Civil and structural engineering design for a new building, complete with a new access road, retaining walls and a slipway. To locate the building adjacent the water and at a suitable elevation, a new sheet pile retaining wall was formed in the shallow water at the edge of the loch with the building sitting on the reclaimed land situated behind the wall. A slipway from the building passed over a recess in the wall and extended into the loch as a suspended track.
The building is in two sections with a boat hall aligned perpendicular to the quay and a two storey interconnected accommodation building set parallel to the quay. The boat hall has a partially sloping floor with rails set into the slab to suit the launch system. The hall incorporates a winch and lifting beam for recovery and maintenance operations. The accommodation building houses crew quarters, training facilities, changing and drying rooms, as well as a maintenance workshop. The structural form of each section was different with the boat hall being a steel-framed building with masonry walls. This form of construction suited the clear, full height spaces and accommodated the large gable door. The crew quarters were designed as loadbearing masonry construction with timber floors and a trussed roof. All roof coverings were of natural slate. The foundation for all elements was a raft slab.
Upgrading to an existing access track along with the construction of a new dedicated length of road had to be carried out as an advanced work contract to segregate the site access from the small adjacent harbour. Piling works for the new quay wall and for the slipway piles had to be carried out during winter months to avoid the salmon migration/spawning periods.
