Introduction
Vernacular architecture describes, for all intents and purposes,
buildings which focus primarily on functionality and its
relationship with its users rather than decoration. They are
settlements built by the people for the people and a place
where the inhabitants feel comfortably at home. As explained
by Eric Mercer, vernacular architecture creates a “common
building of a given place and time” (Carter & Cromley, 2005,
p. 8 cited Mercer, 1975), and therefore to be vernacular,
buildings must share common traits with others around it.
Found in the Hebrides, the blackhouse is likely the most
prominent historical building type in Scotland, and was used
from the Iron Age (Branigan & Merrony, 2000, p. 13) until as
late as the 1970s (Explore: Isle of Lewis, 2018). During this
time, the Hebrideans’ source of income was agriculture.
Therefore, their settlements’ purpose was to provide shelter
not only for a family of six to eight people, but for their
livestock as well (Branigan & Merrony, 2000, p. 1).
The blackhouse provided a very poor standard of living, and
therefore the majority of the Hebrideans adapted their houses
over time so significantly that the fundamental features of a
blackhouse were lost to their successor, the whitehouse. This
brings into question the extent of the blackhouses’
sustainability and whether this should influence the vernacular
nature of the blackhouse design.
Materiality and Sustainability
Blackhouses were built by the local people, using basic tools
and taking advantage of local resources, which is typical of
traditional vernacular architecture. For instance, the timber
roof supports use driftwood from the beach rather than local
trees due, as there are very few trees on the Hebridean
islands (Oliver, 1997), the lack of deforestation means there
is little disruption to the environment and the embodied
carbon is minimal.
The blackhouse design is in response to the Hebridean
climate of extreme winds, heavy precipitation and cold winters
and therefore the walls are made up by two layers of
unmortared stone with an earth core to form thick walls that
provide excellent insulation.
The roof is thatched, again using local materials, and has a
low, rounded shape to streamline against the Atlantic winds
and is secured to the walls with rocks or whale bones. Though
the materials are renewable and sustainably sourced, thatch is
not long lasting and must be replaced annually. However
“smoked thatch [is] considered an excellent fertiliser” (Goran,
2016) which gives the material a second life and a low cradle
-to-grave environmental impact.
The use of local materials is a fundamental criteria for
vernacular architecture, however in this case the use of such
materials is detrimental to the longevity and therefore
sustainability of the blackhouse. Amy Frost praises the use of
the local Bath stone in Bath architecture because it creates an
identity for the city (Frost, 2018), alluding to Mercer’s point
that the vernacular stems from a repeated building style in the
The Scottish Blackhouse
Vernacular Architecture on the Hebridean Islands
same region, as do the stone and thatch blackhouses for the
Hebrides. However, unlike Bath stone, these materials do not
provide sufficient durability for long term use.
As a result, the materials and layout of the blackhouses have
been adapted over time which indicates that the local,
vernacular materials prevented the blackhouses from being
sustainable in the long term. Hence, Frost’s view that the
continued use of local materials throughout history is
important to the vernacular evidently should not apply in this
case, as the flawed materials prevent the design evolving to
provide the users a superior living environment.
Standard of Living
Despite being environmentally sustainable, in the long term
blackhouses require consistent improvements to ensure the
residents could have a high quality of life. The cohabitation of
humans and animals in the blackhouses and the lack of
chimneys to vent smoke led to inhumane conditions that
would eventually harm the Hebrideans’ health. Andrew Scott
considers vernacular as being a way of making buildings more
humane places, so until these circumstances were improved,
blackhouses could not be sustainable (Scott, 1997).
Blackhouse interiors: one half of the house acts as stables for the livestock and the other half of the house is the family’s living space
With the advent of Scottish whitehouses and the fact that
their construction was essential to improve these conditions,
Gro Harlem Brundtland would also declare the blackhouses
unsustainable as they were not designed to meet the needs
of future generations (Brundtland Commission, 1987). This
rivals Bernard Rudofsky’s definition of vernacular architecture
serving “its purpose to perfection” (Rudofsky, 1964, p. 1), as
there were glaringly obvious faults with the blackhouse design
(animals and their debris in the living space, for example).
While it could be said that blackhouses evolved into
whitehouses, several of their defining features were lost
during the transition (chimneys appeared, the walls became
thinner, and the animals were removed), which meant that the
whitehouses were rather a new design altogether. By Doug
King’s definition, the blackhouses were not vernacular as the
terrible living conditions meant that many of their main
features did not survive the next stage of design (King,
2018).
The blackhouse illustrates the power of vernacular to create
the best possible home given the limited amount of resources
and the bleak environment. However, even though it is good
enough to cover the basic needs of the residents, it could not
provide intimate place and privacy, which resulted in migration
to Canada in the early nineteenth century. Here, Eric Mercer’s
definition of the vernacular being “a common building of a
given place and time” (Carter & Cromley, 2005, p. 8 cited
Mercer, 1975) is key to understanding that the blackhouses,
defined predominantly by the area’s poverty and agricultural
livelihood, were a strong example of architecture that was
demonstrative of the community at the time, but not in the
long term.
Traditional Blackhouse
Conclusion
Blackhouses embody the fundamental features of vernacular
design. They were designed to respond to the environment
and the users’ needs by insulating against the wind and the
cold, providing space for livestock and using local materials.
Thus, the blackhouse has a very low cradle-to-grave
environmental impact as the materials are all locally sourced
and often renewable.
The design is simple, reflecting the skills of the Hebridean
people; for example, they were particularly skilled at thatching,
using a specialised netting method to secure the reeds
(Natural Homes, 2018). However, the simplicity of the
blackhouse design significantly shortened the buildings’
lifespan, resulting in the buildings needing annual repairs. In
addition to this, the poor living environment provided by the
blackhouses meant that constant improvements were needed
to increase the residents’ quality of life. In doing this, the
Hebridean settlements lost the features that identified them as
blackhouses - they evolved to become whitehouses. The
replacement of the blackhouses shows that they are not
sustainable.
The Hebrideans’ design was not successful in the long term,
and consequently cannot be sustainable, despite its low
environmental impact. The blackhouse proves that vernacular
design does not necessitate sustainability.
Balint Kerekes
Benjamin Tran
Jenna Bailey
Saorla Hanley
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