Shooting Shelter: Ardnamurchan Estates

Ardnamurchan Estate has a shooting range where visitors take part in clay pigeon shooting. They identified the requirement for a shelter for visitors due to the extreme weather faced in this remote area on the most Westerly part of mainland Britain. This area often endures extreme weather conditions (up to 100mph winds and approximately 120 inches of rain per annum).

TRANSPORTATION OF MATERIALS

One of the main benefits of the product is its portability. Workers from the Estate packed all of the building materials required for the full shelter onto the back of a small flat-bed trailer (12ft x 6ft 6”). This was then transported to the site using a regular domestic vehicle. The constraints of transporting the whole building on a trailer were low.

ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE

In most instances, using infill will offer sufficient strength and stability. However, given the extreme wind conditions, the structure is anchored to the ground (via off-the-shelf ground anchors which are driven into the ground and chained to the wall plate through the internal cavity in the blocks). The building was subjected to water ingress testing. This involved spraying the building using mains water pressure (approximately 1bar) horizontally at locations where water ingress may be possible. Even in areas where visible gaps were present showed no sign of water penetrating through to the inner skin of the building.

MATERIAL SELECTION

QuickBlock was identified as the appropriate building material for both projects because it is lightweight, portable and easy to transport to such a rural location. It was constructed using local unskilled labour who work on the estate and was in-filled with Type 1 hardcore. It was a cost-effective solution. Aesthetically, Quick Block works well in this setting, blending into the landscape.