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"Greyhope Bay Colours, Shapes and Shadows" - a third contribution by Prof Colin Moffat capture's the build's evolution over the last few months through the filmmaker's artistic lens as an avid photographer. Original score by the filmmaker (a first!) Scroll down below to find out more about Colin, his passion for the sea and interest in our project

Hart & Sine are a creative collective founded by Christine Arnold-Solomon (Design Historian) and Earl Solomon (Fine Artist - Sculptor).The vision was  to work inter-discplinarily with other creatives not limited to visual artists or designers. Hart & Sine Collective Studios are based in Baxter Street, Old Torry, Aberdeen

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"Framing the View" - Prof Colin Moffat's second short film of the series . He captures the feeling of excitement as he documents the arrival of the huge windows onsite and their installation rom where they will frame the near 360 panoramic views of the city and coast. Read more about Colin, his passion for creating change for the planet through filmmaking, and his interest in our project below

"The Long Way Up" - Steve Butler's second addition to our diaries tells the story of our containers arriving onsite and being installed in their final position. With the help of his daughter's, Steve captures the journey of an exciting moment in the project build. Read more about Steve, his interest in filmmaking and our project below

Steve Butler is a writer and filmmaker living in Aberdeenshire. Originally from the West Midlands in England, it was while living and working in London that he had an epiphany and left his career as a Chartered Accountant to pursue one in an industry he genuinely loves. Steven gained a Diploma in Filmmaking from the London Film Academy and subsequently worked in a variety of roles on both shorts and features and gained funding from the UK Film Council to write and direct his own short film which played at festivals around the world. After becoming a dad, Steven focussed on scriptwriting, but years later, has been tempted back into filmmaking after hearing about the Greyhope Bay charity and Fiona's vision for Torry Battery. Having previously volunteered on Raleigh International charity expeditions in Africa, where he worked side by side with local people on various community and environmental building projects, a project that makes a positive difference to the local community, and the city that's now his home, while respecting the history and architecture of the site it is based in, as the Greyhope Bay Torry Battery project does, is something that is really close to his heart.

This feels like the biggest project milestone so far! Today our containers have been placed on the foundation pads and just like that it’s here…. the Greyhope Bay Centre!  The cafe will be on the right-hand side as you walk in and the seating area across the centre and left side of the space. Not to mention the best coastal view in Aberdeen made even more special this afternoon by the dolphins out jumping as we stepped into this space for the first time! (two babies are with the pod at the moment)We can’t wait to open our doors and greet you here in the very near future!

Our build programme continues with our containers now having arrived to site at Torry Battery where they will be installed on the pad foundations! We lose audio to the high wind about halfway through as Fiona walks us through the layout of the future Greyhope Bay Centre with it's open plan and sweeping views through glazing.

Sara Stroud is an artist, filmmaker and lecturer. Her connection to Greyhope Bay has been due to her love of the sea and her desire to connect with other filmmakers in Aberdeen. She was inspired by natural light and colours when making this film. It was also edited in chronological order of events of the first day of the build and did not use any grading or footage that did not occur on the day of filming. The narrative was inspired by the inspirational women behind Greyhope Bay and how they blew into Aberdeen.

After a rainy week, the pad foundations have now been finished and the parade has been prepared for the first phases of the decking. Fiona gives us an update about how the decking is interacting with the historic monument to be as low impact as possible by being weighted rather than fixed. We also get a glance at our filmmakers who are documenting the build. Next step... Containers will arrive to the site!

Last Friday, Fiona shared an update on the build programme at Torry Battery on our social media platforms."It's not been an easy summer for us. We had really hoped to be starting construction mid-summer, but that just wasn't possible with a background of what is a difficult time for the construction industry. Our build team has really been problem solving and looking for solutions to pull through."We are now seeing the light ahead and are excited to begin building the Greyhope Bay Centre at Torry Battery. Look out for build updates over the coming days/weeks!

We broke ground this week! Our foundations are going in and the site is being prepared for the converted containers to arrive shortly.  Our founder, Dr. Fiona McInytre gives us a live update from Torry Battery and explains more about how our build is designed to be very low impact on this historical site.

The ocean is critical for life on Earth. In 2021, the scientific evidence, including from some of my own work while working with Scottish Government and now as a visiting Professor at the Robert Gordon University, is showing clearly that the ocean is changing in response to human activities. If we are to continue to benefit from the ocean then we must develop and share solutions. This includes describing the ocean and the changes in ways that are impactful, which is why a marine and community space, such as Greyhope Bay, is important - it will provide an opportunity for all ages to explore the ocean in a variety of ways and hear about solutions.

For me, presenting information in short films provides a key source of information, while capturing scenes that are unique to that moment in time.  In presenting my science, I found that using images and pictures make a huge difference which is why I have branched into creating such films. Hopefully, these films will help people to make their decisions about the changes they will make as their contribution to reducing human impacts on the ocean.