Building Briefs – December 20th

The Fraser Studios student accommodation at Causewayend in Aberdeen, overseen by Hardies Property & Construction Consultants for developer Visage Properties, has been shortlisted for a BREEAM 2018 award as one of the best examples of sustainable design and construction completed over the last year.

Shortlisted in the commercial, design stage category, the 173-unit Causewayend project is a cutting-edge pre-fabricated panelised system construction which achieved BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ and is testament to a cohesive project team, which included Robertson Construction and GWP Architects.

Murray Warner, Partner at Hardies and project manager, said: “This project was a great success, completing the works ahead of the 2017 student intake and on budget. The key to success was ensuring the project team shared common goals and worked together in a collaborative manner to overcome the inevitable challenges that were thrown up.”

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BREEAM is the world’s leading sustainability assessment method for masterplanning projects, infrastructure and buildings. It recognises and reflects the value in higher performing assets across the built environment lifecycle, from new construction to in-use and refurbishment.

 

UK house price growth set to come to a halt – RICS

House price growth in the UK will likely come to a halt over the course of next year as the number of transactions reduces slightly, according to the RICS housing forecast for 2018.

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However, the body said that it should be noted that the national prediction includes price growth in some regions offsetting declines in London and the South East.

Overall, RICS said that levels of activity across the residential sector have been a little underwhelming throughout 2017, with the latter part of the year in particular proving something of a disappointment.

The RICS UK Market Survey has recently shown buyer enquires stalling, sales volumes stagnating and sentiment turning altogether more cautious as a result.

The likely theme impacting the behaviour of the housing market over the course of 2018 is again expected to be the overriding issue of supply with stock on estate agents books close to all time lows. As such, there are no signs as yet that 2018 will see a turnaround in supply across the second hand market.

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Going forward, and looking at sales activity, RICS said the market looks unlikely to breach 1.2 million sales in 2018 with political and economic uncertainty proving a hindrance as well as the lack of stock, stretched affordability, tax changes and interest rate rises.

 

Inverness school children kick off construction at historic Midmills site

Two aspiring young builders joined experts from Robertson Northern to help lay the first bricks on a new block of homes in Midmills, Inverness.

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The firm has begun works to transform the area into a development of 31 affordable apartments as part of its £3.6 million contract with Highland Council.

To mark the start of construction, site manager Andy Young and trainee site manager Steven Baikie welcomed two local Primary 3 schoolchildren from Crown Primary School, Logan Balfour and Aroush Iqbalto to the site to help lay the first blocks.

The site at Midmills will boast 31 apartments creating sought-after affordable housing in the local area. These will be available via Highland Council for rent in 2018.

The work at Midmills started in November and is expected to be complete by December next year.

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Midlothian Council to spend £1.13m on classrooms

Councillors in Midlothian have agreed to spend £1,130,000 to provide extra classrooms to accommodate pupils at Burnbrae, Mayfield and St David’s primary schools for the next school year.

At the full council meeting on Tuesday, councillors heard the three schools are among 14 primaries where the number of P1 pupils living in their catchment area exceeds current school capacity. A further two primary schools are likely to experience pressure from placing requests, and the number of pupils attending Lasswade High School in 2017 exceeds the school’s published capacity.

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Intake limits for August 2018, will therefore, be applied at Bonnyrigg, Burnbrae, Cuiken, Hawthornden, King’s Park, Lasswade, Lawfield, Mayfield, Newtongrange, Sacred Heart, St Andrew’s, St David’s, St Luke’s, Stobhill, Tynewater and Woodburn primary schools and Lasswade High School. In addition, the £1.13 million will be used to provide space for two additional classrooms at Burnbrae, three additional primary classes in Mayfield Library and the creation of a nursery and an additional class at St David’s. A further report will come to council in February about how to accommodate the required number of pupils at Lawfield, Woodburn and Newtongrange primary schools and Lasswade High School.

Midlothian Council’s cabinet member for education, Councillor Jim Muirhead, said: “With house building continuing apace and our population rising at the highest level in Scotland, we now have a long term plan to accommodate the growing number of pupils. For example, there will be the new joint campus at Hopefield, a new primary school on the site of the current Newbattle High School and an additional primary school for Dalkeith. The issue is making sure we have enough high quality learning spaces for our pupils until these schools are built, so we have to take immediate action now.”

 

International architecture award for Dundee’s Verdant Works

The Verdant Works’ High Mill in Dundee has scooped an international award in recognition of its transformation.

The collapsing jute mill warehouse building was resurrected and turned into a modern museum and tourist attraction in 2015.

It has now won the conservation category in the 2018 Civic Trust Awards for its outstanding architecture, planning and design.

The popular landmark acts as both historical attraction and practical venue, having hosted the Great Tapestry of Scotland in 2016 and The Courier’s 200th anniversary celebration in the same year.

The work to transform the building took more than a decade to complete, with the mill coming dangerously close to falling down before its rebirth.

