The Rink

The Rink

The Rink is a Modernist house designed and built in 1962 by Ian Arnott of the newly formed partnership Campbell and Arnott, serving as Arnott's own home. It stands at the main road junction entering the village of Gifford from the north, adjacent to the category A listed Yester Parish Church and graveyard. The house was constructed partly within the southern section of the walled garden and orchard belonging to the category B listed Gifford Manse of 1830, and it was recognised by the architectural community, receiving a Civic Trust Award in 1965.

The house is a single-storey, flat-roofed structure with three bedrooms, constructed in white painted brickwork. The long east elevation is predominantly solid wall with few windows and a lower enclosing wall that screens the open north entrance courtyard. The west garden elevation is largely glazed, with small remnants of the original garden wall creating a patio area. The south elevation features irregularly shaped bedroom windows. The flat roof is punctuated by three steeply angled slated roof lights positioned over the kitchen and two bathrooms. The exterior is characterised by irregularly spaced wide framed timber glazed doors, large plate glass windows, and broad timber eaves fascia boards.

A single-storey, flat-roofed garage is linked to the north of the house. This structure has three sides and is open to the north, with single open doorways to the south and east. Its west wall incorporates part of the existing 19th century stone garden walls as its base.

The interior follows a Modernist open plan scheme dating from the 1960s, where functional and living spaces are defined by part walls and bespoke shelving dividers. Multi-position cupboard doors further enclose separate spaces as required. Interior finishes include natural and painted engineering brickwork walls and window cills. Timber surfaces comprise Junckers maple narrow board flooring, knotty pine panelling to walls and doors, and narrow grooved hardwood panelling to bedroom ceilings. Chipboard fascias serve as cornices, leaving gaps above for top light windows or hidden uplighters and curtain tracks. Door handles and ironmongery are contemporary with the house.

The surrounding garden is enclosed by 19th century stone walls to the west and south, and an early 20th century brick wall to the north. The south wall features a mid-19th century doorway with a boarded door providing access to a small village green, and early 20th century decorative plaques are set within the wall on the village side.

Ian Arnott and his family occupied the house continuously from 1962 until around 2018. Historic photographs from the 1960s demonstrate that the house remains substantially unaltered both externally and internally since its construction. The only documented changes are the cladding of the angle roof lights, altered in the early 21st century, the addition of a woodburning stove in the formerly open fireplace around 2016, and the replacement of kitchen and bathroom units, worktops and tiled floors after 2022.