September 17 2018

Highland Council have settled into an £8m office space in Fort William following handover of the project by main contractor Robertson.

This follows a two-year programme of renovation to repurpose a fire damaged B-listed school on Achintore Road to the council's own designs, creating premises suitable for the consolidation of administration and public services.

Frank Reid, managing director, Robertson Northern said: “The first phase of the project was handed over to the council in November 2017 and this second handover signals the culmination of months of hard work. Staff at the council can now look forward to getting settled in their new working environment.”

Lochaber Councillor Allan Henderson, chair of The Highland Council’s environment, development and infrastructure committee added: “Highland Council welcome the completion of the project with Robertson and the transformation to what was an eyesore to the entrance to Fort William. The restoration and extension to the building have been well received locally and now provide a civic presence for the council serving the public of Lochaber.”

The Charles Kennedy building includes a new build ‘civic hub’ extension incorporating a service point, registry office, council chamber, committee rooms and general offices.

1 Comment

#1 Posted by Nairn's Bairn on 17 Sep 2018 at 13:22 PM

Fantastic job - credit to the Highland Council for this. A masterstroke idea - stop paying exorbitant leases on substandard offices scattered throughout the town in favour of a purpose-designed one-stop shop, and at the same time restore a listed building that has sat in a ruined roofless state for many a year. The south entrance to Fort William has been significantly enhanced by this. It would be worth putting up some of the ‘before’ pictures from the Buildings At Risk Register.

I understand painstaking historical research and analysis has gone onto the restoration of the existing building fabric, and the Highland Council Architectectural Department are being rightly applauded for their skill and hard work. It would have been easy to have built a box somewhere out of town; this is now a lovingly restored town centre jewel and Fort William should be proud to have the building back.

Calling it the Charles Kennedy Building is a fitting tribute to the late politician who lived in the town and did so much for the area.

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