Calanais Visitor Centre is open for its preview season!
We are thrilled to see the Visitor Centre complete and open for its season preview ahead of its official opening later this year!
jmarchitects have progressed the redevelopment of the Calanais Standing Stones Visitor Centre site through to completion, delivering a cohesive and enhanced visitor destination defined by careful, context-led design.
The retained and repurposed buildings have been successfully revitalised. The reconstructed cottage now accommodates a new retail space showcasing locally made products, while the adjacent Byre building has been extended and adapted to provide an expanded café offering with multi-aspect views across the Water to the South. Landscaping works are complete, adding the finishing touches to the areas where the centre meets the rural backdrop. The views of these landscape interventions are seen throughout the centre, connecting the interior spaces to the surrounding landscape. Finally, external signage has now been installed, with new monolith precast posts and stones demarking entry, exit and wayfinding points around the site.
The completed development establishes a strong sense of place, successfully balancing heritage sensitivity with contemporary intervention, and delivering a welcoming and engaging environment for visitors. We are looking forward to paying a visit ourselves for the official launch later this summer!
“It’s incredibly rewarding to see the project reaching completion after a collaborative and extensive construction process. A huge amount of thought and effort has gone into shaping the design, and it’s exciting to now see those ideas fully realised on site. The team have created a welcoming and cohesive place that we hope visitors will really connect with for many years to come.”
– Katie Allan, Project Architect, jmarchitects
"It has been a pleasure working with JMA throughout the design and build of the new Calanais Visitor Centre. The team took the time to understand the needs of the site, our visitors, and the local community, and worked closely with us at every stage of the project. We are grateful for their collaborative approach and the care they have taken in creating a building that sits comfortably within its surroundings and supports the visitor experience.”
– Claire Bates, Heritage Manager, Urras nan Tursachan
For more information on this project: Calanais Visitor Centre
Credit: Katie Allan, jmarchitects
