Major construction work at Scotland’s newest leisure and staycation destination, Wavegarden Scotland, got underway today in Ratho, near Edinburgh. The £55m landmark development will be the country’s first inland surfing destination using revolutionary new technology.
The Wavegarden Scotland development is expected to open to the public in Summer 2024 – boosting long term socio-economic, recreational and tourism benefits including creating up to 130 jobs once open, generating up to £11m for the local economy and attracting over 180,000 visitors each year.
Civil engineering and groundworks specialists Malcolm Construction is the firm appointed to build the groundbreaking destination which will include – in addition to Scotland’s first surf park – a surf school, overnight accommodation, a waterfront café and restaurant and retail spaces.
Malcolm Construction has overseen the construction of some of Scotland’s most iconic sporting and leisure developments, including the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes’ Village, the temporary athletics track at Hampden Park for the games and the 14,000 capacity Hydro arena at the SEC in Glasgow.
Doig+Smith will oversee the management of the major project and have enlisted support from environmental design consultants Atelier Ten, architects Oberlanders, landscape architects HarrisonStevens, engineering consultants Ramage Young and property experts Colliers.
Andy Hadden, founder of Tartan Leisure Ltd which is developing Wavegarden Scotland said: “It has taken many years of hard work and collaboration to get to this point and we could not be happier to see work begin on Scotland’s first inland surf park.
“There has been extensive preparatory work going on behind the scenes with financial backers and with our design team and partners to ensure that this new facility will be a world-class leisure destination. Beginning construction work is a special moment for all of the team and marks a major milestone in our journey.
“All of the firms appointed to work with us come with strong reputations in their respective field of engineering and project management and I am pleased they share our vision to deliver one of Scotland’s largest leisure attractions this century.”
Walter Malcolm, Managing Director of Malcolm Construction said:
“Everyone at Malcolm Construction is excited to be part of this innovative project. We have extensive experience of delivering complex engineering works and we look forward to working with the Wavegarden Scotland team to deliver such an important attraction for Scotland.”
Gordon McLintock, Director of Doig+Smith added:
“We have been providing project management, cost management, principal designer and supervisor services for the project so it’s incredibly exciting to see the project start to become a reality. We have extensive experience in large scale projects such as this including the new Port of Aberdeen project, substantial works over many years at both Glasgow and Edinburgh airports, and multiple education projects across the country in both the private and public sectors. We consider it a privilege to be part of the team bringing Scotland’s first inland surf park to life.”
The development, set within a 60-acre country park, will use the latest wave generation technology called The Cove, developed by Wavegarden in Spain. The site will host surfers of all abilities who can ride the 1,000 bespoke ocean-like waves created per hour.
Wavegarden is an innovative engineering company and has an extremely high growth potential in the surf park sector with more than 60 projects currently in development across the globe, seven facilities operating successfully and seven projects currently under construction across four continents.
