Visitors Centre, The Giant's Causeway

On the north east coast of Ireland 40,000 interlocking basalt columns descend into the sea. Legend has it that this unusual geographical feature was built by the Irish giant Finn MacCool.  The geology of the area is of international significance. It is a world heritage site, owned by the national trust and attracts thousands of visitors a year.

We entered a competition to create a visitors centre for the attraction. The design necessarily had to address the relationship between the visitor and the site. We wanted to create a structure that would function as a gateway between the ordinary world and the realm of myth.

It had to be robust both externally and internally as an exposed point through which so many people would pass. We designed a simple rectangular form, proportioned to allow a powerful relationship to the expanse of sea and shore to the north. The building contains a semi sunken gallery and education centre to the west and a café, administration, retail and sports facilities to the east.

Visitors enter a central room which looks out to the landscape beyond. It is a simple space designed for orientation and relaxation and contains a variety of spacial experiences and light modulations.  Roof lights connect the viewer with the elements above and glass floor windows reveal basalt columns below.  A viewing and picnic gallery is suspended over the site, ensuring the centre is both within the landscape and yet distanced from the Causeway.

We wanted the space to grow out of its environment and looked to the geographical features of the area for resources and inspiration, incorporating elements of the land into the design. We used locally sourced materials for the construction of the centre: riven slate, local stone, aggregate, concrete and earth and a limited palette, inspired by the colours that surrounded us. 

The environmental impact of this project was of utmost importance and we gave much consideration to the sustainability of our proposal. We used energy efficient, low mass materials and highly insulating construction methods. Grey water is used for the water feature to the south of the building and for flushing WCs within it. The gallery, administration and café spaces have a green roof, encouraging local flora and fauna and the car park area is screened by earth bunds covered by local vegetation