Results: Easdale Ferry Office

TerraViva has officially released the complete list of awarded projects of the architecture contest entitled “Easdale Ferry Office”.

This outstanding competition invited architects and designers to envision a new ferry hub that would enhance the arrival experience on this unique Scottish island. Tasked with renovating and extending the existing structures, participants explored innovative ways to integrate the new office and waiting area into the rugged coastal landscape. The goal was to create a shelter that not only provided comfort in harsh weather but also harmonized with the island’s character, celebrating local materials and sustainable design principles. By thoughtfully reimagining the gateway to Easdale, the competition sought proposals that balanced functionality, heritage, and environmental sensitivity.

The awarded designs stood out for their ability to blend architecture with landscape, offering solutions that were both respectful and forward-thinking. Some proposals embraced the island’s material history by incorporating slate in innovative ways, while others redefined the ferry office as a seamless extension of the terrain. Thoughtful use of space allowed for expanded amenities, inviting visitors to experience the site in new and dynamic ways. Many projects explored sculptural forms, atmospheric interiors, and bold yet contextually sensitive interventions, ensuring the ferry hub would serve as both a functional infrastructure and a memorable architectural landmark.

The competition was open to students, architects, designers, urbanists, engineers, makers, artists and anyone interested in the fields of architecture and design.

The winners were selected by an international jury panel composed by:

- Stephen Roberts (Newcastle, United Kingdom) | Northumbria University
- Nuria Vidal Domper (Lucerne, Switzerland) | Dompercastells
- Kefei Yan (London, United Kingdom) | Foster + Partners
- Maria Alejandra Icaza P. (Miami, United States) | Luis Pons Design Lab
- Salwa Cherkaoui El Baraka (Paris, France) | Riversen
- Christian Schmitt (Cairo, Egypt) | German University in Cairo
- Jahnavi Bhatt (London, United Kingdom) | Benoy
- Shaun Young (Newcastle, United Kingdom) | Northumbria University

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1st Prize

Slate Path
Jules Burguet, Mathieu Nouhen, Julien Sarale
France

Architecture and Slate Landscape
The island of Easdale, deeply rooted in the history of slate—a noble material that has sculpted its identity—becomes the foundation for a contemporary reflection. The project weaves a narrative through its territory, offering visitors a journey punctuated by unique spaces: here, a natural pool nestles between the stones; there, a shelter invites contemplative pause; further along, a campsite blends seamlessly within a ruin, while a skimming stone ramp hosts international competitions. These interventions, designed in harmony with the landscape, find their anchor in the reimagining of the island’s gateway: the Easdale ferry terminal, envisioned as a scenographic entrance to this grand landscape.

Gateway Architecture: The Maritime Terminal
A monumental slate retaining wall, inspired by historical dykes, facilitates the transition from maritime arrival to the island’s first village streets. This infrastructure reinforces the shores, stabilizes the terrain, and creates a solid foundation for welcoming visitors. In harmony with the natural lines of the existing landscape, the project extends grassy areas directly from the village fabric, blending seamlessly with the island’s homes and facilities. These spaces promote community interaction and enrich daily life for residents while providing inviting rest areas for visitors.
The terminal integrates smoothly into this infrastructure, merging organically with the landscape. By combining contemporary aesthetics with essential functions, it strengthens Easdale’s insular identity, celebrates its material heritage, and sustainably enhances the island’s quality of life.

Programming and Spatial Organization
The project unfolds through a natural vertical stratification, skillfully leveraging the site’s topography. At the lower level, near the quay, a new slate structure nestles at the base of the existing house, housing ferry-related infrastructure: offices, lockers, and restrooms. These dykes create a rooftop belvedere terrace, offering a privileged viewpoint over the port landscape.
In a commanding position, the former ferry house is transformed into a café, standing as a landmark in the landscape. Its promontory location is emphasized with a panoramic terrace overlooking the port, establishing it as the vibrant heart of the project. This two-level organization ensures clear separation of flows while fostering complementary uses, seamlessly integrating public facilities and maritime spaces.
This architectural and landscape intervention, deeply rooted in the site’s history, turns slate into the unifying thread of an authentic and sustainable tourist experience. It demonstrates how industrial heritage and contemporary development can coexist in respectful dialogue, enriching both in the process.

