News

Year: 2021Client: Hydro NI
Main Contractor: P Bradley & Company Ltd
Moore Concrete Project Value: £137k

Project Overiew:

Back in 2017, the Highland Council of Scotland declared a Climate and Ecological emergency and aspired to be net zero by 2025. They began looking into various ideas on how to tackle this, and since Scotland is home to over 30,000 lochs, a hydro scheme seemed to be the way forward – and so far, has paid off.

To put it simply, a hydropower scheme harnesses the potential of running water and converts it into energy. Placing such systems in the run of a river has the potential to completely power homes, the faster the water flows, the more potential it has, which in turn means more electricity that can be generated.

As the scheme was to be in a tourist hotspot, the council did not want the scheme to pose as an eyesore to the public and aimed to create a practical and aesthetic project that the public can enjoy. Following a review of the tender documentation, the architects appointed to the project aimed to achieve the following goals:

• Graceful external form, evocative of fluid flow, with curved aspects in all three principal planes.

• An abstraction of the curved exterior skin by way of faceting, i.e. a multitude of small, flat panels combining to describe an overall curved surface.

• A pronounced exit at one end of the structure, evocative of open arms, sending the water on its way following extraction of energy by the screws and generator within.

• A structure which must provoke engagement from the public; both those at a distance (passing traffic), and those visiting the site.

• A requirement for visual appeal for those inside the structure as well as those outside.

• Possible reflection of aquatic mammals, e.g. otters.

Once design was signed off and Moore Concrete Products Ltd was appointed as the supplier of the precast items on the project, manufacture was allowed to commence in early 2021. The precast units were made up of various sized culverts, wingwalls and precast panels. MCP supplied a total of 38 precast units, ranging from 2.2t up to 19t. The deliveries began mid-July and continued until mid-August 2021.

Hydro Ness has went on to win multiple awards including “Best Small Project of the Year” at the prestigious British Construction Industry Awards.