Dunbar Maritime Culture House

Idea projektu

The Dunbar Maritime Culture House proposes a new civic building rooted in the working identity of Dunbar Harbour. The project responds to the historic fabric of McArthur’s Store, the exposed North Sea climate, and the harbour’s continuing traditions of repair, fishing, storage, and public gathering.

Rather than treating maritime heritage as a static museum display, the project reimagines it as a living cultural and working institution. Boat repair, net mending, archive storage, exhibition, café, event space, and harbour-facing public areas are brought together to reconnect local craft, memory, and community life.

The main idea is to use architecture as a threshold between town and sea, past and present, working harbour and public cultural space. Retained stone walls, new timber structure, and sheltered external spaces form a layered response to wind, weather, memory, and everyday occupation.

Popis projektu

The project consists of two one-storey volumes arranged around a sheltered courtyard and a semi-covered public threshold. One volume supports working and cultural activities, including boat repair demonstrations, net mending, and archive storage. The other volume provides social and public functions such as a café, event space, exhibition, maritime storytelling, gathering area, and harbour-facing terrace.

The proposal is located at Dunbar Harbour, East Lothian, Scotland, near the existing McArthur’s Store. The design responds to the site’s sloping ground, retained masonry fabric, harbour wall, pedestrian movement, and exposure to strong westerly and south-westerly winds.

The building is conceived as a living maritime institution rather than a conventional museum. It allows visitors to experience maritime culture through active making, repair, exhibition, sound, image, and social gathering. The courtyard and covered threshold create protected public spaces where people can pause, meet, watch repair activities, and look out toward the harbour.

Technické informace

The project uses a timber-based tectonic strategy combined with the reuse of existing stone fabric. The retained masonry walls of McArthur’s Store form part of the historic datum, while new timber structures are introduced as lighter contemporary additions. The structural approach separates primary frame, secondary enclosure, roof, and threshold elements, allowing the building to respond clearly to site, climate, and programme.

The proposal is designed for Dunbar’s harsh coastal environment, where wind, rain, salt-laden air, and low temperatures strongly influence material and construction decisions. The two-volume layout creates a wind-buffered courtyard, while roof overhangs, sheltered thresholds, controlled openings, and robust junctions improve comfort and durability.

Timber is used not only as a sustainable material, but as a structural and expressive system. The project investigates glulam and framed timber construction, layered roof build-ups, raised floor conditions, bracing, drainage, and careful wall-to-roof junctions. The construction logic contrasts heavy retained stone with lighter timber elements, creating a clear relationship between existing harbour fabric and new architectural intervention.

Dokumentace

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