Barr Construction is pleased to announce the award of the Scottish Association of Marine Science’s £5m new teaching infrastructure and visitor centre contract in Dunstaffnage north of Oban.

Barr will undertake the design and construction of this new facility for Scottish Association of Marine Science (SAMS).

The project consists of teaching rooms, laboratories, office space and a new visitor’s centre. The proposed structure is a 2 storey structural steel frame on traditional foundations. The building fabric is largely an insulated render system with a barrel vaulted standing seam roof. There are also portions of timber cladding and curtain walling on the facades. Brise Soliel will be fitted to the south facing elevations to control solar heat gains.
  
The completed facility will incorporate an existing college building which is being refurbished and will be connected to the new building by a single storey link corridor.

SAMS are keen to ensure that the project is designed and delivered in a manner that has as low an environmental impact as possible.  To this end, and more importantly perhaps, to be able to demonstrate this, SAMS have chosen the BRE’s BREEAM scheme as the assessment methodology for this project.

Paul Griffen, Barr’s Construction Director commented,

“This is a tremendous project for us to be involved with and we are pleased to be bringing the experience we have gained on previous education and visitor centre projects to this new development at SAMS.

I am sure that the team will all work together and deliver a facility that they and SAMS can be proud of and will serve SAMS well for many years to come.”

The Scottish Association for Marine Science was founded in 1884 by Sir John Murray and are the UK’s leading marine science research organisation, and the oldest oceanographic institute in the world.
The Association currently employs around 140 staff at the existing facility which consists of research and teaching laboratories, 2No research vessels for carrying out expeditions around the globe, a dive unit and new aquarium facilities.
The 5 major research themes within the association are:

• Arctic Research
• Marine Process & Climate
• Marine renewable energy
• Prosperity from Marine ecosystems
• Industrial Impacts on oceans.

See www.sams.ac.uk for further info.