Civic commendation for Mareel
Mareel has been awarded a commendation from the Civic Trust Awards for its architectural quality.
The building, managed by Shetland Arts, is one of five Scottish projects to receive the honour.
From 238 applications, 134 were considered by a national panel including 12 from Scotland. In total 79 received an award, commendation or community recognition.
Commendations go to projects that “make a significant contribution to the quality and appearance of the built environment and demonstrate a good standard of architecture or design, sustainability, universal design and provide a positive social, cultural, environmental or economic benefit to the local community”.
Shetland Arts’ director, Gwilym Gibbons, described the building as a huge cultural asset and said the facilities meant it was a “creative hub” in “Shetland and beyond”.
He said: “Mareel is a very special venue. A tribute to the design is the speed and the way in which people have made Mareel their new creative home.”
He added: “It has become a buzzing creative hub with a busy cafe bar which doubles up as an important social and business meeting point. Mareel a huge cultural asset, an asset that has value far beyond Shetland shores and for generations to come.”
In their commendation the Civic Trust Awards described Mareel as: “a key element in the regeneration of [the] waterfront edge of the town.” They added: “The architectural response reflects the tradition of simple, robust forms and echoes the materiality of the fishing industry buildings dotted along the waterfront.”
IanTinkler
““The architectural response reflects the tradition of simple, robust forms and echoes the materiality of the fishing industry buildings dotted along the waterfront.” Now can we have that in English please, for those without a “creative industries” training in pretentious twaddle.
Neil Anderson
But its still not big enough to host the big concerts which go to clickimin
Rachel Buchan
Architectural quality? Distinctly average in my opinion. It resembles a bog-standard school from the front, and a detention centre from the back.
fraser cluness
Bars too small for large events, kitchen to small to do large catering events, cinema 2 too small to realy call a real ‘propper’ cinema. foyer feels like going to grays the warehouse – no sole. prize giving? Well done DITT for managing to build the thing. however cinema i is fine, but off the peg you would get anywhere else south and beyond. lot of PR speek no-one but themselves realy understand. bit of emperor new clothes here. Eden court or even the big cinema in inverness are 100 times better as 2 examples.
with a tones better offers and things on.