Building Briefs – June 10th

• Perth Grammar pupils become house designers as part of industry partnership

Following a series of twelve Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) focused classes supported by Robertson and key supply chain partners, the pupils were challenged to design a home, drawing upon skills learned during sessions on science, engineering, marketing, interior design, insulation, roof trusses, landscaping and energy efficiency.

Many pupils focused on including sustainable elements in their designs, developing energy efficient designs with a low carbon footprint.

The activity is part of Robertson’s strategic partnership with the school – a formal agreement which includes a bespoke programme of placement opportunities, mentoring, employment events and skills building.

It comes as the Scottish Government published its ‘New Housing and Future Construction Skills - Adapting and Modernising for Growth’ report, which outlined the importance of STEM partnerships between education and industry in - the industry. Engagement at an early stage in secondary schools was a key recommendation.

The top three teams were selected for the best design concepts which included consideration given to the construction of the build, interior design, landscaping, energy efficiency and sales.  After a morning of judging all of the pupils’ entries, Robertson presented pupils with Perth City Cards in recognition of the learning undertaken and skills developed. 

Robertson partnership with Perth Grammar is one of five strategic partnerships with schools and further education institutes across Scotland, with others including Bannockburn High School in Stirling, Elgin High School in Moray, Portlethen Academy in Aberdeenshire and Baldragon High School in Dundee. 

The education partnerships form part of Robertson’s wider Young People Strategy, put in place to facilitate the development of young people at varying stages of their careers, actioned through high school and higher education partnerships, apprentice, trainee & graduate programmes and professional development schemes.

• Bishopton Primary Children visit Taylor Wimpey’s Project 2020 at Dargavel Village

A group of children from Bishopton Primary School’s Biodiversity and Sustainability Group were invited to visit Taylor Wimpey West Scotland’s two prototype homes, which have been launched as part of its research programme Project 2020, at its Dargavel Village development in Bishopton.  

The prototypes are aimed at addressing changing customer needs, including allowing individuals to adapt their homes to their requirements. The homes are also intended to demonstrate greater build efficiency and a specification which makes substantial advances in reducing energy consumption and tackling climate change.

The new sustainable prototype homes have been developed following a design competition and extensive research from around the world, including Japan, the Netherlands, Finland, France and Germany.

The winning design - the Infinite House - is designed to reflect changing customer lifestyles, expectations and designs, whilst benefiting the environment. In addition to high performance insulation and renewable energy technology, the houses have the potential to suit different demographics, delivering a flexible approach which enables future buyers to customise their home to specific living requirements.  

As part of the visit to the prototype homes, the children from Bishopton Primary were asked to spot the differences between the typical homes that Taylor Wimpey builds at Dargavel Village and the Project 2020 homes, and also to give their views on the features of the houses.

Two ‘Infinite House’ styles which are on show at Dargavel Village, Bishopton have been designed to offer easy expansions in the roofs, larger windows strategically positioned to increase daylight levels, and options to use different materials to fit the exterior of the buildings as required.

One of the homes has been built to be ‘Gold Compliant’, meaning that it is significantly more advanced than the current 2015 building standards, promoting innovation and during this research phase of the programme will allow Taylor Wimpey to gauge customer reaction to the enhanced features that it offers.

Throughout May, these two very special houses have been presented to key industry and education groups for research purposes, and customer research Open Days have also been held to capture current customer’s views.

• £2.2m road scheme near Peebles moves forward

A £2.2 million road scheme is progressing well to improve the A72 at Dirtpot Corner near Peebles.

The corner, between Innerleithen and Peebles, is set to close for two days to allow this section to be fully resurfaced. This will be carried out over 24-25 June between 9am and 5pm each day.

This section of the A72 has seen a number of accidents in recent years but the scheme will provide significant extra road width, a better road surface and modern road safety fencing and parapet.

After the closure, traffic lights will return to Dirtpot Corner for a short period of time to allow finishing works to be completed before it is fully reopened.

Diversions will be clearly signposted throughout the works.

• Garment Factory project wins BCO Award

The redevelopment of an unused space at Glasgow’s The Garment Factory has been recognised with a major prize at the 2019 BCO Scottish Awards Lunch. 

Delivered by ISG along with architects Morgan McDonnell, 112 Ingram Street was brought to life into a new office space, maintaining original features and creating open-plan office space across six of the seven-storey building’s floors, with ground floor retail spaces and a café, games room, cycling storage, breakout areas, showers and changing facilities in the basement.

The team was recognised for its sensitive restoration with an award win in the Refurbished/Recycled Workplace category.

The project will now go on to compete at the national awards in London in October. ‏

• Kilmarnock Campus boasts new sporting facilities

The William McIlvanney Campus in Kilmarnock now boasts some of the best sporting facilities in the area after opening two new synthetic pitches.

A new full size and half-size pitch will help the new £45 million campus offer facilities for the school, local sports clubs and the wider community.

Kilmarnock Football Club’s Training Academy will also make use of the full pitch.