Building Briefs – August 13th

• Jedburgh Grammar Campus opens to pupils

The innovative learning space for 2 to 18-year-olds welcomed nursery children and primary one, first year and sixth year pupils today, with all other year groups attending for their first day on Thursday.

Jedburgh Grammar Campus, which replaces Jedburgh Grammar School and Parkside and Howdenburn primary schools, was due to open in April 2020, but due to coronavirus restrictions instead opened this week.

The Campus was delivered by Scottish Borders Council alongside development partner hub South East and main contractor BAM Construction.

Live Borders, the region’s culture and sports trust, will proactively manage community access to the campus, which presently is restricted to outdoor facilities such as the sport pitches. 

Sports facilities include multi-use games area, 2G hockey pitch, 3G sports pitch, 100m synthetic running track, 300m grass track and gym.

Alongside classrooms, there is a rural skills area, flexible hall space that can be used for multiple activities such as community events, sport, dance or drama classes, and a café.

The funding for the new campus was confirmed by Deputy First Minister John Swinney in August 2017, as one of four projects to share £28 million from a phase of the Scottish Government’s £1.8 billion ‘Schools for the Future’ programme.

An official opening for the Campus is due to be arranged when government coronavirus guidance allows.

• Architects workload predictions turn positive for first time in months

After four months in negative territory, the RIBA Future Trends Workload Index rose to +3 in July, from –17 in June.

Nearly a third (31%) of practices anticipate a workload increase, 42% expect workload to remain the same and 28% expect a decrease.

In July the Staffing Index also rose by 5 points, with 75% of practices saying they expect the level of permanent staff to remain the same over the next three months and 8% (rising from 4%) anticipating the need to employ more permanent staff. Despite this, 17% still expect their staffing levels to decrease over the next three months.

All sectors returned slightly more positive balance figures. The private housing sector rose significantly to +17 (from -3 in June), the commercial sector rose to -15 (from -32), the community sector to -14 (from -19) and the public sector to -4 (from -12).

While there was increased optimism about workloads over the next three months, 62% of respondents still expect profits to fall over the next year and within that, 7% consider that their practice is unlikely to remain viable.

• Urban Union unveils new furnishing partnership

Prospective house buyers can now put their feet up and feel at home thanks to a new partnership between Urban Union and Get Fully Furnished.

The company uses its years of experience in interior design to bring together stylish furniture packages, as well as delivering the products and installing them.

Urban Union is making the partnership available at all of its developments, with furniture packages now being included at all available Muirton Living properties. The partnership allows homeowners to choose from a collection of modern and Scandi-inspired furniture in a number of colours, designs and sizes to suit their new home perfectly.

Delivering the service in under four weeks, the living room packages offer a range of sofas and coffee tables. The Modena and Borough range feature a two or three-seated sofa in pewter, duck egg or beige along with a contemporary wood coffee table and matching TV unit. Get Fully Furnished can also provide accessories such as blinds and lighting that will help tie the room together.

• CALA supports Scottish SPCA’s first entirely online event 

Members of staff from CALA Homes are supporting the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Scottish SPCA) in its first fully digital fundraiser event.

The ‘Pound for Paws’ campaign, with Olympian Laura Muir as ambassador, has challenged participants to run a minimum of 30km in 30 days throughout August.

Like most charities, a key challenge for the Scottish SPCA is overcoming the additional hurdles brought about by COVID-19, reducing its ability to raise money through physical events.

Pound for Paws has seen participants sign up and fundraise online while tracking progress using one of many popular fitness apps, such as MapMyRun, Fitbit or Strava. Laura is providing free top tips for all involved to help them hit their targets.

Throughout the month, CALA is spotlighting members of its team that have adopted rescue animals, while encouraging its own team members to get involved and raise vital funds for the charity.

• Comhairle awarded funding to introduce temporary physical distancing measures

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar has been awarded, £128,850 to support the introduction of temporary physical distancing measures across the Outer Hebrides.

The fund will be used to implement temporary measures to enable physical distancing while walking, wheeling and cycling.

These measures will include a variety of interventions including changes to speed limits, wider footpaths and traffic calming measures. However, as all interventions are temporary and subject to change, it is vital that we receive public feedback on proposed and implemented interventions. A full list of proposed interventions will be revealed in the next few days.

• Temporary closure of B9177 Milton of Leys-Bogbain-Castlehill Road

There will be a temporary road closure of the B9177 Milton Of Leys – Bogbain – Castlehill Road, Inverness.

The closure is required in the interest of public safety to enable contractors, working on behalf of Springfield Properties, to carry out the realignment of the junction between the B9177 Milton Of Leys – Bogbain – Castlehill Road and B9006 Culloden Road.

The closure will be in place from 8am Monday 17 August until 5pm Friday 27 November 2020.

• New protocols to help give communities greater stake in land use

Two new protocols published by the Scottish Land Commission aim to help give communities a greater stake in how land is owned and used in Scotland.

The protocols set out expectations of landowners to assess use and ownership of their landholdings as part of their normal business and to work together with communities to explore negotiated transfer, lease and management of land and buildings to meet the community’s needs.

The protocols are the latest in a series produced by the Scottish Land Commission to encourage practical implementation of the Scottish Government’s Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement (LRRS).

The first of the two new protocols sets out how landowners can help achieve a more diverse pattern of land ownership and tenure. The protocol suggests landowners have an important part to play in promoting greater economic development and social wellbeing by helping to change the pattern of ownership and tenure of land.

The second protocol encourages landowners to take steps to facilitate greater community ownership, lease and use of land, supporting local people to meet community needs and to use land and buildings to provide housing, business opportunities, community facilities and greenspace to enhance their wellbeing.