{"id":778128,"date":"2025-03-12T10:16:39","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T10:16:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=778128"},"modified":"2025-03-14T13:25:19","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T13:25:19","slug":"scottish-practice-plans-all-timber-retrofit-of-highlands-activity-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/scottish-practice-plans-all-timber-retrofit-of-highlands-activity-centre","title":{"rendered":"Scottish practice submits all-timber retrofit of Highlands activity centre"},"content":{"rendered":"

The project would retrofit and extend the Abernethy Activity Centre, an activity centre in the Cairngorms national park, with \u2018<\/span>local and sustainably sourced\u2019 materials<\/span> for charity the Abernethy Trust.<\/span><\/p>\n

The scheme will deliver flexible new communal spaces, a new dining hall, and new sleeping areas to make the centre \u2018a more functional base for visitors and staff\u2019, all while \u2018blending sensitively\u2019 with the ancient Caledonian pine forest that surrounds it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new extension, featuring an entirely timber superstructure and timber cladding throughout, would include a dining hall made from express glulam beams, a new main entrance, and sleeping modules for 24 guests \u2013 taking the total up to 114. Wood fibre insulation would be used throughout the re-design.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Existing buildings will be upgraded to meet modern accessibility and sustainability standards, and new details added including forest-facing window seats in the sleeping chalets, <\/span>clerestory windows added to key communal and staff areas to increase natural light, and new externally covered areas and walkways.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Pend\u2019s proposed transformation of Abernethy Activity Centre in the Cairngorms \u2013 new accommodation<\/p>\n\t

Source:Pend<\/p><\/div>\n

The project will create a \u2018more logical connection\u2019 between the centre\u2019s 18th-century manse building, comprising a white-washed masonry structure with a slate roof, and its newer spaces, tying together and upgrading areas that Pends says have become tired and worn out in recent decades.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The scheme will incorporate renewable energy sources including <\/span>photovoltaics, heat pumps and an existing biomass generator.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The practice, which was founded in 2021, says the \u2018transformative, low-energy\u2019 project will enhance the centre\u2019s facilities and ensure its continued progression.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Pend’s proposed transformation of Abernethy Activity Centre in the Cairngorms \u2013 new dining hall<\/p>\n\t

Source:Pend<\/p><\/div>\n

If approved, the redevelopment will be delivered in four phases over five years, allowing the centre to remain operational throughout.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first phase would deliver two new lodges to sleep 24 guests, ranging from schoolchildren to families and private guests, as well as upgrading existing cabins built in the early 1990s to enable the centre to expand its gap-year training programme by roughly 10 beds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pend director Jamie Anderson described the project as \u2018our most adventurous yet in terms of scale, taking our typology out of the city and allowing us to explore a rigorous approach to contextual and thoughtful design in rural areas\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He added: \u2018The Abernethy Trust project unveils a serious opportunity to interrogate modular and playful design in the Highland Scottish landscape.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

If approved, the project will begin on-site near the end of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n