February 4 2019

Highland Council has given their backing to a four-star boutique hotel on the site of a former golf course at Portree on the Isle of Skye.

Centred on The Big Bothy, a 450sq/m reception, restaurant, lounge and whisky room, the hotel takes the form of scattered cabins arranged across the landscape in three small clusters.

Finished in dry-stone cladding, glass, bronze and wild grass lifted from the landscape the structures are conceived as being rooted within the wild landscape, with timber-clad arched steel ribs creating a more civilised setting inside.

In a statement project architects West Port & Company wrote: “This project is a dream commission for our young studio, especially given our familial and alumni ties to Scotland. As for ourselves, our story began in 2016 when we were set up by our 3 founding directors, Colin Cheng, Khalifa Abubakar and Shaun Ihejetoh.

“Having met as architectural undergraduates at the University of Edinburgh, our directors, though varied in background and experiences, share a long personal history. Now with over two years in business together, we are growing practice working on a variety of projects and competitions, which include co-living, contemporary retirement homes, small residential schemes and several interior/renovation projects around the UK.”

A sauna and outdoor pool complete the facilities offered by the hotel.
 

9 Comments

#1 Posted by Bored on 4 Feb 2019 at 10:55 AM

So many accomplished or young Scottish architects to chose from yet a London practice comes up north and produces this...

#2 Posted by Sue Pearman on 4 Feb 2019 at 11:47 AM

The big bothy?...because naming a hotel the same as free to stay mountain huts ...a great idea for costly accommodation ...not confusing at all.
I'm looking forward to having a wee dip in that pool with 16billion midges...

#3 Posted by Dirk Benedict on 4 Feb 2019 at 12:39 PM

-500pts for naming it the 'Whiskey Room' too.

On Skye of all places.

#4 Posted by Donnie on 4 Feb 2019 at 14:44 PM

@ #2 The word bothy doesn't come from mountain huts walkers use for free... they are small houses in rural locations for farm workers, e.g. shepherds.

#5 Posted by FitzHat on 4 Feb 2019 at 15:21 PM

Presumably they'll only serve bourbon in the "Whiskey Room".

#6 Posted by Walt Disney on 5 Feb 2019 at 16:53 PM

#1 This is a local shop for local people...

#7 Posted by Inahuf on 5 Feb 2019 at 20:10 PM

#1, so should Scottish firms then be barred from working in England on the basis there’s good designers down there???

#8 Posted by boaby wan on 6 Feb 2019 at 09:28 AM

Nice set of images - not sure how realistic or practical they are but it's good to see something a bit different from the rural design/dualchas aesthetic.
On the procurement front, I'd be interested, out of pure curiosity, to know how a relatively unknown/new london firm managed to get a job on Skye with a skye based applicant (or I wonder if that address is a holiday home of a london based client) but it's only because I'm nosey rather than xenophobic.

#9 Posted by StyleCouncil on 6 Feb 2019 at 17:28 PM

Mmm, total dogs breakfast. An odd collection of ill fitting forms, materials and clumsy details...with a sprinkle of cliche and dusky light from the rendering machine.

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