"I first met Crichton when I was working with him as the builder for another design project of his. Then it came to my turn to build my own home on a beautiful sight on the river Thurso. I had a couple of choices of architects but chose to go with Crichton as I was so impressed with his design. He came up and we chatted through what I was after. Once I saw his design there was no doubt I would go with anyone else. He was based in Edinburgh at the time, so he would come up and stay for a night. We would chat through the design with a few wines and he would jump back on the train the next day. I liked working with him. The house is stunning, worth all the challenges. It was quite complicated as it has 3 different sizes turrets. We got on great, he’s a lovely guy and laid back and we have become great friends."
"Having visited a number of Crichton's impressive projects over the years he was an obvious choice when we were planning our own moderate extension. To our delight he delivered an imaginative design that made optimum use of the limited space available and brought new year-round benefits in natural light."
“Crichton came into our house and understood exactly what we required and he gave us the confidence to buy into his vision for the alterations that we wanted to make in the house. He allowed us to see other projects he had worked on and that gave us the confidence to select the best bespoke design for us. He project managed the whole operation all the way through and we have so many good things to talk about in terms of the whole ambience of the room and the alterations he made, the light that came into our house and the dynamic of our house completely changed and we sit here everyday in this lovely space and enjoying the sun that floods through our house and full credit to Crichton for giving us that opportunity.”
“In 2007 we approached Crichton to consider designing a living area behind our 1826 terraced house in Portobello, using the space occupied by a damp scullery and coal bunker, but not intruding beyond that footprint into the patio and garden. Despite our limited budget, his response was elegant and ingenious, creating a compact, light-filled garden room with folding door and large sliding window giving minimal separation from the garden itself. His use of cantilevering (as commonly used in the upper premises of historic Edinburgh “lands”) gives an impression of expanded interior space while not exceeding the original scullery’s footprint.
The extension won the Small Projects section in the 2008 Edinburgh Architectural Association awards. We love it dearly and spend much time in it, particularly in the mornings, taking advantage of its east-facing situation. We were very impressed by Crichton’s imaginative design, as well as by his handling of the overall project.”
‘It's now over 15 years since we built our extension, and we never tire of being thankful that we made a decision to go ahead. Our extension is a wonderful space which was designed around the way we live. At the outset, we spent time with Crichton discussing our interests, the way we live and how the new space would be used. For instance we decided that it wouldn't be a big kitchen or dining space but more a living and work room. The large window and door looks over the garden, stepping down from the kitchen into the extension, you see a wall of green which is so relaxing. It's a beautiful and clever design which suits us perfectly.’