Work Begins on the Pier

DAVE HARTLEY and ALISTAIR PEEBLES report on the latest developments in the refubrishment of the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness
 

AN ORKNEY COMPANY has taken on the challenge posed by an ambitious project to refurbish and extend the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness. Casey Construction has been awarded the contract as part of the £4.5 million development. The complex project involves preserving the charm and character of the existing Pier buildings while constructing a stunning new extension to house the centre’s world renowned art collection.

To gain access to the site – and to minimise disruption to homes and businesses in Stromness – the building firm will first have to construct a temporary road from the Pier Head to the rear of the Pier Arts Centre. This initial stage of the project involves temporarily filling in a section of the harbour with 2,000 cubic metres of aggregates, with the access road built on top. This will be removed once the project is completed.

Neil Firth, the director of the Pier Arts Centre, said that “we are delighted that the contract has been awarded to a local company with a track record of constructing excellent buildings like the St Magnus Centre and the new Orkney Library. The aim from the start will be to make sure any disruption for our neighbours, both commercial and residential, is kept to a minimum.

“Casey Construction has come up with a strategy to gain access to the site – no mean challenge in itself – that will hopefully mean that Stromness won’t be unduly affected by this unique building project.”
 

Paddy Casey, the company’s managing director, said: “This is a highly prestigious project – the opportunity to create a fantastic new building. It’s also a technically difficult project and we are looking forward to tackling the many logistical challenges it will present. The first of those challenges is the creation of the temporary road from the Pier Head that will mean we can keep heavy construction traffic away from the narrow street running through the centre of Stromness.”

The new building that lies at the heart of the project has been designed by Neil Gillespie, from award-winning Edinburgh architectural practice Reiach and Hall. Gillespie was named as Scotland’s Architect of the Year in 2004.

His colleague, project architect David Anderson, said: “We regard this as a once in a lifetime opportunity and we look forward to working with Casey Construction on a project that for us has been hugely challenging – and hugely rewarding. We feel it’s a privilege to be so closely involved with a project that’s attracting international interest, and we believe the end result will be a building that’s quietly dramatic, which reflects the fact that it has been designed with the many qualities of Stromness very much in our minds."
 
The temporary access road will run behind the Pierhead Café, which has just been taken over by Callum and Heather MacInnes, who plan to change the name to Café Bar Stromness.
 

“Any disruption will be short lived and we’re happy to put up with it,” said Mr MacInnes. “At the end of the day, this is an amazing project that’s bringing an investment of £4.5 million to Stromness. That can only be good for the town – and for Orkney as a whole.”

“For all its near-half ton weight, the sculpture is a delicate object and required careful handling – and careful manhandling through the narrow close at the Pier and then the archway and incline at Tankerness House.”

The Pier project has attracted more than £3 million in funding from the Scottish Arts Council Lottery Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Orkney Islands Council provided £500,000 towards the initiative, with further financial backing from the European Regional Development Fund and Historic Scotland.

The Pier’s staff and board are working hard to raise the small amount of money still needed to complete the funding jigsaw. With the work to extend and refurbish the arts centre itself due to begin later this month, staff have moved from pier to pier – to a temporary new home in the former Northern Lighthouse Board offices in Alfred Street.

The works in the permanent collection have also moved, of course.  Many are currently on show at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, the rest in storage locally, but the final removal happened just before the builders finally took over.
 

Barbara Hepworth’s 1956 bronze Curved Form (Trevalgan), an icon on the pier for 25 years, was relocated last week to a temporary home in Kirkwall. For all its near-half ton weight, the sculpture is a delicate object and required careful handling – and careful manhandling through the narrow close at the Pier and then the archway and incline at Tankerness House.  All went well, thanks in large measure to the bespoke “super-trolley” that Paddy Casey himself designed.

With restricted access to the site and high specification in the task ahead, it’s clear that ingenuity will be high in the list of qualities needed as the project continues. Watching the rapid beginnings of the actual work, however, and bearing in mind the resourcefulness that has got the team this far, one can’t help feeling great confidence in what is taking place. 

So far the change may have been, as one wag put it, “from a Hepworth to a heap o earth”, but the sculpture will return, the infill likewise, and the currently peerless gallery will continue in its truly remarkable career.

For further information please contact Neil Firth, Pier Arts Centre, 01856 850209

© Dave Hartley, 2005