Building Briefs – December 12th

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf officially opened the new £41m Edinburgh Gateway train-tram interchange on Friday.

The new station, in the west of the city, will help to transform travel options for passengers from Fife and the north giving them easy access to the Edinburgh tram network and the city’s airport.

Edinburgh Gateway is part of the Scottish Government-funded Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) which, along with a rolling programme of electrification across the central belt, will deliver reduced journey times and increased capacity and allow the introduction of new faster and greener trains.

Mr Yousaf marked the official completion of the station before touring the new facility, which opened to the public on Sunday.

The new station consists of two 265m, 10-car platforms and boasts 1500m2 of concourse and circulation space. A step-free access bridge links the platforms within the station and connects to the tram stop via lifts and escalators. An underpass beneath the A8 provides pedestrian and cyclist access from the nearby Gyle centre.

Gateway’s passengers will have direct trains to Perth, Dundee and Inverness, as well as to the city centre and Fife. When combined with the nearby South Gyle station, six trains per hour will serve north west Edinburgh instead of the current four.

The station will also provide increased choice for Fife-based commuters travelling to Edinburgh Business Park, with 14 trains arriving at Gateway or South Gyle between 07:00-09:00 hrs. For the return leg, a similar number of services will depart these stations during the evening peak.

The number of trains calling at South Gyle will reduce from current levels to two per hour, but with an additional service in the morning and evening peaks.

During his visit the minister met the project engineers, station staff and representatives from the Edinburgh Gateway Partnership.

Charity success rounds off strong year for Ashwood

The Ashwood Scotland Foundation, set-up by Bathgate-based construction and development company, Ashwood Scotland, has enjoyed another successful charity fundraiser.

£7,547 was raised at the Foundation’s Annual Charity Ball recently held in Whitburn, with the funds split between two separate charities - Friends of Chernobyl Children West Lothian and Teenage Cancer Trust.

The charity success rounds off another strong year for the company, which has secured a raft of new contracts and also saw the company complete a high-profile project at Liberton High School, Edinburgh in October.

Ashwood Scotland, which celebrated its 17th year in business in September, was the main contractor on the new Sports Hall extension at Liberton High. The £2.25m project on behalf of City of Edinburgh Council included the creation of an extended gymnasium/dance studio and new changing rooms alongside the existing facilities.

Ashwood Scotland is currently working on a window replacement project at Deanpark Primary School in Balerno, an office refurbishment for the Faculty of Advocates in Glasgow and a series of projects for the University of Edinburgh.

Anderston regeneration on track to change the face of St Vincent Street

A project to bring over 200 new homes to the Anderston area of Glasgow is on schedule for completion in 2018.

Being undertaken by construction firm CCG, the final phase of the Anderston Regeneration Masterplan has been under construction since June of this year.

Located just west of Glasgow city centre, the Anderston area has undergone significant changes since the 1960s when the Victorian tenements were replaced with concrete high-rise blocks.

These homes served a purpose at the time by providing electrical heating and WCs, but poor insulation and widespread damp meant they needed to be replaced.

Since 2008, CCG and Sanctuary Scotland have worked together to bring a better standard of home to Anderston. The 206 homes in the final phase are the last chapter of that process.

Each new block has been developed by CCG’s Off-Site Manufacturing (OSM) enhanced closed panel timber system that is delivered to site complete with factory-fitted insulation, windows and doors.

The system is erected upon a traditional masonry block in order to reach the maximum height of seven storeys and will be clad in a mix of brick and stone to compliment the building typology around the site.

The first block, on the corner of Elderslie Street and St Vincent Street, is scheduled for completion by the end of January 2017. Features include enhanced energy savings brought by the use of this system as well as solar PV, which will be installed by Arc-Tech, CCG’s sister Building Services company.

In addition, new pedestrian and cycle routes will be built around the city, including new public realm space.

Moray Council issues ‘call for sites’

Moray Council is inviting landowners, developers, community groups and others to put forward suggestions on sites which might be suitable for housing, employment and retail uses.

