Knitting Bothy - Fair Isle
Description: Modular Bothy as Knitting Studio
Client: Mari Bruhat
Services: Planning Application | Structural Engineering | Site Supervision
Contractor: Bothy Stores
Time Span: 2021
Photos: CASE Shetland, Daniel Craanen
Marie came to us with an audacious plan to install a prefabricated bothy at an isolated croft house ruin, on the most remote inhabited island in the UK. It sounded crazy, but we were up for the challenge! This was the kind of project which doesn’t come along often; it was an opportunity too good to miss.
Our office has a real affinity with Fair Isle. Eve grew up there and is rightly proud of her Fair Isle heritage. Ewen first went there as a young boy on a family holiday and has returned regularly ever since. It is a magical place, an island on the edge of the world. Beautiful, captivating, remote and one of the most logistically challenging locations to embark on a construction project. You have two choices to get there: either the tiny island-hopping plane which departs from Tingwall Airstrip, or take your changes with a potentially stomach churning voyage onboard the Good Shepherd IV. The former is by far the most popular choice, but the flights are highly dependant on the fickle weather and are frequently delayed or postponed.
CASE Shetland were involved with this project from the very outset, working on behalf of the Client to submit a Planning Application for the bothy. This was complicated by the fact that Fair Isle falls within a National Scenic Area: a high level of protection because of the outstanding scenery, this is saved for Scotland’s very finest landscapes. We produced a Design Statement to accompany the Planning Application, and our experienced team were able to successfully navigate through the Planning process with minimal fuss. The first hurdle had been cleared…
Following this we collaborated closely with Bothy Stores, who were supplying and installing the unit. CASE Shetland provided the required Structural Engineering input, which included utilising an extending an existing concrete pad on site. In a location where every construction item needs to be shipped into the island, at considerable cost, making use of what is already there becomes incredibly important. We also provided technical advice with regards to applied wind loadings and fixing down arrangements for the bothy.
Our input did not stop at the planning and design phase – two of our staff followed it right through to the installation on site, providing oversight and supervision as necessary. Bothy Stores had prepared meticulously so that when they arrived on site everything ran smoothly. Fair Isle can be an unforgiving place. If a key tool or component is left behind there is nowhere to purchase replacements locally, and work can grind to a halt until the next flight or ferry arrives. Thankfully there were no such problems, and the bothy was transported, fitted and clad within a week.
It has provided Marie with the most wonderful space in which to grow her knitting business. A studio with arguably one of the best views anywhere in Scotland. It was a project which we’ll never forget!
