the Barn
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Improving Community Facilities.
Questionnaire
Hello,
Thank you very much for helping us by filling our this questionnaire. Please find below a little bit of information about the challenges we face right now and the solutions we are hoping for. At the bottom there are links to three images of the designs proposed by EIGHTYSEVEN architects.
Our current situation
Established by members of the local community in 1994, Woodend Barn Arts Centre (The Barn) in Banchory has steadily grown and developed through local endeavour, to become Aberdeenshire’s largest multi-arts venue. The Barn is governed by Woodend Arts Limited, a not for profit company and registered Scottish Charity.
Alongside the performance/ film theatre, art gallery and craft retail spaces, the Barn is home to 110 community allotments, and a wild garden. The Barn supports the wider provision of the arts in Aberdeenshire by providing subsidised office space in our building to two additional arts organisations, North East Arts Touring and sound festival. A high-quality bistro, separately run by Buchanan Food, shares the Barn site and adds value to our year-round offer for visitors.
Alongside the performance/ film theatre, art gallery and craft retail spaces, the Barn is home to 110 community allotments, and a wild garden. The Barn supports the wider provision of the arts in Aberdeenshire by providing subsidised office space in our building to two additional arts organisations, North East Arts Touring and sound festival. A high-quality bistro, separately run by Buchanan Food, shares the Barn site and adds value to our year-round offer for visitors.
The challenges
The Barn provides a welcoming space that encourages social interaction for all ages, and above all strives to support and enhance the well-being of our community through a connection with the arts. However, the organisation’s success in attracting larger audiences and visitor numbers to Banchory has created increasing pressures on the building, such as limited circulation space at busy events and poor navigation around the building to the Box Office, Gallery and other public areas.
Whilst the Barn team have made efforts to address some of these issues by improving signage and the overall visual appearance of the Barn over the last couple of years, we recognize that more significant structural improvements are needed to ensure that the best cultural and visitor facilities, fit for 21st century needs, are available within Banchory, and to serve Aberdeenshire and Scotland more widely.
The proposals
We have been supported by EIGHTYSEVEN Architecture to explore several transformational improvements to the Barn, and now wish to consult with audiences, partners and the local community on these sketch proposals before taking them further and applying for the necessary funding to deliver them. In this phase of improvements we are focusing on a New Foyer, better linkage to the Gallery and unlocking the potential of the Barn Sheds.
We hope you will find the attached proposals of interest, and help us by filling in our short questionnaire.
We look forward to your comments.