Harris Distillery

Description

A distillery building with visitors’ centre and adjacent warehouse. A significant contribution to Tarbert’s economic and cultural well-being. The first distillery on the Isle of Harris.

Background
A two still distillery set on a narrow piece of land between two bits of sea lochs. It’s built on ground recovered by the Highland and Islands Development for industrial units that had never been built. A fish farm company had previously built impoundments on the hillside above the site that were re-used to supply process water.  One of our first tasks was to run a new pipe down from here into the distillery.

Challenges
Remoteness was a key challenge. This is the Outer Hebrides, after all. Trying to get staff and equipment here had to be carefully planned. Factoring in meetings was crucial alongside ferry and weather logistics.

Solutions
A structural bridge was put in place which carries the whole distillery over a culvert. All fibre optics and power cables for the island needed to be moved. Because of the lack of natural gas, all boilers needed to run on oil. Plus, we put in a 45,000-litre fire water supply tank. The result? Everyone in the islands can now look forward to an initiative which promotes the assets of the islands throughout the world.