August 2021 - New business centre updates

Construction at South Galson has continued apace over the summer and the building is becoming more recognisable as an office each week.

The contractor, CalMax Construction, experienced a major delay with the external cladding material and had to create an alternative approach to keeping the structure wind and watertight in the early summer as work moved on internally. Fortunately, the weather was quite favourable whilst the cladding was being manufactured and delivered with very little rainwater making its way through the temporary protection. Fitting of the external cladding is now at an advanced stage and should be completed within the school holiday period.

Internally, works have moved ahead considerably with all the timber framing completed, services led through the building and decoration now well advanced. The final stages leading up to handover are now looming, primarily involving joinerywork and service installations. Additional works have also been instructed across the site to encompass visitor facilities including toilets, waste disposal facilities and a small number of overnight parking bays. This had originally been envisaged as a later phase but the provision of grant funding from Highlands and Islands Enterprise for tourism infrastructure meant that these elements could be accelerated and incorporated within the current construction contract.

Handover of the facilities to Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn is now scheduled for October. Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn staff continue to work from home until the Scottish Government’s preference in favour of homeworking is revised.