Brief
According to George Orwell, the Isle of Jura in Scotland’s ravishing Inner Hebrides is one of the most “un-get-at-able places in the UK”. It’s where he completed ‘1984’ and it’s also where Greg Coffey, an Australian hedge fund manager, decided to build a world-class golf course that has already been described as “a modern masterpiece”.
Sculpted into the shoreline of his 12,000 acre estate, the golf course is astonishing, as is Jura House, a 10-bedroom country house only available for exclusive use, and the 5-star hotel known as ‘the Quads’.
Ardfin’s website, however, did not tell the story well and so the owner tracked down Nucleus to put that right in time for lock-down easing.
The brief was to design a bespoke luxury website that provided a finely tuned user experience and showcased the property in all its beauty, appealing to golf fanatics and nature lovers alike. The website had to take online bookings for the Quads and be fast and SEO-friendly for users all around the globe.
Solution
We worked with Greg and his team in London, New York and on the property, to design a new information architecture that allows users to explore all aspects of the estate, and designed a user experience that brings Ardfin to life, through videos and galleries. Copy was also written by Nucleus.
The result is a sophisticated, frictionless user experience that entices with its timeless luxury design, that is both sophisticated and practical to manage. Content can be quickly updated through an Umbraco .Net content management system.
Each area of interest is explored in an image-rich experience which lets the pictures do the talking. Drone videos capture the beauty of the landscape and the brilliance of Ardfin’s Bob Harrison-designed golf course, that has already been rated as one of the top 100 in the world.
Online booking is via the hotel’s Hart PMS booking system, which we streamlined for launch, with further customisation planned. Nucleus also delivered the SEO strategy to help build Ardfin’s awareness in online searches.
Results
Well, the first result was a happy client; the second was meeting the ambitious re-launch timescale (6 weeks from start to finish); third will be building brand awareness; and fourth will be converting interest into online bookings for the Quads and enquiries for Jura House.
www.ardfin.com