Preserve

Enhance

Create

Lowland Architects is a Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) chartered practice, specialising in historic buildings, rural architecture, and carefully considered extension and new-build projects.

Based in the heart of the Scottish Borders and working across Scotland, we help homeowners, landowners and developers to design projects that honour their setting while bringing new life to the buildings and landscapes around them.

Let's discuss your project
Let's discuss your project
Bright room with large windows, a dining table with three chairs, a potted plant, a framed map on the wall, and a cozy armchair near a small side table holding books and a lamp, overlooking a cityscape.
Kitchen seen through doorway with dark gray cabinets, built-in oven, wine cooler, and sink, with a light wood countertop and gray flooring.
Interior view of a hallway with light-colored walls, wooden flooring, white doors, wall-mounted shelves with decorative items, a radiator, a full-length mirror, and a potted plant.

Modern thinking with traditional craft.

We believe the most enduring architecture grows from a thorough understanding of context — the materials, traditions and landscapes that shape the places we inhabit.

Led by ARB Registered Architect Mark White, a RIAS Conservation Accredited Architect, the studio combines modern thinking with traditional craft to deliver thoughtful and technically rigorous projects across the Scottish Borders, Edinburgh, East Lothian and surrounding regions.

From the patient restoration of historic buildings to the creation of new rural homes, each project is approached with clarity and diligence.

Nothing unnecessary. Nothing overlooked.

Our Approach

Preserve

Historic buildings carry the stories of the places they inhabit. Our conservation work focuses on protecting and carefully restoring traditional buildings while allowing them to evolve for contemporary life.

Typical projects include:

  • Listed building refurbishment

  • Conservation-led renovation

  • Traditional building repair

  • Heritage planning and listed building consent

Enhance

Extending and adapting existing buildings requires sensitivity and technical understanding. We design extensions and alterations that respond to the character of the original building while improving the way spaces are used and experienced.

Typical projects include:

  • Residential extensions

  • Attic Conversions

  • Steading conversions

  • Interior remodelling

  • Adaptive reuse of traditional buildings

  • Office, retail unit, hotel reconfiguration

Create

New buildings should feel connected to their surroundings. Our new-build projects draw inspiration from vernacular architecture and local materials while delivering modern, efficient and carefully detailed homes.

Typical projects include:

  • Bespoke rural homes

  • Contextual new-build houses

  • Small-scale residential developments

  • Leisure and commercial facilities

Learn more about us
Learn more about us
Wood-paneled wall with a glass-front cabinet on the left and ornate, patterned wallpaper behind.
Close-up of an ornate cream-colored wall with decorative molding and paneling, with a wooden floor and electrical outlets at the bottom.
Close-up of ornate white decorative molding and trim on a wall and door in a classic interior.
A white ornate fireplace with black accents, decorative molding, and a wooden fire grate, set in a room with white paneled walls, decorative crown molding, and a radiator on the right.
An interior room corner with a closed white door, decorated green walls, wooden flooring, a black radiator, and a large framed colorful painting on the right.
Explore some of our past work
Explore some of our past work

Our Process

Every project follows a clear and structured design process aligned with the RIBA Plan of Work.

  1. Initial Consultation

    Understanding your project, aspirations and site.

  2. Feasibility & Brief Development

    Exploring design options and defining the brief.

  3. Planning & Listed Building Consent

    Developing the proposal and navigating the planning process.

  4. Technical Design

    Preparing detailed information for warrant, tender and construction.

  5. Construction

    Supporting the project through the building phase.

Find out more about our process
Find out more about our process
Architectural site plan and design proposal for repurposing a historic barn into a modern private residence, showing layout, extensions, and roofscape.
Interior view of a wooden house under construction, showing the framing and insulation, with the sky visible through an opening at the top.

Planning a project?

If you are considering a project in the near future, we would welcome the opportunity to hear more about what you have in mind. Discuss your ideas with us and explore how we can help bring them to life.

Whether you have a question, an idea, or are looking for advice, feel free to reach out — we’re here to help.

Start the Conversation
Start the Conversation