One of the architects responsible for the project, Doug Reid, a partner with James F. Stephen Architects, said it was “exceptionally satisfying” to see the High Mill rewarded with international recognition.

 

BAM Nuttall lifts new footbridge into place at West Calder station

Work to lift a new footbridge into place at West Calder railway station is now complete.

BAM Nuttall used a 300-tonne crane to lift nine sections of the structure, weighing more than 21 tonnes, into place on Sunday, 17 December.

The sections and staircases were connected to the lift towers which had been positioned earlier to complete the main frame of the structure. Works on the scheme will continue onto February 2018 and create step-free access across the railway, improving the station for people with impaired mobility, travelling with luggage, children or cycles.

Overall, the bridge forms part of Network Rail’s wider work being delivered on the Shotts line ahead of the electrification of the route by March 2019.

Additional funding released for Glasgow flood protection project

Glasgow City Council has approved £1.4 million funding towards the Camlachie Burn (Biggar Street) flood protection project.

The extra funding, 80% of the scheme’s cost, will allow the construction of a new 185-metre channel (12 metres wide by three metres deep) including connections with the existing upstream and downstream culverts.

Overall, the scheme will create greater drainage capacity within the Camlachie Burn catchment so reducing the risk of flooding and making possible the regeneration of vacant and derelict sites in the area.

The remaining 20% of the development’s cost will come from the Glasgow City Region City Deal.

P1 Solutions wins Inshes District Park phase 2 contract

P1 Solutions has won a new £580,000 contract to build the second phase of Inshes District Park in Inverness.

The Edinburgh-based company will begin building a new entrance plaza within a 6.3ha site set in rising ground between Stevenson Road and Inshes Road. Construction will begin in the New Year and works are scheduled to take 18 weeks to complete.

The first phase of Stevenson Road was completed in 2012 and forms an important green open space in a fast developing area of the city regularly used by the local community.

Phase 3, the largest phase of the park, is a 14.4ha site that rises steeply from Inshes Road towards the north western boundary of Milton of Leys. This final phase is expected to proceed as developer contributions from adjacent housing developments accrue. A separate planting and landscaping contract will follow on from the works and is expected to take place in the planting season of 2018/19.

HLF awards £127,300 towards Zetland Park upgrade

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has awarded £127,300 towards a park enhancement project in Falkirk.

The award is the first stage of a bid that is being prepared to attract a further £920,000 for works at Zetland Park in Grangemouth in 2019.

Features include restoring the park’s historic fountain, creating a wildlife pond and a heritage wall. A full programme of events and activities will celebrate the heritage of the town and aim to involve a wide range of volunteers in the rejuvenation of the park.

In addition, the funding will also unlock £18,000 from Historic Environment Scotland towards the repair of the fountain. If successful, improvements will also be made to the Cenotaph, footpaths, playpark, toilets, kiosk and paths.

The local community also raised just under £60,000 towards the bid, led by the Rotary Club of Grangemouth who donated £12,000.

 

Eildon to acquire Borders homes to keep them available for affordable rent

A total of 41 homes in Galashiels and Innerleithen are to be sold to Eildon Housing to ensure they remain available for affordable rent.

The 21 houses and flats at Chris Paterson Place in Galashiels, and 20 flats at James Hogg Court in Innerleithen were developed by Tweed Property Leasing and acquired by Tweedside National Housing Trust 2011 Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) after Scottish Borders Council agreed to provide affordable homes through the Scottish Government’s National Housing Trust (NHT) initiative. This enabled the council to borrow and then lend to the LLP to buy the properties.

However, the programme set out that the homes had to be made available for mid-market rent for at least five years, and up to a maximum of 10 years, but then had to be sold at market value to repay the loan to the council.

Following negotiations between the council, Scottish Government, Scottish Futures Trust, Tweed Property Leasing and Eildon Housing, a deal has been reached that avoids the need to sell these homes in the open market and sees Eildon Housing purchasing the properties instead. The current tenants have been given the option to buy their homes at market value or to remain in their homes on the same arrangements as under the NHT initiative long term.

 

Superfast broadband rollout to prioritise rural areas

The first phase of the £600 million ‘Reaching 100%’ broadband programme will focus on delivering superfast broadband access to Scotland’s rural and island communities, the Scottish Government has revealed.

The procurement will be made up of three regional Lots (North, Central and South), with each containing a mix of the commercially attractive rural areas and harder-to-reach communities.

This model has been designed to ensure the best possible chance of maximising competition whilst driving value and innovation.

The North Lot, incorporating Highlands & Islands, Aberdeen, Dundee and Angus has been allocated £384m, with the South of Scotland awarded £133m. The remaining £83m has been given to Central Scotland & Fife.

 

New online programme allows Springfield Properties buyers to visualise personalised home

Housebuilder Springfield Properties, which offers private and affordable housing, has launched a Choices Interactive programme that creates hyper-realistic 3D images for customers to visualize and tailor their new home.

