A tasting room experience with amazing views, set on the hills in Orkney overlooking the Scapa bay and Scapa flow. The brief was to create a warm and inviting ambience for the space that would be the final destination after the distillery tour, making sure the heritage of the area and views were a main focal point.
The customer experience starts along the pathway between the distillery and Noust, with salvaged local stone vertically constructed and lighting washing across the walkway. As you step into the main space, your focus is on the beautiful wooden ceiling which is designed to look like the underside of a boat. Hidden linear illumination is mounted around the perimeter of the space washing up the wood to the enhance the design with miniature spotlights within the boat’s keel to provide illumination to the table below. The joinery showcasing the whisky has subtle concealed details washing up the wood and back lighting the whisky. Where additional focus was required we have underlit the whisky bottle to really make them glow. The juxtaposition of the discrete and subtle warm interior lighting really frame the views of the bay.
We carefully considered the contribution of daylight within the space and how to balance that with artificial light, all the time trying to avoid any reflections in the windows which would impair the view of the incredible landscape. The exterior of the building is subtly lit and embraces natural light, the beautiful sunsets provide a soft warm glow to the exterior of the buildings.
