St.Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney

The Cathedral is owned and maintained by the Orkney Islands Council. It is used for secular performances, and is the base for the main Orkney Festival events in the early summer. The existing facilities were becoming a problem and this, together with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act, persuaded the Council to develop new toilets and stores.

An analysis of the interior of the building quickly showed that an internal solution was not feasible. The least sensitive area externally was on the north side, in an area over the subterranean boiler room which had advantages in terms of archaeology too.

The design parameters were set by the conservation officer at OIC and by Historic Scotland who both favoured a design that would use details and materials matching those of the existing building; steeply pitched roof, red sandstone dressings, roughly coursed flagstone walling and bronze anodised aluminium windows. The structure of the extension is a timber framed kit – a more common technique in Scotland.

The need to maintain access to the boiler room and the desire to minimise interference in the existing structure meant that a link bridge over the stairs had to be designed and this is in the form of a lightweight oak screen & glass enclosure which spans west-east i.e. no loads are placed onto the existing north aisle wall and fixings into the historic stonework are minimal, with only the chase for the lead flashing being cut in.

The extension was completed and opened in May 2005 in time for the Festival.
Client: Orkney Islands Council
Contractor: A W Sinclair, Kirkwall
Stone masons: Boden & Ward, Northampton
Structural Engineer: M T Austin, Kirkwall