Jeanette Cutlack relocated from Brighton to the Isle of Mull in 2008.
“I was only there for a couple of nights, but when I returned to Brighton with my then-husband, we decided we should move there. I just knew that that landscape was what I was meant look at for the rest of my life. And that was it.”
Croft 3, Jeanette’s community dining hall, on the Isle of Mull. (With a population of under 3000, the island relies heavily on tourism.
The friends stayed in touch over the years, and so when Jeanette became the owner of Croft 3, she asked Edward to come and visit what would be the site of her new community dining hall and—eventually—her new home.
Croft 3, so called because it is the third of five crofts on the Torloisk Estate. Edward recalls beating back the bracken in order to reach the barn, which was gradually being reclaimed by nature.
Early on in the research phase, the friends visited a small chapel on the Isle of Iona.
Edward’s challenge was to design a new extension for the foyer, kitchen, and visitor facilities “that didn’t feel as if it was just a sort of underwhelming lean-to.”
By exploring the island and studying the farmsteads that are huddled into the landscape, he devised two offset pitched volumes that echo the twin hillscapes of Ulva across the bay.
Windows were Edward’s next big challenge—specifically, how to integrate openings without undermining the character of the original building.
Windows set deep into the heavily insulated walls have been chamfered—partly to exaggerate the perspective of the opening but also to increase the visibility from each seated position.
The finishing coat of plaster was also omitted and the corners rounded off by hand without the use of metal beading, “which would have made the edges feel too new, too sharp.”
A robust white skirting board protects the base of the plaster.
A view of the exterior of Croft 3.
“We got 80 letters of support for the restaurant and 40 for the house,” explains Jeanette, who, in a “bittersweet twist of fate”, sadly lost both her parents during the build.
The repaired lime mortar and basalt walls.
Really I had to learn an entirely different design process.” It’s through that process that the project has come to embody Fardaa’s holistic approach to design.
The succinct menu is made up of locally sourced island produce including lobster, smoked trout, pork, wild garlic, and rhubarb.
Hungry locals and visitors alike will be able to bring their own bottle of wine along, hang up their coats, and huddle around the tables, savoring the space created by two friends.