Ardgowan Distillery

From copper red to golden like whisky

The Ardgowan Estate is located near Inverkip in Scotland. Almost 130 years ago, a whisky distillery was founded here, whose historical heritage has now been brought back to life. Blending in with the landscape, a new facility was designed and aptly named the ‘Whisky Cathedral’. The architectural concept was not only to create a purely functional building, but also to give the new facility a special character with its striking design and symbolic colour spectrum.

Eine Nahaufnahme vom Dach des Kinderkrankenhauses

Metal in appearance, metal in execution

Early on in the design process, it became clear that a traditional building envelope would not do justice to either the form or the colour specifications. The choice therefore fell on Kalzip’s innovative aluminium standing seam system, which was used to realise the vision. The 65/400 profile in AluPlusPatina, used in a rich two-tone palette of bronze B40 and red copper, enabled the design team to realise the desired colour concept. The alternation of red copper and bronze is intended to reflect the colours of the whisky that develop during barrel ageing.

Das Kinderkrankenhaus bei Nacht in der Vogelperspektive

Slopes in two directions

However, Kalzip contributed much more than just the supply of materials to this project. Its many years of expertise enabled the distinctive geometric shape of the distillery to be realised. The roof and facades were treated as a single, continuous surface that runs seamlessly from the ridge to the ground. This was crucial to the realisation of the Nordic-inspired ‘long hall’ that now dominates the appearance of the site. Kalzip’s clean folds and precise details give the building its characteristic architectural sharpness.

Originally designed by the Austrian firm Spitzbart & Partners and later technically implemented by Hypostyle Architects of Glasgow, the architecture of the distillery is also significantly influenced by the rising height of the building. Martin Thomson, Director at Hypostyle Architects, said: “Although the building appears simple from the outside, it is actually very complex. The roof slopes in two different directions, creating challenging angles that would never be possible with a standard flat panel. To meet these requirements, we chose Kalzip, a highly flexible product that is often used in structures with unusual shapes and curves. It proved to be the natural choice for such a demanding design.”

Sustainable design

The client also pursued high sustainability standards with the new distillery. As one of the first emission-free distilleries in Scotland, Ardgowan Distillery has advanced environmental systems, including a closed cooling system, heat recovery and the separation and conversion of CO₂ from fermentation into biomethane. The Kalzip system contributes to these goals: the high recycled content and the ability to dismantle and recycle the product by type make it sustainable. The aluminium cladding also protects against the weather conditions on the Scottish coast, while the high thermal insulation performance helps to minimise the building’s energy requirements.