NAFC Welding Facility

Description: Educational and industrial welding facility

Client: North Atlantic Fisheries College Marine Centre (now UHI)

Services: Project Planning | Coordination | Site Management | Main Contractor

Time Span: 2019 - 2020

Photos: CASE Shetland, Odd Poppy Photography

CASE Shetland were hired by the Client to provide a full ‘turnkey’ project delivery service for their new welding and fabrication facility at the Port Arthur campus in Scalloway.  The existing infrastructure was outdated, poorly equipped and not conducive for a modern learning environment.

We prepared a detailed proposal in which CASE Shetland would be solely responsible for the project delivery – meaning that the Client had a single point of contact throughout the works.  This reduced the project risk and simplified the lines of communication and accountability.

The Project Brief was to deliver a modern facility which fully complied with all relevant legislation with regards to Health & Safety, in particular fume extraction and fresh air supply.  The unit was to include modular bays with a flexible configuration which could be easily changed to meet the requirements of each specific class.  This would allow the students to either work alone or as part of larger groups

We undertook all pre-project design, planning and specification work, arriving at a solution which comprised of eight individual welding booths with removable  partitions which could facilitate a wide range of different setup options.  The next step was to appoint local mechanical and electrical contractor MEB Services who were tasked with the site installation. 

This turned out to be an extremely fruitful collaboration, which delivered a technically excellent facility for the campus.  The Client was delighted with the outcome, which was delivered both on time and on budget.

‘It was a little bit more ambitious than just replacing what we had previously.  We needed to invest in our facilities, to make sure that we were able to provide training for learners in the future.  We are absolutely delighted with what we have been provided with…

It has just given us more opportunities to provide different types of training.  Better replication of what they are actually meeting in industry.  A huge improvement on what we had previously.  We want students to be coming into a nice facility which looks good.

We have been delighted with the service we’ve been provided. We’ve had a relationship [with CASE Shetland] for a couple of years with various different projects and that’s the reason we keep coming back, because we do get a good service.  They have been excellent to deal with.  It was all done on time and on budget… which is a real positive for someone who’s dealing with the finances!’

Glenn Gilfillan

NAFC Business Support Manager

‘As far as I am aware, this is the only one of its kind in Shetland, where it’s totally enclosed.  My favourite part is the extraction… which is really good.  All in all it is as safe as it can be in my opinion.

We were on a reasonably strict timescale; we were needing the job done in the summer period when we don’t have students.  Our students started in the first week of September and it all seems to be working well.

…it has been a very good project, run very smoothly, it has been well managed, and I think CASE Shetland and MEB Services have done a very professional job. We would certainly have no hesitation in contacting them again for any future works which we have.’

Maurice Clark

Engineering Lecturer