Mary Arnold-Forster Architects designed the tin-clad Black Shed house on the Isle of Skye for an architect and a rabbi.
Douglas fir was used for the interior of the Scottish house to emulate the "feel and warmth" of a traditional Scottish blackhouse, which were originally built to shelter farm workers and livestock from harsh weather conditions.

The Black Shed, which is located in the working crofting town of Heaste, was designed for an architect and a rabbi who both "have an academic interest in melancholy".
"Being both happy and sad at exactly the same time is human and acceptable," said Mary Arnold-Forster Architects.
"The Black Shed is an expression of that. It is sombre, quite and restrained yet full of joy."
Black Shed sits low in the landscape perpendicular to a studio building with a semi-sheltered entrance space between them. A section of old stone wall marks the boundary of the site, part of which has been left as a meadow.

The main space in the simple, two storey building, is a double-height living, dining and kitchen room. A set of stairs leads up from this to the master bedroom and bathroom and a desk space overlooking the living space. A second bedroom and bathroom are tucked below on the ground floor.

To create a warmth into which the occupants can retreat, the interior has been clad entirely in Douglas fir, wrapping seamlessly from the walls to the roof and forming cupboards, bookshelves and window reveals.
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