Iwan & Manuela Wirth | Braemar, Scotland 2014-2018

Sunday Times Hotel of the Year
Winner Ian Shepherd Award 2020
Winner Aberdeen Society of Architects Award 2019
Shortlisted Historic Environment Scotland Awards 2019

The Fife Arms, a landmark building in the Scottish village of Braemar, has been restored to its former glory as the centre of the community after an extensive four-year programme of regeneration and restoration. The former Victoria coaching inn has long been the heart of Braemar, which hosts the annual Highland Games/ Braemar Gathering in Aberdeenshire. In recent decades however the once-flourishing establishment had declined, not helped by unsympathetic 20th century additions that had compromised its historic character.

The project carefully rehabilitated the Category B listed building, restoring the original granite fabric and intricate arts and crafts details of the building. New additions allow for the historic parts of the building to become an uninterrupted stage set for a very special guest experience, and an extraordinary collection of art. At the same time, the sensitive redesign radically reconfigures the operational plan of the building to improve efficiency and ensure that back-of-house functions no longer impinge upon the guest experience.

In addition to the practice’s role as architect Moxon was also the Construction Manager for the project in collaboration with sister company TOR Contracting and Edinburgh based Quantity Surveyor Cromar Brooks. The Construction Management Team took the place of the Principal Contractor and were responsible for letting and managing the trade contracts – 45 in total - providing significant flexibility in procurement and cost efficiency for the client while also ensuring that craftspersons from the immediate local area were employed on the restoration.

"The Fife Arms reopened after a four-year refurbishment that doesn’t so much beggar belief as make you rethink what a hotel can be." - Jeremy Lazell, The Sunday Times

"Moxon transforms Highland Hotel with 'primitive' tree trunk column-courtyard" - Architect's Journal, March 2019