But behind the B-listed façade - whose preservation is a key part of the project - things are slowly beginning to take shape. And Peter McDonald, new business director with Fyne Homes subsidiary Fyne Initiatives, has invited us along to the site to s
ee just what has been done so far - and what the next 14 months or so hold in store until those 25 new homes are ready to be occupied.
"If you're on the outside looking in, you're probably not entirely aware of what's going on," Peter says by way of an introduction.
"But the retention structure supporting the building's façade has been taken away this week, and some people might notice that and wonder where the work has got to so far."
Our first stop, in the company of site manager Gerry Gallagher from the project's main contractor, Brown's of Strone, is the imposing front door on the Castle Street side of the building. This is where the public used to enter on their way to either the courtroom or the council chamber, climbing a grand spiral staircase and turning left or right at the top, depending on whether their interests were civic or judicial.
The spiral staircase remains, but when the work is complete it will form the approach to just one of the 25 flats - one of three occupying the space where the courtroom once lay. This particular one, which will have three bedrooms, is laid out across two levels, and the same applies to the property which sits on the site of the council chambers; the lucky householders in the latter will enjoy the maximum daylight from the full-length windows facing on to Castle Street.
Our next stop is the steel framework sitting directly behind the façade on the High Street side of the site. This structure, fabricated by Bute Blacksmiths, has been clearly visible to anyone walking up the High Street itself over the last couple of months, and will eventually be filled by 12 flats across four floors.
Staircases and lifts will eventually provide access to these homes, but for now it's ladders all the way as we ascend to the second floor and, more than a little carefully in the blustery breeze, to the top deck, where three flats will each have their own balcony along with spectacular views across the town.
At this point in the work it's hard to visualise what these particular flats might look like when they're finished. However, on the other side of the site - the eastern edge, facing on to Watergate - things are at a much more advanced stage, and we can take a tour of several flats which seem, structurally at least, to be more or less complete.
The only place where building has yet to begin is on the site of the old police station, next to the Coffee Stop at the north-western corner; that still forms the access to the site for the workforce - around three quarters of whom, incidentally, are local to Bute - and will thus be the last bit of the jigsaw to be completed.
The abiding impression we're left with is that no two properties will be quite the same as any of the others - an impression which, it turns out, is not too far from the truth.
"The big question for us is how you make sure you use as much of the space as you can," says Peter, alluding to the need to fit in as many homes as possible on the site while still ensuring they're the right size to meet local housing needs.
"When you start on a project like this and the architect comes along and shows you what he thinks he can do, it can be hard to visualise how it will look in the end.
"But we're now starting to realise just what you can create with a bit of vision and imagination. They're not your normal, standard, run-of-the-mill designs - they're going to be kind of special when they're finished."
The contract for the conversion of 'The Old Courthouse', as it's being called, also includes the complete conversion of a tenement block in King Street which was badly damaged by fire in 2006 - and which, once we've ascended to roof level with Peter and Gerry, we can confirm offers more eye-catching views across the rooftops of Rothesay to the bay and the hills of Cowal.
But while the King Street flats will be rented out directly by Fyne Homes, the Old Courthouse homes will all be available for sale under a 'shared equity' scheme.
Essentially aimed at helping first-time buyers on to the property ladder, 'shared equity' means the buyer raises the money for a majority share in the property - usually between 60 and 80 per cent - and will own the property outright, with Fyne Homes paying for the remaining chunk and retaining a 'golden share' of at least 20 per cent of its value.
If and when the owner decides it's time to move on, to another town or a bigger house, Fyne Homes will then receive the corresponding share of the selling price - with the houses permanently keeping their 'shared equity' status so that the supply of affordable local housing doesn't run dry.
There is, however, a lot of work still to be done before the Old Courthouse is ready to welcome its first residents, in or around August 2010. But that doesn't mean there isn't a great sense of satisfaction at having got this far with a project which has been extremely complex since well before the word go.
"It's been a challenge," Peter admits. "We started to look at this site as a possible project back in 2001, but while you can come in with a solution that looks good on paper, getting on site and keeping control of both the programme and the budget is a huge task.
"Brown's have been great, and Gerry is always absolutely on top of things, and I'm really pleased that we've got past the hard bit.
"Now that the façade retention has come down, it should be a lot more straightforward from here on in."
Although the project is very clearly a 'new build', the retention of the façade will keep the site's history very much to the fore. And with that in mind, Fyne Homes is keen to hear from anyone who might have photographs of the building in its very earliest years in the mid-19th century.
If you can help, contact Fyne Homes on 0845 607 7117 and ask to speak to Peter McDonald.
* To find out more about 'shared equity' at The Old Courthouse, and to register your interest, go to www.fynefirst.info or call Fyne Homes on 0845 607 7117 and ask for Craig Baxter.
