Caochan na Creige wins RIBA House of the Year – ADC

Read our coverage of the house when it was originally built, here.

Izat Arundell’s timber-framed, stone-clad self-build in the Outer Hebrides has been named RIBA House of the Year 2025. Known as Caochan na Creige – meaning “little quiet one by the rock” – the house was announced as the winner during the final episode of Channel 4’s Grand Designs: House of the Year, broadcast in December, seeing off competition from the Hastings House by Hugh Strange Architects; Triangle House by Artefact ; Amento by James Gorst Architects ; Jankes Barn by Lynch Architects ; Housestead by Sanei Hopkins Architects  and London Brut by Pricegore Architects .

The house was recognised for its careful negotiation of a demanding site and climate, and for the way it draws directly on the material and architectural language of its setting. Clad in Lewisian Gneiss – the same ancient stone that forms the island’s rugged landscape – the building appears to grow out of the ground, its form shaped by both environmental necessity and restraint.

Built on a small and challenging plot, the house wraps around a vast rock that provides natural shelter from prevailing winds. This relationship between building and geology is fundamental to the project’s success, offering protection while anchoring the house firmly within its landscape. A generous porch, clad in Scottish cedar, marks the threshold and provides a moment of retreat before entry.

Inside, cedar continues across the walls, creating a warm, cocooning interior that contrasts with the exposed conditions outside. Open-plan living spaces are balanced with quieter ancillary rooms, allowing the house to shift between communal and private use. Floor-to-ceiling windows on all sides frame expansive rural views and track the movement of light across the day.

As a result, the spatial experience unfolds through careful sequencing. Rather than revealing the landscape immediately, views are gradually disclosed as one moves through the house, creating a layered progression from shelter to exposure. This measured choreography was cited by the jury as central to the project’s architectural quality.

Constructed by and for its architect owners, Caochan na Creige was praised for demonstrating how contemporary domestic architecture can honour vernacular traditions without imitation. Built from hardy, local materials and engineered to withstand the unpredictable Hebridean climate, the house offers a model for environmentally grounded rural living.

Chair of the RIBA House of the Year 2025 jury, David Kohn, described the project as addressing “challenging climatic conditions, the relationship to vernacular architecture and a tight budget – with a rare mixture of sensitivity and boldness.” Modest in size yet expansive in its connection to the surrounding landscape, the house was selected for its contribution to ongoing debates about domestic architecture in rural contexts.

The jury for this year also included Gill Lambert, director, AOC; Amalia Skoufoglou, founding director, O’Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects and Livia Wang, creative director, Van Gogh House London.