Stella McCartney couldn’t – but here’s how to win over your nimby neighbours
Not even the fashion designer’s impeccable eco-credentials were enough to overcome local objections to her plans for a glass-fronted, ultra-modern second home by a loch. Architect Natasha Huq explains how she could have got the nimbys onside…
Stella McCartney’s hopes to build a dream holiday home on a wild headland in the Scottish Highlands have come up against a formidable force – her neighbours.
Others who live in the vicinity – a beautiful spot on the edge of a loch within a protected National Scenic Area (NSA) – are reportedly upset at the designer’s plans for an ultra-modern glass-fronted mansion nestled into the cliffs above Roshven Bay.
McCartney’s application to construct one of the only buildings on a vast, windswept spot has, perhaps unsurprisingly, attracted more than 50 objections. The “simple materials palette” that her and husband Alasdhair Willis’ £5m property had gone in for involves the use of “rough-cut natural Scottish stone” as well as steel and concrete. Given McCartney’s much-vaunted eco credentials, some had expected something more “sympathetic” – perhaps with a living roof to help it completely disappear into the scenery.
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