Imaginative design wins plaudits for firm

An artist impression of the new building in Stromness

A LOCAL firm of architects has won a competition to prepare indicative plans for a new renewable energy hub in Stromness.

Pentarq’s Thurso-based director Alan Gray presented the favoured design for the mooted complex on the site of the former secondary school, overlooking the harbour.

It is the current campus for Heriot-Watt University’s International Centre for Island Technology.

The university and Highlands and Islands Enterprise ran the competition to progress interest in capitalising on Orkney’s renewable energy potential.

University principal Steve Chapman said it is keen to develop on the existing site. He said: “We want to stay in the centre of Stromness, right in the heart of the community.

“We want the design to be sympathetic to the surroundings while giving a modern spin and end up with a building of which the people of ?Orkney can be proud.”

The proposed new 4000 square metre foot campus would, he said, bring as many institutions and companies working in renewables under one roof.

Prof Chapman added: “We think it would help lift Orkney’s profile in the sector to have research, continuing professional development, training and development activities all carried out in the same building.

“There’s a huge amount of infrastructural work going on in Orkney to help service the renewables industry and we think our project would tie in nicely with this.”

He said the current campus, which accommodates 18 MSc and a handful of PhD students, has very little scope to expand its numbers or its curriculum.

The university, HIE and Orkney Islands Council are funding a project manager to take the development forward.

Prof Chapman said the design competition was run to illustrate the potential of the site.

Pentarq’s design, he said, is both imaginative and practical, as well dovetailing with the townscape.

Mr Gray and colleague George Harper worked on the firm’s entry to the competition which was judged towards the end of last month.

Mr Gray said they are “cock-a-hoop” that their submission was successful.

He said the sloping ground of the old academy site and its setting posed particular difficulties in coming up with a design.

“The brief asked for a lot of space on a very limited area of site – this is difficult to incorporate without impacting on the scale of the Stromness street pattern.

“Stromness has a very particular built character that should be preserved and enhanced – it is not a museum but it demands respect.

“Its lanes are particularly magical and we should consider those in the way we adopt flexibility into ?circulation within our proposal.”

He added: “Improving the new courtyard space and incorporating break-out spaces would provide an invigorating learning and research environment and cheer up the rather austere nature of the old academy without detracting from its architectural worth.