New Life: Aberlour House

Regional Award Entry for Moray

Conversion and Alterations to Aberlour House, by Aberlour for Walkers Shortbread Ltd

The proposal to convert a private preparatory school to the Head Office of Walkers Shortbread Ltd meant that Aberlour House was entering a new phase in its history.

Many changes had taken place since Alexander Grant, the son of a Ben Rinnes farmer who had returned from abroad with a fortune made in Jamaica, started work on a new mansion house designed by William Robertson, the renowned Elgin architect, in 1838.

The design challenge now was to incorporate previous worthy alterations and additions such as the Library (former dining room) designed by Sir Robert Lorimer into the conversion. The opportunity was taken however to remove less desirable elements of alterations which had taken place over the years to this ‘A’ listed building, particularly arising out of the property’s use since 1947 as a private school. This included the complete demolition of the classroom wing to the south, removing partitions which had sub-divided the original building’s individual rooms and re-instating the corridor circulation to the plans of the House circa. 1885.

Careful consideration of the various issues which inevitably arose when sensitively considering conflicts between functuality, aesthetics, historic fabric and financial constraints were required to ensure the needs of the accommodation required by Walkers Shortbread Ltd were met. For example allowing for only minor modification to the canopy at the staff entrance rather than re-instatement of a rear porch, which was demolished by a tractor in the 1950’s! However most areas of potential conflict in respect of the necessary servicing of modern office requirements – heating, IT, drainage, security, floor loadings, lighting etc – were all overcome principally due to a client sympathetic to ensure the conservation of this important national Historic building.

Mon 1st Mar 2010