Shetland Museum and Archives, Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland
- Client: Shetland Amenity Trust
- Principal designer: Building Design Partnership
- Principal engineer: Woolgar Hunter
- Principal contractor: DITT
- Contract value: £12 million
About the project
The new Shetland Museum and Archives has stylishly married the old and new, using traditional craft skills and the rich heritage of the Scottish islands.
The buildings, at Lerwick’s listed Hays Dock, are a modern interpretation of traditional structures, with an eye-catching timber-clad boat hall at its heart. This four-storey building echoes the sails of herring drifters, which were built in the adjoining 19th-century boat sheds and wintered in and around Hays Dock. Inside, the triple height space contains six historic boats including the last surviving ‘sixareen’ – a traditional Shetland boat directly descended from the Viking longship. The museum is designed to display 3,000 unique artefacts from the Islands’ collection, and the archives house the written records of Shetland’s past as well as a large photographic collection. There is a 120-seat flexible lecture theatre and, above, a 60-seat restaurant with a sheltered terrace and panoramic sea views.
Visitor numbers have risen almost 10-fold since the museum and archives opened, and the impact on the formerly derelict surrounding area can already be seen, including plans for a cinema and music venue.
Judges' comment
"A modern solution using traditional materials and techniques, fitting perfectly into its surroundings and providing the impetus for regeneration of a previously derelict area."