A STRIKING private home in Ayrshire that is designed to mimic a group of farm buildings has reached the final of the House of the Year competition.

Viewers of Channel 4’s Grand Designs programme were told last night that Newhouse of Auchengree in North Ayrshire had been short-listed for the prestigious award given by the Royal Incorporation of British Architects (RIBA).

The house is the project of emerging Scottish architect Ann Nisbet and is owned by retired GP Dr Mike Law and his wife Sally who spent £600,000 on their dream home.

Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud described it as “a farm-like group of buildings that make up one large home”. Co-presenter and RIBA judge said the house “tries to throw you off the scent that it is actually a house”.

The Laws’ passion for the outdoors – both are keen runners – inspired the design of Newhouse, which sits in the countryside between Dalry and Beith and is covered in a light blue zinc cladding.

It comprises a two-storey building housing the kitchen, living area, library and guest bedroom, the second building being the master bedroom, with the third building used as an outhouse for guest bedrooms and storage, all reached by a pend, a modern update of an old Scottish traditional feature.

Dr Law said: “A phrase our architect once used was ‘your house will stand like a sculpture in the landscape’. I think that’s pretty true.”

The programme revealed that Nisbet did considerable research on farm buildings in the area and her inquiries helped her get planning permission for the building.

According to Nisbet, Newhouse of Auchengree was one of the first single houses in the countryside to gain planning permission under the new North Ayrshire Planning guidelines.

Local planning officer Anthony Hume said: “The process for getting consent is not straightforward and in this particular case what was clearly evident was the depth of research that had gone on to really understand the sense of place.”

Newhouse has already won a clutch of other awards, including the Saltire Housing Design Award, the Scottish Design Award for the Best Residential Building and a Glasgow Incorporation of Architects prize.

On being told their home had been short-listed for the RIBA award, Sally Law said: “We are very glad for Ann and we are very proud to be owners of this house.”

Nisbet said: “It’s fantastic that this building is on the short-list and we are just really pleased.”

Newhouse of Auchengree will be up against six other houses on the short list. Five others already named are Ness Point in Kent by Tonkin Liu; The Quest in Dorset by Ström Architects; 6 Wood Lane in London by Birds Portchmouth Russum; Caring Wood in Kent by James Macdonald Wright and Niall Maxwell, and Shawm House in Northumberland by MawsonKerr Architects.

The final contender is to be named in next week’s Grand Designs on Tuesday .