The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
First view of visitors’ site link-up to St Kilda
Stunning island tourist attraction could open by 2020
This dramatic image offers the first glimpse how the eagerly-awaited St Kilda visitor centre could look.
The attraction would use technology to allow visitors to remotely explore St Kilda from a clifftop site in the Uig area of Lewis.
These dramatic images offer the first glimpse how the eagerly-awaited new St Kilda visitor centre could look when it is built on the Western Isles.
The visitor attraction would use technology to allow visitors to remotely explore St Kilda and its history from a clifftop site in the Uig area of Lewis.
It is hoped that it could be open by 2020 – to coincide with the 90th anniversary of the island’s evacuation – and provide a model for experiencing other remote UN-protected sites around the world.
Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter and Dualchas Architects won the architectural masterplan competition for the newcentre earlier in the year.
Reiulf Ramstad, design director and founder of RRA, said the project was inspired not just by St Kilda, but by the distinctive landscape and environment of the Geodha Sgoilt site on Lewis.
“One of the first things you notice on the site is the wind – it is incredibly exposed,” he said.
“Youare alsoawareof the powerof the Atlantic crashing against the dramatic cliffs and stacks.”
St Kilda, which lies 41 miles off the Outer Hebrides, became a World Heritage Site 30 years ago, and a conference was held in Stornoway last week to discuss the visitor centre plans, which are backed by UNESCO.
Geodha Sgoilt, a clifftop site in theUigarea ofLewis, was selected as the preferred location for the centre after a competition.
Dualchas director Neil Stephen said:“High quality architecture can be an economic generator in remote rural communities – something both RRA and Dualchas have been committed to in rural Norway and the ScottishHighlands and Islands.
“This can only happen if there is ambition and vision, which the community of Uig have in abundance – which is why this project is both exciting and important.”
The architects have been working closely with the exhibition designers Metaphor on developing the proposal.
Iain Buchanan, chairman of the Ionaid Hiort groupdelivering the centre, said: “This is not just a local project but one which has at its centre a very special place and has significance which is local, national and international. It can be a transformational project for a very fragile community and bring economic benefit to theWestern Isles as a whole.”