A one-bedroom house called Caochan na Creige has won the 2025 RIBA House of the Year award, the highest honor given to a single-family home in the United Kingdom. The 18-month build was carried out by architects Eilidh Izat and Jack Arundell, who used only hand tools and help from two friends while working through nine named storms on Scotland’s Outer Hebrides.
The house sits on hard Lewisian Gneiss rock above the Bay of Harris, with floor-to-ceiling windows that face the Isle of Skye. Instead of leveling the site, the team let the house settle into natural hollows, creating an angled, almost castle-like form that seems to grow from the ground. Local stone, quarried less than five miles away, clads every wall, while a cast-concrete cap protects the top from driving rain and salt air.
Inside, soft curves guide movement between bedroom, living room, kitchen and bath, echoing the shapes of traditional island blackhouses. Built-in benches, peg rails and a skylit bathroom keep the 550-square-foot plan uncluttered and bright. Every surface was made by the designers or their small circle of family craftsmen, proving that luxury can come from care, not cash.
The Royal Institute of British Architects praised the project for tackling extreme weather, a tight budget and local tradition with equal parts boldness and respect. The house also took home the 2025 Laurence McIntosh Interior Design Award and will appear on the cover of the upcoming book “New Scottish Houses.”
