Craigie Hotel Illuminated in blue

Project Details

Project Summary

  • Construction of events pod, restaurant extension and link building for Scottish hotel
  • Pod 81m2 (includes external verandah); restaurant extension 137m2; link building 14m2
  • Thermowood cladding finish to externals
  • All groundworks, foundations and drainage
  • Aluminium windows and doors including bespoke bi-fold doors opening from pod to decked verandah

The Challenge: Adding space and function for elegant listed building

The impressive Craigie House Hotel is situated at the foot of the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh. Built in 1885, it was designed by George Washington Browne for the eminent zoologist James Cossar Ewart. Converted into a hotel in 1933, this elegant building has recently been fully refurbished.

Restaurant entrance to the new modular extension at Craigie Hotel

New modular restaurant extension

Enviro Building Solutions were tasked with constructing a modular building extension to increase space for the existing restaurant. Furthermore, they required a link corridor to join two separate hotel buildings and a garden pod for use as an events venue.

In harmony with the architecture and environment

The team has successfully created a trio of prefabricated spaces designed to complement the architecture and environment. All have been finished externally using thermowood heat-treated spruce and featuring aluminium windows and doors to give a high specification finish.

Garden pod at Craigie Hotel

The new pod is tucked away in a corner of the hotel’s leafy gardens, forming a perfect party pad with its own cocktail bar. It can be used for weddings, private parties, board meetings, presentations and networking events.

Creating a complementary finish

This was a challenging project. The hotel is a listed building and it was essential that the modular elements reflected the quality and substance of the architectural style, without detracting from the environment and surrounding grounds.

Inside the restaurant at Craigie Hotel

A thermowood heat-treated spruce cladding was selected to complement the colours and textures of the local stone.

Overcoming access and abutment issues

Because of site and location, both the two storey link building and modular extension were formed off-site using a ‘flat pack’ approach. Siting the restaurant extension and link building where old met new presented a number of technical challenges, with all seals and abutments critical in order to achieve a weathertight finish.

Two storey link building

The bespoke link building, which replaced a glass corridor, provided a far more cost effective solution than a traditional build and created an excellent and practical end result. Adding the restaurant extension has created an attractive external approach and entrance to the facility as well as increased dining space.

Bringing the utilities to service the pod

Siting the garden pod also presented access issues, and the modular sections were craned into place in a secluded corner of the grounds. All additional elements were manually transported around to the location at the rear of the hotel.

The veranda at Craigie Hotel

The team from Enviro were also responsible for bringing all utilities to the selected spot to serve the new pod, as well as fitting out the bar area. The ‘party pad’ has given the hotel an additional 54m2 of event space as well as an attractive external decked verandah measuring 27m2, accessed by bi-folding entrance doors to open up the space and bring the outdoors in.

The team from Enviro Building Solutions contended with tricky access and abutment issues as well as some of the coldest weather of the year to complete the entire project on time and to budget.