Materiality and Implementation
The terminal’s main building employs an innovative hybrid construction, combining the technical precision of concrete with the expressiveness of slate. A reinforced concrete structure ensures stability and resistance to maritime constraints, while a cladding of massive slate envelops the building. This duality responds to contemporary technical demands while preserving local identity. Peripheral retaining walls use the traditional technique of slate stacking, incorporating seating and planters into the design.
Ground treatment varies according to usage: opus incertum paving for high-traffic areas, massive slate borders for delineation, traditional cobblestones for transitional and inclined zones, and crushed slate for less frequented spaces. This diversity of implementation meets technical requirements while creating a coherent visual richness.
The roofs, visible from elevated viewpoints, receive special attention. The terminal extension features a green roof with crushed slate as a substrate, promoting the growth of native vegetation. Slate stepping stones and vertical slate parapets complete the design, ensuring seamless landscape integration while efficiently managing rainwater.

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About the First Prize – MARIA-ALEJANDRA ICAZA P. – Luis Pons Design Lab
“This project radiates creativity, reimagining the building’s volume to blend seamlessly into the earth while utilizing characteristic slate in various hierarchical ways. It expands the scope of work to include diverse areas of enjoyment, such as terraces, cafes, and a pier for leisurely walks by the water. The design thoughtfully considers visitors, ferrymen, and campers, transforming the arrival experience into something truly memorable.”

About the First Prize – SALWA CHERKAOUI EL BARAKA – Riversen
“This project makes an original interpretation of the Ferry office as an infrastructure for the Island. It is both an architecture, an urban and landscape object, all in one gesture, for its architectural expression seamlessly integrates in the landscape of the Island. The final result gives the impression that it is a natural component part of the composition. Silent, humble yet rich with its program, the project offers a good selection of amenities, judicially interpreting the given program both for passengers and ferrymen.
The choice of materials helps the building blend in the environment, highlighting the material history of slate, while still offering light and warmth in the interior spaces. All in all, it offers a unique experience to visitors, showcasing views without obstructing any.”

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2nd Prize

Easdale City Gate
Giacomo Fruzzetti, Lorenc Deliu, Niccolò Gasparini, Adrian Martin Rodriguez
Italy

In addition to enhancing the operational efficiency and comfort of Easdale’s ferrymen and improving the passenger experience, the Easdale City Gate aims to become a new landmark in the island’s landscape, reinterpreting and extending the concept of a city gate. The proposed volume not only serves as the main passage and arrival/departure point to the island, but also as a place for socializing, sharing, and learning.
Beyond its architectural, functional, and landscape aspects, the project also carries a social responsibility, aiming to promote and strengthen conscious and sustainable tourism, while also addressing the practical needs of the community.
The existing stone building will be repurposed as an Info Point, becoming a focal point for the island’s trail system and natural points of interest, where visitors can ask about activities and events or rent equipment for hiking, snorkelling or free-diving in quarry pools.
Positioned orthogonally to the existing building, the new volume follows the most common architectural form – a single-story cottage with a pitched roof – and consists of two buildings: the new Ferrymen’s Office and the Ferry Waiting Room, linked by a central roof that creates a new public space and the main passage for accessing the island. The Ferrymen’s Office enhances and improves the quality of the spaces for ferrymen, offering them a suitable office area, a resting space between crossings, and a laundry for drying clothes and equipment. The Ferry Waiting Room, characterized by two large openings toward the surrounding landscape, provides a comfortable environment for tourists and islanders to wait for the ferry, as well as facilities for the community and visitors, including public restrooms, showers, and laundry services.
Transparency and opacity play an essential role in the architectural language of the Easdale City Gate, as they define privacy and the public-private relationship. Blind walls alternate with openings of varying sizes, creating relationships between the built structure and the landscape that change depending on the function of the spaces. In areas where internal-external permeability is maximized and the public sphere prevails, such as in the waiting room, large windows capture and enhance the stunning panoramic views and the strategic location of the project area. Conversely, in more private spaces, like the Ferrymen’s Office, the openings are smaller and focused on ensuring an adequate amount of natural light for the interiors.
The relationship between transparency and opacity is also emphasized by the choice of materials. The volumes of the buildings are clad in slate-grey steel, a material resistant to salt air due to the coastal location and weather conditions, while connecting elements, such as the central roof and the volume linking the Ferrymen’s Office and Info Point, are made of translucent polycarbonate. The unusual use of materials stems from the desire to move away from those commonly used on the island, creating a new, recognizable symbol in the landscape while respecting the architectural styles and colours typical of Easdale.

