WWW’s water works on line

Glasgow-based WWW Electrical Contractors is putting the finishing touches to a prestigious and challenging mechanical and electrical contract to convert Drumkinnon Tower – the centrepiece of the Loch Lomond Shores tourist attraction located on the banks of the loch at Balloch – into the Loch Lomond Aquarium.

Loch Lomond Shores, which opened its doors in 2002, was created to provide a focal point for visitors to the southern end of Loch Lomond, where it lies just to the north of Balloch. Drumkinnon Tower was designed to echo aspects of a medieval castle, albeit a circular one, a rarity in Scotland.

Drumkinnon Tower offers cafes and bars, both at ground level and, by climbing the spiral staircase that encircles the tower, at high level with superb views north over Loch Lomond. But it is the centrepiece of the Tower, which originally played home to displays, exhibitions and a giant screen cinema, that has now undergone extensive work to be converted into an aquarium.

That conversion started seven months ago, following the receipt of planning permission from Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority, Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire having leased the site to Merlin Attractions Management for 25 years.

WWW was appointed to the project by the main contractor Mivan, the Antrim, Northern Ireland-based specialist contractor, following a £3.5 million investment by Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire to convert the Great Hall and first floor of Drumkinnon Tower into a sealife centre. The Loch Lomond Aquarium, featuring indigenous fresh and salt water species with a strong emphasis on environmental interpretation, opened to the public this summer.

Jim Caldwell, senior contracts manager at WWW Electrical Contractors, said: “We were delighted to have won the m&e contract for such a prominent and important project following a competitive tendering process. Throughout the seven month period of this challenging but rewarding project, we have worked in close partnership with Mivan to create a real visual spectacle.”

WWW secured the project just weeks after launching a growth strategy to use the technical expertise and experience of its electricians as a springboard into broader commercial and industrial electrical contracting markets throughout the UK. WWW had a dedicated m&e team of between four and ten operatives working on site at Balloch over the last seven months undertaking all aspects of electrical installation, including specialist emergency lighting, as well as installing all the necessary heating and ventilation systems.

Caldwell said: “I’m pleased to say that we were able to complete the project on schedule and within budget, which was no small achievement given that the project was a completely new experience for us, with challenges we’d never encountered before. Tommy McGowan, our man on the ground, really excelled himself.”

The unique nature of the project meant that a lot more time and effort were required to come up with innovative electrical solutions to produce the desired result. It also meant that there was a much greater need for continual communication and co-ordination between all the various trades working on site to fit in with each other’s schedules.

“The working environment on site was completely different to any other commercial or industrial electrical installation project with which I’ve been involved,” said Caldwell. “That’s because there was nothing conventional about this project” – a fact borne out by the varied list of experts WWW had to consult.

Caldwell said: “We were involved in detailed discussions with aquarium technologists, theming artists and mural artists about developing specialist electrical solutions that could be built into artificial polystyrene rocks which are then covered in clay to make them appear more realistic and placed underwater in the aquarium. For that to work effectively there had to be a real team effort. In the event, because of the detailed co-ordination, the project ran smoothly without any major difficulties.”