14th November 2008
Spey Building and Joinery Ltd from Kingussie, Inverness-shire beat the cream of the country’s builders to become the UK’s Best New Homes Builder at this year’s Master Builder of the Year Awards 2008 which took place yesterday.
Naomi Cleaver, presenter of C4 Grand Designs Trade Secrets presented the award to Angus Reid-Evans and his
team from Spey Building and Joinery Ltd for their work on a beautiful, octagonal tree house within an 18th century orchard in the garden of the Kinlochlaich House, the listed Argyll home of Donald and Susie Hutchison.
Angus’ task was to realise Donald and Susie Hutchison’s vision of a stunning octagonal tree-top home built on and around a real oak tree that looked as if it had always been there, but also as if it was floating in mid air.
Following many months of planning and preparation, painstaking recycling and careful construction, Angus produced a tree house that combines both technical excellence and fine traditional craftsmanship, delivered on time and on budget.
The oak tree is the centrepost for the environmental home which boasts a stunning open-plan kitchen, living and sitting area, bedroom and bathroom on the ground floor and a beautiful oak spiral staircase winding round the tree, leading to the gallery area.
One of the few real problems the team encountered were the hungry west coast midges – but even they did not deter Spey Building & Joinery Ltd’s ability to complete this fantastic project.
As client, Donald, sums up: “Angus and his team were absolutely excellent. The quality of work, his attitude, the rapport between us - he worked at everything, and everything was done beautifully. It was a most rewarding period and, while delighted with out tree house, we were terribly sad when it was all over.”
The Master Builder of the Year Awards, now in its ninth year, is organised by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), the UK’s largest building trade association. These annual awards celebrate the outstanding work delivered by the vast majority of builders who can only be nominated by highly satisfied clients.
Spey Building and Joinery Ltd triumphed to win the national award in the New Build category, which is supported by NHBC.
Speaking at the Awards ceremony, FMB director general, Richard Diment said: “These Awards are an opportunity to showcase projects from small to large from around the country that would otherwise be overlooked. Size is not important, while solid craftsmanship, excellent customer service and a delighted client is. The Awards give these clients a platform to publicly thank their builder both for their excellent work and for the consideration shown to them throughout the build.
“For us it is heartening to see that so many clients are still willing to invest in improving their properties, something that is vital for the future of the domestic construction market, and also increasingly concerned with energy efficiency and sustainability,” Richard added.
“Our congratulations go to Spey Building and Joinery Ltd for this well-deserved award, but equally our thanks go to Donald and Susie Hutchison who nominated them for the award,” said Richard.
Angus Reid-Evans and Donald and Susie Hutchison each win a luxury all inclusive weekend break for two at any of the UK Barceló Hotels.
