Halls of residence for outlying islanders

Part of a multi million pound schools investment programme for the Orkney Islands, a new halls of residence is under construction at Kirkwall Grammar School.

“Pupils from the outlying and northern islands of Orkney cannot travel to and from school in one day,” explains Alan Moar, Orkney Islands Council Project Director. “They will generally arrive on a Monday morning and stay at the halls until Friday.”

The halls comprise of two three-storey blocks linked by a ground level passageway and entrance. Together they provide 70 en suite bedrooms, mostly singles but there are also a few twins as well as four disability rooms.

BHC has erected 180t of structural steelwork to complete the blocks in just three weeks. All of the steel was brought to site in 25t loads, travelling from BHC’s facility to Aberdeen by road, then via ship to Kirkwall.

“The speed of steel construction was one of the main reasons for choosing the material,” says Ronnie Bruce, Morrison Construction Project Director. “We looked at all options and even if we’d have had to stop erecting steel for a period due to windy conditions, it was still the best and most cost efficient framing option.”