Similar to customising a car online, such as choosing paintwork or seat coverings, the programme helps buyers select their house layout, tiles, kitchen cabinets, worktops, flooring, paint colours, door handles and even switches and sockets – all available with no additional charge.

Springfield Properties has been tailoring homes for customers with its Choices programme since the late 90’s and the new online format creates a visual of each of these combinations to show users how their home could look.

Choices Interactive is available at www.springfield.co.uk and in the Bertha Park sales office in Perth via touch screens. These screens will also soon be rolled out to Springfield developments in Dundee, Motherwell, Elgin and Forres.

 

McDermott Group makes special Christmas delivery to Glasgow and Inverclyde communities

Children and families in need across Glasgow and Inverclyde will receive a generous donation of money, food and gifts courtesy of building contractors McDermott Group this Christmas.

A fleet of 13 Santa-driven McDermott Group vans has been delivering the company’s donation to local foodbanks in Scotstoun and Greenock and to national charity Action for Children’s local services for disadvantaged children in Greenock and Glasgow city centre.

In total, the company is donating more than £3,000 of cash, food and gifts to help vulnerable people in Glasgow and Inverclyde this festive season.

The donation to Action for Children will be distributed to a number of vital services operated locally by the charity. These include Silverton Short Breaks, a residential service in Glasgow for disabled children who stay for up to five nights at a time and are given access to specialist equipment, sensory toys and therapies they wouldn’t have at home.

In Inverclyde, Family Support Volunteers offers families facing lots of challenges extra support to make sure children are living in happy, healthy homes while Moving on Scotland works with ex-prisoners, and their families, who have turned their lives around. McDermott Group’s donation will provide the children in these families with a gift to open on Christmas Day when they otherwise might have nothing.

More than £1,000 of food is being delivered to the Glasgow North West Foodbank in Scotstoun and to Inverclyde Foodbank in Greenock, both part of the Trussell Trust Foodbank Network, helping to stop hunger amongst those living below the poverty line this Christmas.

McDermott Group is also donating food to the food redistribution service run by local North Glasgow housing association ng homes for the benefit of tenants in need.

 

Morrison Construction brings Christmas cheer to Perth nursery

Morrison Construction is spreading Christmas cheer this festive season donating two food hampers to the Four Seasons Nursery in Perth.

The hampers will go towards the nursery’s Christmas raffle drawn today.

Half of the money raised will go to Perth Autism Support, a local charity the nursery works closely with.

Morrison Construction is currently undertaking nearby underground services works on West Mains Avenue.

Tulloch Primary pupils score new school kit thanks to Robertson

Pupils from Tulloch Primary School in Perth have welcomed the delivery of a new set of school kit following a £250 donation from Robertson Group.

50 specially designed sweatshirts and t-shirts have been delivered to the school, and will provide pupils with a recognisable identity when representing Tulloch Primary at key events, including sports games and interschool challenges.

The delivery comes as pupils prepare to move into the new state of the art £11 million Tulloch Primary in the New Year, which forms part of a wider transformational investment in the area’s education estate – with Robertson Tayside primary contractor for construction works.

The new two-storey primary school includes 14 open plan teaching zones with capacity for 434 pupils, a nursery and a purpose built Additional Support Needs (ASN) base. An external play area will also provide a grass pitch, Multi Use Games Area (MUGA), outdoor teaching facilities and eco-features.

 

Lovell Scotland Christmas jumper raises £320 for Clyde Radio’s Cash for Kids

A day of wearing Christmas jumpers, eating mince pies and exchanging Secret Santa gifts at Lovell’s Scotland head office has raised £320 for Clyde Radio’s Cash for Kids charity.

All staff wearing a Christmas jumper on the day made an individual contribution to the charity, raising a total of £159.65, which Lovell then raised to a grand total of £320.

First, second and third prizes were also presented for best outfit on the day.

 

Graham lends green fingers to nursery garden

A team of volunteers from Graham Construction have revamped a garden area in the grounds of St Ninian’s Nursery, Dumfries.

The company was approached by Nursery Nurse, Jenifer Fergusson, when its team was giving a presentation in the adjoining Primary School about the dangers of playing near construction sites.

Together with teaching staff, pupils created a ‘wish-list’ of enhancements to their existing garden, which included edging around their sand pit, vegetable and her gardens.

Graham got to work, building a full-size playhouse which children can use for games or even as a small teaching space. The company also donated sand, bark and carried out landscape gardening work to modify the green-space.

Much of the work was undertaken out by Connor Sartain an apprentice joiner who recently started his placement with the firm alongside one of the project site managers.

Being built by Graham Construction, the North-West Campus in Dumfries is due to complete in Autumn 2018, when staff and pupils from Lochside and St Ninian’s primary schools, Langlands Special Secondary School and Maxwelltown High School begin using the state-of-the-art facility.

It will have the capacity to hold almost 1,000 pupils, aged between three and 18.