Inverness College, New Campus
Inverness
DESCRIPTION:
The new four storey college building replaces two existing campuses with a single, high quality, modern campus.
INVOLVEMENT:
Civil and structural design including underground drainage. Good ground conditions facilitate shallow reinforced concrete pad foundations. The structural form is a steel frame with insitu concrete composite floors. Many structural options were considered, however, a steel frame with concrete floors on cellform downstand beams were found to be the optimum solution.
CHALLENGES:
The site is located within a masterplan site developed by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). Close coordination was required with the HIE team as the college drainage and utilities connect to infrastructure provided by them. All planning conditions imposed on the HIE application had to be cleared prior to commencement of the college construction. This was achieved through both teams working together.
The college has a complicated roof design whereby plant is housed within circular pods. This required careful structural design and close consideration with the architect and M&E consultant.
BENEFITS TO CLIENT:
The new college not only replaces the older facility, it encourages school leavers to remain in Inverness and the Western Isles to learn in this modern facility.
The catchment area for the college extends to the whole of the north of Scotland. Prior to the decision to construct a new college, many school leavers were relocating to Glasgow and Edinburgh, causing a negative impact on the economy of Inverness and communities further north.
