BARD

Ruairidh listens carefully and then comes up with remarkable suggestions. We were very keen that the new construction (kitchen, study, and glazed link to the rest of the house) would respect the spirit of the Victorian house. He has completed that like an artist; the new and the old, the wood and the sandstone complement each other in organic fashion. The terrace beside the study was a brilliant suggestion and only now in mid winter do I realise how carefully he had thought about light the whole year round. Light was central to how we hoped it might be. The ultimate test is what teenagers make of it. We can hardly get them to budge out of the new kitchen. It just feels such a good place to be; simple, elegant, and a marvellous family space to eat and talk. Another thing I noticed; despite his youth, the builders respected him. He listened to them too, and could think on his feet. But no soft touch either, and he was demanding of the work. An enormous thanks to Ru and his colleague Ciaran. Very glad we found them. This lovely space will see us out, and remarkable to think how imagination and creativity passes on to other generations. I sense this old Victorian ship is content as she sails on. P.J. D.

“Ruairidh helped us from the start of this project by helping us identify what we could potentially achieve as a group. He worked closely with us showing multiple options which helped us focus on what we needed in the buildings. When it came to funding, the team at BARD were quick to respond to requests for graphics etc to help with our applications – which also helped the community visualise what was proposed. Now the building is complete, it’s transformed our organisation and we’re delighted with the incredible positive response we’re getting from the community and tourists alike.”

We commissioned Ruairidh and Bard to design a new family home in Benside on the Isle of lewis as the land has stunning views but being on a slope has challenges and we wanted something a little special. Throughout the whole design process Bard kept us in the loop with sketches and updates including physical and computer modelling so that we could visualize the design concept and the philosophies. The Design was costed and then tailored accordingly to find a design that met the budget requirements. Sadly due to unforeseen circumstances out with anyone's control in a global pandemic the project has had to be shelved. This however should be no reflection on Bard and myself and my wife would highly recommend Bard for anyone looking for a passionate talented architect with an exquisite attention to detail. Colin & Laura Macleod

I hired BARD to design a house to be built on a Croft on the east side of the Isle of Lewis. Ruairidh was easily contactable, reliable, full of brilliant innovate and exciting ideas and very helpful. He designed a fabulous cottage with fascinating relationship between light and dark and with beautiful sized room and interesting layout. He made a model of the house which enabled me to visualise it so much better and a computer model which illustrated changing lights at different time of the day. Very professional excellent service and fantastic value for money. Sadly my husband and I chose not to Go ahead with project as we emigrated to Spain.

I was first introduced to Ruairidh by an old architect friend who described him as a star pupil and a rising star. My first project with Ruairidh was a contemporary 4 bedroom house on Eriskay overlooking a beautiful beach facing the Atlantic. We were delighted with the outcome and then asked him to design and rebuild an old ruin on the same property which, in our view, had an even better outcome. The things I like about working with Ruairidh is his ability to listen, his creativity, enthusiasm and his collaborative approach. His collaborative skills in particular, allows him to get the best out of his client and builder which results in high quality buildings and makes the whole process fun. I would strongly recommend Ruairidh.