Timespan is a museum and cultural organization based in Helmsdale in the north east of the Scottish Highlands. From this location it delivers an integrated programme across contemporary art, local history, digital heritage research, and community empowerment. As the organisation’s work has expanded, the building has not kept pace. Limited space, restricted accessibility and outdated infrastructure now constrain the collection, exhibitions, the public programme and day to day use.

In 2024, a design team led by OCH and ASSEMBLE was chosen to examine how the building and its immediate surroundings might be adapted to accommodate the organisation’s needs. This has led to the production of a feasibility study which sets out an architectural vision for Timespan that is low-carbon, materially rich, locally embedded, and ecologically responsible.

The design process has been engagement-led from the outset, involving a series of on site workshops with local community members and stakeholders. From early questions as broad as “what do you want Timespan to be in the future?” to more detailed discussions about the use of wool, lime, shells, and hemp in construction, these sessions have directly informed the development of the brief and the design principles.

Dubbed ‘House to Harbour’ the new design proposals involve the partial refurbishment of the existing museum and a substantial expansion. From north to south the massing of the building adapts to its surroundings, from the domestic scale of the existing cottage to a larger more industrial scale at the edge of the river, reflecting the working history of its surroundings.

Read more here.