Northern Ireland off site construction specialists McAvoy Group has won a prestigious contract for its Hire division to supply accommodation for workers at the Offshore Wind Terminal in Belfast Harbour.

The development is the first bespoke offshore wind installation and pre-assembly harbour in the UK, and is part of Belfast Harbour's wider plans to create a renewable energy hub.

Siemens Windpower, which required accommodation for the 100 plus construction workers at the Offshore Wind Terminal at the West of Duddon Sands Windfarm project, chose the Co Tyrone-based company to supply the 605 sq m two-storey Anti-Vandal building.

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The £50m alternative energy project, which began in May and will run for 52 weeks, is a joint venture between Scottish Power Renewables and DONG Energy which commissioned the work to install 108 wind turbines at the Harbour site.

The specialist accommodation provided by McAvoy Hire will be serve as a working headquarters for the team, with reception areas, an induction room, toilets and showers, drying rooms, a canteen, kitchen and multiple office suites.

The building was also refitted and refurbished by McAvoy Hire to meet the exact requirements of Siemens Windpower and was repainted with the company's corporate colours.

McAvoy Hire faced a big challenge installing the accommodation block due to the nature of the location, but the team managed to develop an innovative foundation which spread the load of the building across the site. This required the fabrication of a bespoke sub-frame which was manufactured at McAvoy's engineering plant in Lisburn.

The accommodation will be operational for the duration of the 52-week project.

Meanwhile, in a separate project for Siemens at Hollyford Wind Farm in Tipperary, McAvoy Hire provided five off-site buildings for a 12-week period, including site offices, a canteen, toilets and drying room facilities.