Inter-island effort for new Macaulay College phase

​It is, however, for an essential reason – to allow completion of the £1 million redevelopment which will double the indoor space available and increase the number of students who can be catered for on the outskirts of Stornoway.

The operation which has taken the project to this point has involved a remarkable inter-island effort. Modular West on Barra have been the main contractors, constructing modules which will now be assembled to form the new buildings.

Meanwhile, on-site, Harris-based CC Services Groundworks Ltd have been laying the foundations for what will take shape over the next fortnight. In between, the Uist haulage firm of D.J. Buchanan have been in charge of transporting the modules from Barra to Lewis.

In all, there have been ten modules and eight trailers to transport. As of Tuesday, there were three trailers on Eriskay and the last one was set to leave Barra. The modules which have already arrived are currently lodged at Stornoway’s deep water port.

Macaulay College director, Rebecca Lindsay, has nothing but praise for everyone involved. She says Gail Robertson of D.J. Buchanan, faced with the scary challenges of ferry logistics and disruptions, has “pulled out all the stops to get us to where we are. She has been amazing”.

She says that “Tractar” – Chris Campbell - and his team from CC Services Groundworks have not only done a great job but have been “particularly nice on site, involving the students in all that's going on and really going over and above.”

In a sensitive environment, it has been a challenge for all involved as Macaulay College continued to go about providing its normal service while the work proceeded.

The full honours list will doubtless be published in due course but Rebecca also gives very honourable mentions to John Maciver and Sons, whose Peels Cranes have unloaded the modules as they arrive and will now transfer them to the site, and quantity surveyor Iain Morrison who has doubled as “intermediary” with the other players.

All in all, it is a great tribute to island businesses and skills that the whole operation looks like being delivered from within the Western Isles, on time and (just) within budget.

The project has been one of the biggest undertaken by Modular West since being founded on Barra in 2019 and Rebecca says of the owner, Roddy Macinnes: “His skills as joiner are exceptional and the finish they have produced, internally and externally, is beautiful”.

Roddy said: “It’s the first time we have used Cross Laminated Timber. They get made in Austria and we piece them together. It creates a much healthier building and it means there’s a completely timber finish to everything inside”.

As the last trailer departed, he said: “We got it out in time. In fact, we are ahead of schedule”!

Modular West now employ 15 people on Barra and, says Roddy, are also working on “two houses for North Harris Trust, a house in North Uist and a couple of jobs that might come off in Stornoway”. So the idea of building on Barra and exporting northwards is catching on!

Amazingly, it will all be put together on the Macaulay Farm site within two weeks and the students will return the following Monday, to a much bigger, custom-built environment that replaces the portakabins that the College has worked out of for 15 years.

It also means they will be able to cater for more people. At present, says Rebecca, there are 24 “with an ever growing waiting list. For the first time in a couple of years, we can start giving out new places because we are doubling our capacity”.

Macaulay College was founded in 2010 by Roland Engebretsen and Rebecca Lindsay, utilising Macaulay Farm in which Roland had inherited a share. Since then, it has become an award-winning Community Interest Company and is now about to embark upon a new phase.