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About the 2ndRunner Up – KEFEI YAN – Foster + Partners
“The new building contrasts sharply with the old in materials yet resonates with the village’s architectural form. The covered void extends the texture while creating a distinct gate- a point of separation for arrivals and a convergence for departures. The intervention is both effortless and precise.”

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3rd Prize

The New Horizon
Tymon Trzeciak, Łukasz Łoś, Jan Cegnar
Poland – Croatia

The main idea of the project is to create a space that preserves Easdale’s heritage while simultaneously introducing a distinctive contemporary structure. This balance is designed to capture interest and provide amenities for both the local community and visitors. The name “New Horizon” stems from both the building’s design and the experience it offers. The building’s curved shape and varying heights create a wave-like silhouette which complements the surrounding sea and the island’s hills. This connection to the landscape is further enhanced by the beautiful views of the outdoors from within the interior.

A longitudinal shape was inspired by traditional houses in Easdale and Scotland. With the purpose to achieve the different experiences and ambience, both inside and out, the curvature of the building was created. The existing structure of the Ferrymen’s office is kept and expanded, while the previous passenger waiting room is removed. As the building meanders, it creates convex and concave outdoor spaces, the most prominent of which is the concave plaza in front of the Community Hall, from which the terminal can be accessed. The idea is to create a community hub along with the Community Hall and pub near the site.

Slate, a material deeply tied to Easdale’s history, is used for the roof tiles and wall cladding, similar to the existing ferrymen’s office. Furthermore, the existing roof of the current building is raised, better insulated and the gutter is hidden within the cross section. The interior design of the terminal is simple and welcoming, featuring plenty of wood and tactile surfaces that combine modern elements, natural color palette and a rustic feel to create a cozy atmosphere and a sense of connection to the landscape.

In general, the functions of the new terminal can be grouped into three main categories: the ferrymen’s office, camping amenities, and public spaces.

The most prominent part of the building is the area with the public spaces, located in the middle of the building. It consists of flexible retail and commercial rooms, passenger waiting room, and public toilets. Much of the facade in this section of the building is glazed, providing enhanced views and a sense of openness. On the south side, retractable curtain walls connect the indoor corridor to the outdoor concave plaza. The flexible retail spaces support the community’s ‘DIY’ culture, allowing locals to sell goods. During peak seasons, these spaces can be adapted for various commercial uses, such as a grocery store, luggage storage, tourist guides. The waiting room, integrated with the retail area, is positioned to offer an almost 180-degree uninterrupted view of the sea. This allows visitors to enjoy the beautiful surroundings while observing the arrival and departure of ferry boats.

Through adaptive reuse and thoughtful expansion, the New Horizon terminal becomes more than a functional transit hub. It evolves into a welcoming gateway to the island, celebrating its heritage while shaping a future that attracts and supports its community and tourism.

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About the 3rd Runner Up – CHRISTIAN SCHMITT – German University in Cairo
“The New Horizon builds upon the existing structure, envisioning a transformative journey that evolves from a linear design to a fluid and dynamic form in both elevation and floor plan. This creates an elegant and refined architectural gesture. By aligning the project’s scale, approach, and materialization more closely with the simplicity of the island architecture, it could achieve a deeper harmony with its context.”

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