What is Spirit of the Highlands?
Spirit of the Highlands is a project that will create a must-see visitor attraction in Inverness, celebrating the Spirit of the Highlands past, present and future. The creativity, well-being, culture, heritage, natural environment and language of this unique part of Scotland will all form part of the story told. The attraction will bring new and returning visitors to the area and inspire people to visit all parts of the Highlands.
Spirit of the Highlands will see the transformation of the Inverness Castle buildings to become a gateway for Highland tourism, supporting economic growth throughout the Highland area and extending the benefits beyond the castle walls. It aims to raise awareness of the Highlands internationally, extend visitor stay and increase visitor spend in the area, whilst also providing opportunity to link historic, cultural and natural attractions across the Highlands to everyone’s benefit.
Statutory applications for listed building consent and building warrant approval were lodged with The Highland Council in January 2021 and approved in April 2021. These applications, submitted by project architects LDN Architects, are in preparation for the main building works contract. They cover the works necessary to restore the Category A Listed building and convert it for use as a new visitor attraction. The planning application can be viewed on the Council’s eplanning site wam.highland.gov.uk/wam/ using the following references 21/00100/FUL and 21/00103/LBC.
A video of the works that are underway to begin to transform the Castle can be seen in the link below:
Everyone who lives, visits and works in the Highlands will have an opportunity to shape the story told within Inverness Castle through the creation of Spirit:Stories. Find out more about how you can contribute here.
Link to Our Supporters page