Glenmorangie distillery
The Glenmorangie Company are constructing a new Stillhouse along with additional mashing and fermentation creating a standalone ‘Distillery’ adjacent to their existing Stillhouse. The new Stillhouse will include, two copper stills which will replicate their existing still, the tallest in Scotland.
Location: Tain
Client: The Glenmorangie Company
Cost: Confidential
Completion: under construction
The ‘lighthouse’ as the project has been named due to the height and location of the new Stillhouse, adjacent to the Dornoch Firth.
The curtain walling which forms the primary fabric of the stillhouse consists of a composite wood panelling which incorporates wood from Glenmorangie casks. Salvaged stonework from the original cooperage building has been utilised on the adjacent mash house.
The project involved the demolition of the ‘old cooperage’ and ‘crown stone’. Stonework was salvaged for use within the new construction and elements of the building fabric were crushed and subsequently used under roads and hardstanding areas elsewhere on site.
The Architect is Barthelemy Grino an award winning Paris based Architect, Blyth & Blyth are the Civil and Structural designers.
The ‘standalone’ distillery which allow a modest increase in capacity but allow greater flexibility within the distillation process
Key challenges
The current distillery visitor centre attracts approximate 24,000 visitors a year and construction of the new Stillhouse attracts further interest and intrigue.
Careful site management and material deliveries was key to ensuring safe construction with zero impact on the existing site operations and visitor experience.
The proximity of the existing Stillhouse and high water table required careful consideration with respect to foundations and water management system to avoid an uncontrolled discharge to the Dornoch Firth which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Future maintenance access to allow removal of stills and condensers in the future required consideration with focus on the design of the curtain walling system to form removeable areas which would not compromise the retained curtain walling elements.
Results
The creation of new ‘standalone’ distillery to compliment the existing iconic Glenmorangie stillhouse has been undertaken whilst maintaining full operation of the distillery along with minimising impact on the 24,000 annual visitors.