The Knockomie Inn has partnered with The Glasgow School of Art School of Innovation and Technology to offer student accommodation in Forres
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A local hotel that has been closed to guests for a year is set to become student accommodation.
The Knockomie Inn, owned by Gavin and Penny Ellis since 1987, is entering a partnership with The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) School of Innovation and Technology based at Altyre to provide rooms for attending scholars from all over the world.
Mr Ellis said: “After 35 years of managing this wonderful inn, we feel it is time for a change.
“We could not have found a better partner in the GSA for this collaboration and new venture.
“The Glasgow School of Art will take this amazing building into a new and exciting future.”
The Glasgow School of Art’s Highlands and Islands campus occupies listed Italianate buildings constructed in the 1830s on the Altyre Estate.
They house studio, workshop and exhibition spaces, as well as state-of-the-art areas for research, teaching, prototyping and flexible lab work.
The campus is a centre for research and postgraduate study, where Masters and PhD programmes engage with complex issues facing the region and beyond.
Learning opportunities are studio based, occasionally supported by digital teaching methods, as well as short seasonal schools that bring students from around the world to Forres.
A total of 60 students are attending this year to study 51-week Masters Degrees. They are staying at The Royal Hotel, flats in Forres and now, The Knockomie Inn.
Operations director for the School of Innovation and Technology, Marianne McInnes, confirmed students will occupy 17 rooms.
She said: “We have had a good relationship with Knockomie for many years and the Ellis’ son is a GSA graduate.
“We won’t need to make any alterations to the building. It’s a great arrangement that suits us all this year.”
See https://www.gsa.ac.uk/for more information.
