'The Public Hall' in the Argyll Village of Ardrishaig was re-opened in mid-2022 after a major retrofit.

The original auditorium was built as a in 1900 and was then extended in 1970. We have been working closely with the Ardrishaig Community Trust since 2015, developing proposals to restore and adapt the building to accommodate a range of activities and community events. Planning consent was secured in mid-2019 with works were completed in Summer 2022.

A series of interventions have improved the accessibility, thermal performance and appearance of the building, which was in an increasingly dilapidated state.The main auditorium has been restored, to something closer to its original form, reducing the scale of the openings to the stage and the secondary hall and removing an un-safe balcony, leaving a simpler volume that could be closed off from the adjacent spaces. The main entrance, which had been off the busy road in front of the hall, was moved to the south side, adjacent to a more pleasant and accessible green space which links to the Crinan Canal. What had been an under-used meeting room has become a reception and an informal drop-in space, with enlarged windows to give views out to the sea and the hills to the east. A new insulated roof covering was added to the flat roofed area, along with new fascias and cladding, to give clean-lines and more contemporary appearance to the 1970’s-built wing.

Within the main hall a curtain wraps around the perimeter of the auditorium and is used as a device to maximise the adaptability of the space; useful in blocking the daylight from the windows on the north side of the hall, covering the back end of the hall (used primarily for chair storage) and closing off the doorway to the secondary hall. The curtain slides around a continuous 40m length of steel track which also houses ambient lighting, and allows for a series of different configurations that suits the wide range of activities accommodated by the hall: dances and ceilidhs, piano recitals, concerts and theatre performances, fitness and children’s groups. The curtain is also useful acoustically, while the colour provides warmth, and even a touch of glamour.

Achieved for a budget of less than £350k, Huge credit must go the Ardrishaig Community Trust, made up of volunteers who gave so much time to the project and dealt with the challenges  of Covid, to bring this building in the heart of the village, back into use.