Comrie Development Trust – Comrie Workspace

A lot has been happening over the summer to get Hut 14 refurbished. The first big job was to fit the new windows to replace the rotten, draughty, broken and patched units. This has made a HUGE difference, not only to the appearance of the hut, but also to its energy efficiency.

The front-facing brickwork has also enjoyed a transformation. It’s amazing what a difference a lick of paint makes. Although that somewhat trivialises the effort that went into it. The surface prep involved a whole lot of time-consuming (and DUSTY) scraping and grinding. Here’s a wee “before and after”.

Another important development is the arrival of broadband! Yes, we are now connected to the internet thanks to the good people of Bogons at the Cultybraggan bunker. The ultimate intention is for us and our neighbours to have a hard-wired link to the bunker’s super-duper high-speed broadband. However, that involves quite a bit of digging. For now, we have a microwave link which, last time I checked, is giving us wi-fi download speeds of around 25 Mbps and impressive upload speeds of nearly 70 Mbps! We plan to install a more powerful router for even faster wi-fi, and have run in cat 5 cable for direct connection.

This unassuming little item is the microwave receiver that is now delivering broadband to Hut 14

The room that will eventually be our bathroom started out as a pretty sorry affair. Dirty and dank, with flaking paint and a leaky roof. We’re now well on our way to a respectable comfort facility. Algae and moss killed off, decades-old paint scraped away, brickwork repaired and, to top it all off (literally), a brand new roof that actually keeps out the rain. Next steps are to insulate the roof, run in a water supply and connect to the sewage and waste-water lines.

Oh, and we’ve been getting a bit carried away with the whole branding thing. The doors used to be a vibrant shade of cerise pink, which I’m sure was great for a pole-dancing studio (which this used to be), but not exactly in keeping with the Comrie Workspace CI. So, guess what, they have a new colour scheme …

The main office space had become quite a guddle, with all the dust generated, not to mention the building supplies and decorating equipment lying all over the place. But with the mess-generating work just about finished, we’ve now begun the process of clearing out the space in preparation for the furniture. We’re looking forward to see it starting to look like a proper workspace over the next week or two.

More soon …

It took a while, but now we have our lease all sorted and we’re ready to roll up our sleeves and make the hut shipshape for Comrie Workspace.

The exterior needs a bit of sprucing up, but that’s largely a cosmetic thing that we’ll fixwith a bit of elbow grease and a lick of paint. We also have some smart new signage on order. The hut faces onto the Cultybraggan allotments and the orchard behind them, where the good people of Comrie cultivate all kinds of flowers and produce. Behind that are the gorgeous hills of the Aberuchill estate. Therefore, we reckon the somewhat overgrown space out front should be transformed into an outdoor seating area. I don’t think we’ll actually put a desk there though …

The interior is actually already well finished. We need to fit a few more radiators if we’re to benefit from the camp’s eco-friendly district heating service once the chilly temperatures of a Scottish winter set in … no wait … we’ll probably need it to cope with the chilly temperatures of a Scottish summer, too.

New double-glazed windows are on order to replace the existing single-glazed units – keeping the appearance in line with the existing units, of course, to fit in with the rest of the camp. The west-facing windows are currently covered over by the interior cladding, but I think we’ll open one of them up again to take advantage of the view to the front of the hut.

View from Hut 14 to the hills of Aberuchill

You’ll be glad to know that, as well as a fully functioning heating system, we’ll also have running water! Oh yes, we know how to treat our clients 😉 A supply of good-old H2O will allow us to press ahead and install a kitchenette and a WC – which is where the most work is needed.

This rather shabby little annexe currently has a leaky roof and is of dubious structural integrity. But worry not, we have the right team for the job on hand to deal with that, so there WILL be comfort facilities.

While that’s going on, we’ll organise the furnishings. We already have quite a few bits and pieces squirreled away. The plan is not to create a sterile office environment, but more of a home-office-away-from-home feel. In the interests of an eco-conscious approach and to keep costs down, we’ll be rummaging around on Gumtree and the like to find a suitable assortment of desks and other accoutrements. If you know of any items available in the general environs of Perthshire/Central Scotland, do let us know via the Contact Us page.

In the meantime, we have lots to be getting on with. Do follow us if you would like to be kept up-to-date with developments.

Tag: Comrie Development Trust

Making Good Progress