Building Briefs – July 5th

City Legacy, the consortium responsible for the delivery of the Commonwealth Games Athletes’ Village, has donated a further £30,000 to the Brick by Brick appeal, a fundraising initiative for Glasgow’s Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice.

Last year, City Legacy pledged to donate £300 to the appeal for each of the 300 homes sold at the Village. Two donations of £30,000 have already been made to the hospice and with the development now sold out, a final £30,000 donation has been made.

Each year, the Prince and Princess of Wales hospice provides specialist care for more than 1200 patients with a progressive, life-limiting illness. However the building in Carlton Place in the city centre, which is made up of four townhouses, no longer meets the requirements or the vision for future care of patients and their families. The Brick by Brick appeal is raising the £21 million needed to build a new, purpose-built facility in Bellahouston Park. Foundations will be laid in the summer with patients expected to move in during 2018.

City Legacy is made up of CCG, Crudens, WH Malcolm and Mactaggart & Mickel.

Old Course Hotel plans £5m training complex

At least £5 million will be ploughed into creating a “world-class” private sports training facility in St Andrews.

The Old Course Hotel says its plans for a state-of-the-art complex at Winthank Farm will not only provide a facility of “true excellence” that will rival anything else of its kind but could also create and support up to 150 jobs.

The blueprints were on display for the first time and revealed further details about moves to cement St Andrews’ place as a premier destination for sporting superstars.

Two full-size pitches are planned, one with a fibresand surface and one using a synthetic ‘SIS-grass’ surface, with another grass area that could be used as an informal exercise area.

Work starts on Girvan Golf Clubhouse refurbishment

The four-month project to transform the interior of Girvan Golf Clubhouse is now well underway.

The extensive refurbishment will help to guarantee the building remains an important part of South Ayrshire Council’s sporting portfolio.

The £172k refurbishment programme involves a full internal upgrade of the facilities at Girvan Clubhouse, including the dining room, bar, locker rooms, a new disabled WC and showers. The entrance area and corridor will also be refreshed, heating improved, damp issues resolved, with new electrical fittings helping to improve efficiency and reduce running costs.

The project is being delivered by Kier Construction and is due for completion by September 2016.

Second phase of multi-million flood Edinburgh scheme kicks off

The second phase of a major flood prevention scheme in Edinburgh has begun.

Contractors started work on flood defences along 1.2km of the Water of Leith this morning.

The latest stage will protect Roseburn Park and Murrayfield, which was one of the worst-hit areas during severe floods in 2000.

Around 500 properties along the waterway were damaged when the river burst its banks and boundary walls collapsed.

The project will see the erection of new walls, embankments and floodgates beside the river, as well as two bridges at Baird Drive and Saughtonhall Avenue.

Costs for the first phase of the flood scheme, which focused on the Stockbridge Colonies, Warriston, St Mark’s Park and Bonnington areas, spiralled to £12m over budget, totalling £30m.

Contractors McLaughlin and Harvey Ltd were joined by officials on Tuesday to kick off the £25m second phase.

Dundee concrete conference builds for future

Innovations in concrete, which are helping deliver major construction projects around the world including the V&A Museum of Design, will be highlighted in a gathering of international experts at the University of Dundee this week.

The 9th International Concrete Conference at the university from July 4-6 will welcome over 200 delegates from countries including the USA, China, India and Malaysia.

Research presented at the conference will discuss topics as diverse as the use of waste plastic bottles in concrete blocks, low energy and even carbon dioxide cured concrete.

The University of Dundee is a world leader in concrete technology, particularly relating to new advances in reliability, resilience and sustainability.

The conference will include a civic reception at Discovery Point, overlooking the site of the V&A, where the main concrete contractors for the project will discuss the technical challenges involved in realising architect Kengo Kuma’s vision.

Work continues on 17-turbine Highland wind farm

Work is continuing on a 17-turbine wind farm in the Highlands.

Turbine components for the Corriemoillie Wind Farm west of Garve are due to begin arriving on site from Monday, 11 July.

Contractors RJ McLeod began preparatory work on the project at the end of September last year and have been developing turbine foundations, access roads and the on-site sub-station.

However, EDF Energy Renewables, the sites owners, have stated turbine blades and steel tower sections are to be transported from the port at Invergordon, with nacelles and hubs being transported from Hull via Perth.

The developer added there might be possible delays to motorists in the area over the summer due to the deliveries.

Housing plan for Rattray church

A landmark Perthshire church, which was abandoned by its congregation amid mounting upkeep costs, could be converted into a family home.

Plans have been lodged to transform the 128-year-old Riverside Methodist Church at Rattray.

Developers hope to breathe new life into the building, which has a sandstone steeple, after church leaders took the decision to move out last year.

The transformation plan has been drawn up by agents IMAC Architecture on behalf of new owner Ian Johnstone.

It is understood that if planning permission is granted, the church could be sold on again.

Ian MacGregor architectural consultant at IMAC said the redevelopment would re-energise the area.

The plans involve transforming the main body of the church into an open plan area with three bedrooms. The outside of the building will be largely untouched.

The plans have been lodged with Perth and Kinross Council and a public consultation is underway.

‘Miners’ Stone’ returns home to Bield retirement development

A stone commemorating a much loved institution in East Lothian has found a new home at a local retirement housing development.

The ‘Miners’ Stone’ previously stood at the Miners’ Welfare Institute, which provided support to the mining community and acted as a social hub for everyone in Wallyford, and has now returned to its old home where Bield’s Miners Terrace amenity housing development now stands.

Built in 1924 using £3,000 worth of Wallyford Bricks, the Miners’ Institute had Wallyford at its heart in every sense.

The Bield tenants in Wallyford were provided with a complete overview of the plans before the stone was moved into place and far from having objections were pleased to see the stone return to its original home.

Giving a home to tennis courts, a much used snooker room, and acting as a doctor’s clinic in the 50s the Institute was a key part of the community for decades.

Before the construction of a new Institute and the subsequent demolition of the original building the Institute was a fixture of all the major events in the town.

From wedding receptions to a base for a soup kitchen during the strike of 1972, the Institute is fondly remembered by everyone.

The unveiling ceremony which took place on 24th June saw a number of tenants attend to see the inscribed stone officially welcomed back.