Plans for a new health science centre on the outskirts of Inverness have taken a step forward.
The new £9million facility is being developed by the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) and will be built on a plot at Inverness Campus.
The custom-built building will operate focus on teaching and research and will work alongside a new elective surgery centre being developed by NHS Highland as well as a life sciences building owned by Highlands and Islands Enterprise
The university has now awarded a contract, which appoints an estates adviser to help deliver what they describe as a “complex collaborative project”.
The £79,600 contract has been awarded to FGDS Ltd, a strategic estate support company from Kilbarchan in Renfrewshire.
They will act as the main point of contact between the university and the contractors appointed to build the facility and will help with the overall delivery and management of the project.
The development currently has a working title of The Centre for Health Science Phase Two.
A Centre for Health Science already exists near Raigmore Hospital on the opposite side of the A9.
It opened in 2009.
The new facility will be funded by a £9million award out of the Inverness City Region Deal.
The university hope it will ultimately support interaction between the health service, academics and commercial partners.
It is expected to include a commercial element, helping to generate business start ups based around new types of clinical delivery in the NHS.
When the city deal was confirmed in January, Professor Clive Mulholland, principal and vice-chancellor of UHI, said: “We’re delighted to get the go-ahead to progress our exciting plans for this aspect of our new School of Health, Social Care and Life Sciences.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to deliver economic growth through collaborative and commercial research.”
The university expects to recruit more than 20 new specialist staff to work in the facility, which is due to be up and running towards the end of 2019.
