We designed a new single malt whisky and gin distillery and visitor centre for our clients on the Isle of Barra after they came to us with an exciting vision to expand their already successful business.

The brief was to design a new purpose-built distillery that would house the clients existing gin production operations and provide capacity for their new whisky production. Alongside this, they wanted to build a visitor centre to include a cafe, shop and ancillary areas.

We opted for prefabricated materials due to the remote location, meaning delivery and installation time on site are reduced. The island location and exposed site also present a requirement to utilise materials that are durable against the elements – another benefit of the proposed cladding.

For the parking areas and the road leading up to the site, we selected crushed stone with the aim of reusing excavated rock from the site, allowing us to contribute to the circular economy.

Our final design proposal suggested landscaping the surrounding area to reflect the existing, with the addition of machair wildflowers to promote wildlife. The introduction of these wildflowers aimed to create pollination friendly areas and increased biodiversity to encourage the great yellow bumblebee. In addition, reinstating the natural landscape has created habitats for the corncrakes, also local to the area.

The final proposal was designed to be sensitive to its rural context. In such a special site, we aimed to maximise views to the Atlantic and the tranquil white-sand beaches, iconic to the Isle of Barra. We achieved this through carefully considered orientation and design of internal spaces, whilst the massing and form were inspired by the traditional forms found around the island.

On completion, this building hopes to create more jobs on the island and contribute to a sustainable future for its residents. The distillery will significantly contribute to the island's fragile economy by providing a tourist destination for visitors to the island.