Affordable housing development scores another shortlisting for top award
A prominent Highland development project brought to fruition by a builder with Ross-shire roots is up for another accolade.
The Raining’s Stairs development in Inverness city centre has been nominated in the housing crisis solution category of this year’s British Home Awards.
It overlooks Inverness Castle and has already received recognition by being nominated for a number of awards and last year it was a winner at the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) Awards – which are known as Scotland’s architectural Oscars.
Allan Maguire, Highland Council’s head of development and regeneration, said that before the redevelopment the area was seen as a derelict site with associated antisocial behaviour which impacted on adjacent businesses and the broader community.
He said: “We were looking at doing something with it. We got a developer interested in it and got funding from the Scottish Government.”
As well as the housing grant funding, they got additional funding because the government recognised that it was a key site in the city centre.
He said: “It’s about engaging with the Scottish Government as early as possible – that’s why we meet them every week to see what projects we are looking at.”
The project was developed by Ark Estates, it was designed by Trail Architects and it was built by William Gray Construction, with support from Highland Council, Scottish Government and Highland Housing Alliance.
It was built on a challenging and sloping city centre site.
William Gray, managing director of ARK Estates, said that, despite the challenges, everyone who had worked on the project had put their heart and soul into it.
He said: “Everybody took pride in it and it was just an amazing site to be involved with. It’s completely unique for Inverness.”
When it won the award the RIAS judges said: “This social housing development is an inspired but pragmatic and affordable resolution of a difficult, extremely steep and almost inaccessible site.
“Its implementation has transformed and revitalised what was an all but abandoned no-go area of the city. The pleasant and now frequently used external public stairway and pedestrian route gives access to a series of external landings serving the three tiers of housing which provide 16 much-needed flats.”
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