An Turas Ferry Shelter

The An Turas Ferry Shelter opened in 2003 on the island of Tiree. It was commissioned by Tiree Arts Enterprise and sponsored by the Scottish Arts Council. The intention was to design a shelter which is also a sculpture that stimulates public imagination by evoking the sensations of the island. The shelter takes the form of a tunnel and has been described variously as bizarrely unusual, an outstanding example of architecture and generally useless. It remains highly controversial, especially with the local population.

The shelter was conceived as a three part experience; the white-walled tunnel, which is open to the sky, but sheltered from the wind; the bridge, which is protected from the top and sides, but open to the rock and sand of the beach below; and the glass box: completely enclosed, but providing a panorama across Gott Bay.

The shelter was designed by the Edinburgh-based Sutherland Hussey Architects and built at the cost of £100,000. It was named the 'Best Building in Scotland, 2003' and won both the Royal Institution of British Architects Award (2003) and the Royal Scottish Academy Gold Medal for Architecture (2003), in addition to being shortlisted for the 2003 Stirling Prize.

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