GLM > GLM Commercial > Our Portfolio > The Residences at John O’Groats

The Residences at John O’Groats

Location: Caithness

Our Mission

GLM designed and constructed 23 high-quality self-catering lodges at the John O'Groats development.

 

 

Alongside the redevelopment of The Inn at John O’Groats, our client Natural Retreats gave GLM the brief for 23 self-catering lodges. The client had developed these at another holiday destination and had requested that GLM take the fundamentals of the existing unit design and retain the good, lose the bad, and build it for £100,00.

On top of the existing challenge set by Natural Retreats, the lodges at John O’Groats had to be able to survive one of the harshest coastlines in the UK, be sustainable in all ways, easy to operate and most importantly, attractive to guests.

As Construction Managers for the project, we were up for the challenge!

Our approach was to keep elements that added value and lose those that didn’t. We packaged the works to allow design and procurement to run in parallel and worked with local manufacturers and suppliers (Norscot,, Ashley Ann, Russwood,) using their knowledge to drive value from the technical detail and materials choices. Where the market wouldn’t give value, such as the sedum roof, we invented our own, guided by a Liverpudlian wildflower charity.

The cottages are simple to make and maintain and disappear into the landscape.

The living roofs reduce the visual impact from the main southern approach.

The internals are spacious where they have to be and efficient where they do not.

The glass screens, which showcase the whole reason for travelling to John O Groats, are amongst the largest in Caithness.

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience. We use necessary cookies to make sure that our website works. We’d also like to set analytics cookies that help us make improvements by measuring how you use the site. By clicking “Allow All”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyse site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
These cookies are required for basic functionalities such as accessing secure areas of the website, remembering previous actions and facilitating the proper display of the website. Necessary cookies are often exempt from requiring user consent as they do not collect personal data and are crucial for the website to perform its core functions.
A “preferences” cookie is used to remember user preferences and settings on a website. These cookies enhance the user experience by allowing the website to remember choices such as language preferences, font size, layout customization, and other similar settings. Preference cookies are not strictly necessary for the basic functioning of the website but contribute to a more personalised and convenient browsing experience for users.
A “statistics” cookie typically refers to cookies that are used to collect anonymous data about how visitors interact with a website. These cookies help website owners understand how users navigate their site, which pages are most frequently visited, how long users spend on each page, and similar metrics. The data collected by statistics cookies is aggregated and anonymized, meaning it does not contain personally identifiable information (PII).
Marketing cookies are used to track user behaviour across websites, allowing advertisers to deliver targeted advertisements based on the user’s interests and preferences. These cookies collect data such as browsing history and interactions with ads to create user profiles. While essential for effective online advertising, obtaining user consent is crucial to comply with privacy regulations.