STUNNING BUILDING

STUNNING BUILDING: STUNNING LOCATION

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.

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.

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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.

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The new building is on two floors with the ground floor housing an automated ticketing facility, the newly introduced multi-language audio guides and a food preparation area for the Castle’s new external ‘street food’ offering. With COVID-19 restrictions leading to closure of the indoor coffee shop, this street food outlet adds a valuable element to the Castle’s appeal for visitors, and as a regular ‘destination’ for locals or those driving between Glasgow and Skye. At first floor, the space is divided into three distinct areas with a manager’s office at one end and a boardroom at the other.

The central area provides a roof lit, open plan office space for the sixty strong Castle team. Internally, the CLT has been left exposed throughout, with surface mounted services giving an industrial feel which contrasts well with the historic context of the castle.

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“A key driver in the design was for the building to be ‘subservient’ to the castle because the castle is the hero,” says Lachlan. “It was important that the new building shouldn’t try to be ‘baronial’, or to be a reference to the castle. All the Castle’s other buildings are very simple in terms of their roofscape: their vernacular design is almost agricultural and the new extension embraces and develops this theme.”

From the outset the intent was to build a highly sustainable, low impact and energy efficient building and this has been achieved by using PEFC-certified CLT in combination with externally fitted, breathable cellulose insulation panels and Douglas Fir cladding. Underfloor heat delivery is by air source heat pump with screeds laid above the CLT floor panels. Different parts of the

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building require different types of heat and the building has been zoned to suit.

CLT’s speed and ease of construction were key to overcoming challenges presented by the very remote and exposed site. The programme was tight with only a small window of opportunity to build during the ‘closed’ season of March and April 2019. The weather during construction was very bad and use of CLT resulted in early wind and watertightness which enabled first fix to commence as early as possible and achieved an overall reduction in time on-site. Solid timber specialist Eurban were on-site for only 3-4 weeks to install the superstructure and there were just three deliveries of CLT.

“Expanding the Castle’s facilities is a good news story for the local community, as it is one of the biggest employers locally and being able to fulfil and safeguard jobs is vital,” says Lachlan. “We are a major tourist destination and, as long as our popularity continues to grow, this adds to the potential for increasing employment for the community. The Castle has seen a 10-15 year growth in visitor rates, however tourism can be affected by many different factors such as COVID-19, therefore it is important to always be conscious of the need to fulfil local demand.” Eilean Donan Castle re-opened its doors to visitors on 5 August 2020 and is currently operating at 30% capacity.

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IMAGES:

01-04. CLT has been used to create a highly sustainable, low impact and energy efficient building. Courtesy John Paul Photography.