ENGINEERED WOOD
STUNNING BUILDING: STUNNING LOCATION
01 Eilean Donan Castle has recently opened its doors to a brand new visitor centre which has been built using cross laminated timber (CLT) from Stora Enso. Eve Dennehy, Director at Structur Communications, outlines the project at one of Scotland’s most iconic and remote castles.
30
w
The Castle is dramatically located on a small island at the meeting point of three great sea lochs at the Kyle of Localsh – the gateway to the Isle of Skye. Surrounded by breathtaking scenery, it is a major venue for weddings and has featured in many TV shows and blockbuster movies including James Bond ‘The World is Not Enough.’ Architect Lachlan Stewart has a longstanding family relationship with the Castle dating back to the 1920s, when his great-grandparents purchased it and fulfilled their vision to restore it in the Arts & Crafts style. Lachlan has been directly involved with the restoration and extension of the Castle for almost 30 years, since first completing restoration works in the early 1990s. He then went on to design the first visitor centre in 1998/99, and its subsequent extension in 2005.
STRUCTURALTIMBERMAGAZINE.CO.UK
Since then visitor numbers have increased hugely and have averaged around 600,000 annually. It is this growth in popularity that has necessitated further expansion of the visitor areas. The resulting new building effectively creates a fully-enclosed courtyard for the original visitor centre, which is ‘U’ shaped and open to the sea with a prevailing wind from the south west. A major design consideration was CLT’s ability to cantilever, which has enabled the creation of a clean extension of the roof that over-sails the gable ends and gives much needed protection to visitors when transactions are taking place below. The pitched roof cantilevers almost 3m at both ends of the building and features a large roof light at its apex. Two deep glulam beams support the roof and roof light and give it a distinctive character.
