Rathlin Manor House
For years, the Rathlin Manor House remained derelict on the island due to extreme weathering from its coastal surroundings. As part of a social enterprise scheme, funding was obtained to restore one of the islands tourist attractions back to its former glory. The building had previously suffered from water egress on its western elevation which the National Trust had attempted to resolve. However, these improvements failed and the building had become unusable.
The design team ensured that as much of the original fabric of the building was retained as possible. All of the original materials still remain in the building and the historically significant materiality has even been extended to the second-hand, vertically-slated facade found on the western gable - keeping brand new materials being used to an absolute minimum.
The architects addressed the water egress issue of the western facade by looking through historical records and information to prove to Historical Buildings that the Manor House had originally had vertically-hung slates on its facade. By learning from the buildings past, they were able to assist in securing its future as a local attraction.
In order to conserve as much of the original imbed material as possible, a timber workshop was set up on-site to repair windows in-situ. This reduced the overall carbon footprint of the project and builders working on the project stayed in local BnB’s so that they did not have to travel back and forth everyday on the ferry to the mainland. Local craftsmen also made up part of the contractors team.
The restoration has been extremely sympathetic to the original character of the building. The existing kitchen and an unused store room was formed into one large dining room space - able to be used for many different functions. The reception area was brought to the front of the building, improving the amount of daylight coming in from the south-facing windows. One of the main achievements of this project, apart from reinstating the slated facade, was adhering to the conservation restrictions placed on the Grade B+ building. The retaining of as much original fabric as possible was paramount in the project, for example, if repairs needed to be made to a joist, the problem area was removed locally and replaced with materials that matched the original building fabric. The most significant difficulty faced in the project waits isolated location. Due to being located on the island and only accessible by boat, organisation was key for both the design and construction teams.
Part of the local consultation process was a presentation to a local school. Local children from the school were invited to give their own ideas and provided valuable input into the scheme.
Before the restoration the manor houses garden was inaccessible, unusable and overgrown. By addressing access issues, plans were then put in place to restore this area of the project. Now the garden has DDA compliant access and the Manor House us able to grow their own vegetables in the garden, which is also listed as a historic monument.
Within the Manor House is a bar, a restaurant and a landscaped sheltered garden at the rear of the building. The Rathlin Development Community Association owns the Manor House as par of a social enterprise scheme. Since its reopening the Manor House has helped attract more tourists to the island and has been received extremely well by locals who enjoy having the building as a functioning part of their community again. The Manor House will most certainly continue to be a key space within the community and a magnet for local tourism. It is a community space and provides an area for tourism and teaching.
