to make Issue 02 a reality but for now, we would like to share some thoughts on creative spaces.
Since moving out of our home earlier this summer to allow for some noisy refurbishment work, I have been particularly aware of how much a space can have an impact on creativity and productivity. As someone who works from home, my surroundings are so important — I find it impossible to work in a mess, I need things around me to be ordered, to have space to spread out and to have things around me that inspire me — that can be anything from a postcard I’ve picked up on my travels to a colour sample palette to notes that I’ve scribbled down in haste to return to at a later date. When I’m having a creative block, a change of scene works wonders. As much as I love my home-space, it can sometimes feel limiting and in those moments, being able to work at a friend’s house or a corner of a bustling cafe, can get those creative thoughts and ideas flowing once more.
Although there are some beautiful co-working spaces around (Gleneagles Town House and Lister Place, I’m looking at you), I’m especially interested in places that facilitate both home-living and work life. Easter Shian is somewhere that’s very much on my radar, along with the accommodation at Guardswell Farm which looks so beautiful. Today however, I wanted to spotlight The Lengths, a modernist house in the West Highlands of Scotland. It was built back in 1966 and was used as a school for many years before Susie and Ziggy bought it and breathed life back into the building, forming a space where they live and can carry out their creative practices.
We caught up with Susie to find out more about The Lengths and the work they do there.
Can you tell us a bit about yourselves and your four-legged companion?
My name is Susie and my partner is called Ziggy, we are both artists. We took on The Lengths so that we would have the space and time to pursue our own creative work. We lived in Edinburgh previously and like most artists juggled multiple jobs and our creative careers. We were in the rental loop and being low earning artists we were struggling to find a route into a better situation. When The Lengths, then an old primary school, came up for sale it seemed like our chance to make a big difference to our way of life.
Bo joined us in 2015 and settled into building site life extremely well, having come straight from a hay barn it was like a palace. She now enjoys manipulating us daily alongside immense comfort. She loves a job so is always by our side.
How did you come up with the name of The Lengths?
Ziggy had written his album Black River Promise as we settled into the ruins of the building. It occurred to us that the track ‘The Lengths’ summed up the long journey we had ahead of us, and the resilience we would have to have to get to the end. Turns out it was an accurate choice.
Can you tell us about the process of renovating The Lengths? Do you have a background in architecture and design, or did you work closely with a team to bring your vision to life?
We both have a background in art and design. I would say a creative training sets you up for most situations. We moved into the building and started pulling it apart. There were some rough times but not enough time in between jobs to think about the ridiculous situation we had put ourselves into.
The original architecture and the landscape informed all of our design choices really. We wanted to enhance the buildings original modernist style but eliminate all of the awkward council built detailing. The opportunity to learn about structures, materials and what we could do with them was really exciting. It was really fascinating seeing and working with the buildings ‘Vic Hallam’ modular structure as we stripped back the layers and started moving walls.
We decided on a limited palette of natural materials and have built most of the furniture, the design of which has been informed by amazing architects like Morris and Steedman and Peter Womersley and Japanese design. Hopefully the resulting design goes to enhance the architecture and helps to make you feel grounded in the landscape that surrounds the building.
Are there any nods in the house to when the property used to be a school?
Indeed, we fell in love with the building because of a metal dividing railing, some giant folding doors and the split level. We kept all of these features.
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