To the southerner Stromness is located in the far north, a place more Scandinavian than Scots. To the Orcadian, Stromness lies on the threshold of a more imaginative North, where thoughts of Thule begin.

The PAC is home to an internationally acclaimed collection of contemporary art. The PAC is a collaboration of permanent collection and temporary galleries. The project involved the refurbishment of historic pier buildings, along with the creation of a new gallery building.

The new building adopts a simple pitched roof recalling a traditional waterfront warehouse. The building is clad in the black vestment of a dignified and valued elder. This signifies its cultural significance yet it also has a quality that is ambivalent and melancholic. Its familiarity however is transformed and undermined through a façade that shifts from solid to void; black zinc ribs alternate with translucent glass infills.

Pleasing little project in Scotland, makes a change from the much-publicised ‘celebrity’ architecture.