The ‘call for sites’ is the first stage in the review of the council’s current Local Development Plan.

It will be followed next July by a similar exercise at which point further detailed information will be required to support the inclusion of sites in the new plan.

Following an assessment of suggested sites, preferred options and alternatives will be set out in the Main Issues Report due for publication at the end of next year.

In addition to identifying sites there is also an opportunity to comment on the issues that should be taken into account when formulating the new plan.

Initial suggestions should be submitted by February 28, 2017 on a site submission form.

New Gypsy/Traveller accommodation set for Girvan

South Ayrshire Council has committed to investing in a replacement travelling persons site in Girvan following severe storm damage to the original site at Houdston late last year.

If planning permission is approved, eight purpose built accommodation units would be constructed at Low Troweir Road as well as a new play area.

A total of eight sites were investigated by the council as suitable alternatives to Houdston which was ruled out over concerns that it could flood again in the future. The site at Low Troweir Road was chosen as it provides good access to schools, public transport, health and other services and is already known to the Gypsy/Travellers as they have been using the site on a temporary basis since February 2016.

The new site aims to provide a modern living environment while respecting the cultural requirements of the residents. There are also plans to introduce natural screening to maintain privacy.

New community funding boost for Glenrothes West

Local communities will have the opportunity to map out the future of the Glenrothes West area alongside design experts following the award of a Scottish Government £20,000 grant.

The money will support delivery of a Charrette to bring together the public, stakeholders and designers over a number of days to draw up proposals to make their towns and villages better places to live.

The Charrette takes place as a series of community workshops, and is set to encourage greater public involvement in the future design of the Glenrothes West area, covering the neighbourhoods of Macedonia, Tanshall and Caskieberran, with the Glenwood Centre at its heart.

This funding builds on a previous allocation of Fife Task Force monies focussed on boosting community regeneration. The Task Force recognised the need to give additional focus to regeneration of the Glenwood Centre as a response to a clear community desire for improvement. This now forms a funding pot of up to £47,000 in total for delivery of the Charrette.

The work will be underway throughout Spring 2017, with final reporting on Charrette outcomes by the end of Summer 2017.

CMS helps challenge social inequality in Scotland with £1000 charity donation

Window, door and curtain walling designer, manufacturer and installer CMS Window Systems has made a generous donation to a long-established Scottish charity which works tirelessly to combat social inequality.

One of CMS’s top customers, BAM Construction, were asked to nominate a charity to receive the latest instalment of CMS’s ‘ten donations for ten years’ anniversary initiative.

The donations were made as part of a year of support by CMS for ten charities dedicated to improving the lives of people in ten communities in which the business operates. BAM Construction nominated the Glasgow branch of social care charity Ypeople to benefit from CMS’s 10-year anniversary charity programme; across the year, the firm will make ten donations of £1000 each to causes nominated by its most valued customers.

Established in 1824 at a time of great social change and need, Ypeople (formerly YMCA Glasgow) works to challenge social inequality and to respond to the needs of communities, extending support to a range of people including children, young people and families and those whose lives have been affected by homelessness.

Over its long history, Ypeople has worked with many generations of young people, families and vulnerable people from across the globe. The charity has grown and developed its services across Scotland significantly over this time, and now operates 17 services in Glasgow, Falkirk, South Lanarkshire, Edinburgh, Orkney and East Dunbartonshire.

CMS’s donation to Ypeople on behalf of BAM is the most recent chapter of BAM’s involvement with the charity. Earlier this year, three members of staff undertook a charity challenge to raise funds for the charity, giving up their time to decorate an area of the Glasgow office which helps vulnerable young adults who have been affected by homelessness.

Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, CMS operates with a strong social conscience. Its commitment to corporate social responsibility ranges from its extensive sustainability policies to its focus on creating local employment opportunities and support for community causes. The business started its ‘ten donations for ten years’ initiative in January, and has continued to make endowments to local causes throughout the year.