Strategic Objectives:

• Construct an iconic building: safely, to a high standard, within time and within budget
• Faithfully restore the listed Hay's Dock, Pier Store and Boat Sheds and integrate these within the new facility
• Provide a showcase for Shetland's rich Museum & Archives collection in an engaging, educational and enjoyable, interactive display
• Tell the special story of Shetland in an engaging, educational and enjoyable way, by reference to the collections and heritage sites
• Maximise physical and remote access to heritage
• Creative fusion of three traditionally distinct heritage elements (namely Museum Artefacts, Archival Collections and Heritage Sites)

Introduction
The new Museum and Archives are being constructed on land adjacent to the historic Hay's Dock in Lerwick. The dock was built in the early 19th century and has significant historical links with trade and boat building traditions, making it an ideal location.

It is very important that Hay's Dock is retained to allow generations of people to enjoy and appreciate the beauty and tradition of the docks and this project ensures that future.

The £10m project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Shetland Charitable Trust, Historic Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage.

New Building
Works commenced on the new building in February 2004 following the award of the contract to a local Shetland company, DITT Construction Ltd. Building Design Partnership from Glasgow are the Architects and Lead Consultants.

The foundations were an area where unforeseen construction problems are found. When excavating the rock at this site, significant pockets of soft areas were uncovered, which were unsuitable for building on and had to be completely removed. This led to a change of the design of the foundations from rock anchors to mass concrete.

On completion of the foundations in June 2004 the Lerwick skyline was changed completely with the erection of the galvanised structural steel framework for the building. The steelwork sub-contractor, on their first visit to Shetland, praised the local workforce for the quality and accuracy of the construction of the foundations, which allowed them to erect the structural steel in record time.

Since that time building works have continued with the installation of walls, floors and roofs. The Burlington slate roof looks particularly impressive. Anyone interested can follow the building progress on the World Wide Web. A web camera is located, with the kind permission of our neighbours Hay and Co., on an adjacent building and is permanently pointed at the construction site. The camera is powered by solar batteries and the whole system was designed and erected by MES Business Equipment.

On completion the building will include:

Hay's Dock
In July the project received welcome news from Historic Scotland that it was willing to fund up to 40% of the repair works. These works include the repair and restoration of the historic dock and the pier store.

The Conservation Architect is Nicholas Grove Raines Architects and following a tender exercise the contract for these repair and restoration construction works was also awarded to DITT Construction Ltd. and works commenced in March 2005.

Display and Exhibition Design

Vision
From a review of a number of other museums and displays it is clear that there is not an exact model, the new Shetland Museum and Archives will be unique and ground breaking.

The key elements of the cultural heritage strategy are to be interlinked and inextricably bound together in the displays, not dealt with independently of one another.

Core to the displays is the rich collection of objects, archives and the stories they tell.

The displays should challenge the traditional approach to design and experiment with cross-over between the formal displays, reconstructions and interactivity. This will provide education, fun and be a unique visitor experience.

The displays should not 'clutter' the building but seek to maximise the architectural and spatial qualities and their relationship with the immediate environs; especially the historic dock.

The brief is to tell the special story of Shetland utilising:

• Informal user-friendly spaces and displays, linked to more formal spaces and displays
• A balance of display types, from challenging to the more traditional with no obvious 'house' style of display
• Object rich displays, formally structured but informal in application
• Objects used in unusual and imaginative ways, e.g. a tower of Shetland chairs
• Reserve collections of objects, especially knitwear, will be available for viewing or study in pull-out drawers
• Colours chosen to reflect those seen in Shetland and the general theme should be to keep the displays light and informal
• Fun interactives (probably low-tech), some of which should be art installations. We want to see the unexpected
• Where possible, Artists should be invited to collaborate with the Design Team rather than place work in allocated spaces

Public Art
The award of a grant from the Scottish Arts Council allowed the project to engage Karen Emslie in May 2004 to co-ordinate the fund-raising and procurement of this exciting aspect of the project. A steering group involving local artists was formed to give guidance on the development of the public art brief. Following a very large response from artists in Shetland and Nationally, Karen and the steering group had to whittle these down to a short list of artists who would be asked to submit detailed proposals. This work is now in progress and through 2005 and 2006 we hope to deliver various strands of public art, including major external pieces of art, internal craft commissions (such as napkins, lampshades, etc.), displays for the museum objects and the main front desk.

Programme
It is anticipated that the new building will be completed and handed over in late 2005. The fit out of the display areas will then take until August 2006 after which the complete building will be opened to the public. However, the fit out of the Archives should be complete by April 2006 and this area may be opened at that time.

The dock repairs are scheduled to be complete by April 2006.

Project Objectives for 2005

• Complete the construction of the building by end 2005
• Complete the repairs and restoration of Hay's Dock by end march 2006
• Fit out the building ready for an Archives conference to be held in April 2006
• Complete the detailed exhibition and display design by end 2005
• Procure 'fit out' contractors for the installation of the displays and exhibitions by end February 2006
• Commence the installation of the exhibitions in 2006
• Recruit administration and technical staff to operate and manage the building facilities
• Put in place an approved operating plan for the kitchen and restaurant, ready for recruitment of staff in 2006
• Complete the branding exercise and launch the logo and name of the new facility
• Update/prepare and implement a marketing plan
• Review and update as necessary the Business Plan
• Transfer the Museum and Archive staff and facilities to Shetland Amenity Trust on 1st October 2005
• Prepare long-term operational plans for Life Long Learning delivery and the use of the Temporary Exhibition areas
• Establish operational and management plans for the new facilities and buildings