Burwick Farmstead

Burwick Farm is a mid-nineteenth century, Grade-B listed farmstead located on the South West corner of South Ronaldsay, Orkney. Derelict since the mid 1970s, the redeveloped farmstead will serve as a new home as well as a commercial hub located 250m along the main road from the foot ferry terminal, from the mainland.

The barn is converted with commercial catering facilities so that it can serve as a café and pizza restaurant as well as serve for external events and the byers building is being developed for new tweed weaving and distillery ventures. Planning and listed building consent was for the development awarded in 2016.

Our proposal was developed through an understanding as to how the site had evolved over time as the farmstead has grown to accommodate various changes in agricultural technology, crops and output, and how additional buildings were added and removed and existing ones altered.

These studies were used to develop a strategy to prioritise the heritage aspects of the site and inform a fresh interpretation of the farmstead’s landscape setting. The aim of this approach was to provide a practical and efficient plan that acknowledged the site’s history.

The proposal creates a new family-scale, double-height space in the centre of the historic farmhouse. This provides day-lighting into the depth of the plan whilst also linking the original, smaller-scaled spaces together.

Externally, the additions are considered as a series of extruded barn profiles that are modified to create new door and window openings. The windows are strategically located to provide long views of the surrounding landscape.