Building Briefs – March 8th

Office refurbishment complete at Glasgow’s Skypark 5

Skypark has completed work on a office refurbishment of Skypark 5 located in the Glasgow’s Finnieston area.

Skypark 5 comprises 80,000 sq ft of office space and has signed eight lettings to date making the building 70% let.

The building, formerly let to the Glasgow School of Art, has undergone a comprehensive multi-million pound refurbishment to a high specification over the ground and five upper floors.

New toilet and shower facilities have been added within the common areas of each floor.

Perth’s Food and Drink Park construction underway

Perth & Kinross Council has announced that construction work for the specialist Food and Drink Park on the outskirts of the city has begun and will be completed during the summer.

The contract for the construction, worth £1.8 million, of the units has been awarded to Forfar based Andrew Shepherd Construction Ltd.

Work commenced on site in January and is expected to last 25 weeks with an anticipated July completion date.

The site will feature four standard business units ranging in size from 164sqm to 339sqm. Each of the units will have an option for further expansion and subdivision so that they can be tailored to the specific requirements of any occupier.

The units will be available on flexible lease terms also tailored to meet the needs of the occupiers.

A-Plant buys Kier’s hoists

A-Plant has acquired Kier Construction’s hoist inventory and agreed a five-year preferred supplier deal.

Kier’s construction hoists will be incorporated into GB Access, A-Plant’s specialist personnel and goods hoist hire and sale division.

Third party customers hiring hoists from Kier will now be looked after by GB Access.

Elgin flood alleviation scheme officially opening

A major £86 million flood alleviation scheme for Elgin is being officially opened.

The project - which took almost five years to complete - is aimed at protecting more than 1,000 homes and businesses.

The Elgin scheme is one of the biggest ever undertaken in Scotland.

In August 2014, partially-completed flood alleviation schemes in Moray were said to have saved hundreds of homes and businesses.

Thomson Gray opens new office in Glasgow

Construction consultant Thomson Gray has announced the expansion of its practice with the opening of an office in Glasgow.

Located on the 2nd floor at Tay House, the office will offer a full range of services including building surveying, cost management, project management, health & safety consultancy services, principal designer and dispute management.

Technical director John Cartwright will head up the office and has over 25 years’ experience in all aspects of building surveying from condition surveys, dilapidations, contract administration, planned maintenance, as well as being an accredited non domestic energy assessor, and has worked extensively across both the public and private sectors.

£2.7m Paisley Museum Store project begins

Renfewshire Council has started work to build a new £2.7 million museum store on Paisley’s high street.

The facility will house tens of thousands of items from the museum collection not on display in the main museum and is being developed as part of Paisley’s bid to be UK City of Culture in 2021.

The store will occupy the basement of the unit at 7 High Street, currently being fitted out, and will be accessible to the public via a shopfront entrance.

Completion is scheduled for the end of this year.

The project is intended to coincide with a £49m revamp of the main Paisley Museum by 2022.

New community centre opens in Inverclyde

A new £1.8 million community centre has been opened in Inverclyde.

The Inverclyde Council-funded Inverkip Community Centre includes a multi-purpose community hall, changing rooms, library, training centre and meeting room.

The building has been designed as an ‘internal street’ to provide access to all areas as well as acting as a meeting space.

In addition, it provides both sports and social recreation facilities, as well as opening onto the village green. An all-weather 3G five-a-side pitch with floodlighting has also been developed.

Bearsden Community Hub officially opened after £3m investment

Bearsden Community Hub, the new home for East Dunbartonshire Council, library, leisure and cultural services in the town, was officially opened yesterday by council leader Rhondda Geekie following a £3 million investment by the council.

Located in the heart of Bearsden on Drymen Road, it brings a wide range of services under one roof including Council Tax, benefits, registration, licensing, housing, general council enquiries, library services, leisure services, arts and events.

The new facility also contains meeting rooms and social work facilities, new public toilets and an entire upgrade of the current accommodation. The on-site customer services team will make it easier for residents to access and get information about a variety of different Council services and make payments for them in just one visit.

hub West Scotland, the council’s development partner, managed the design and construction of the project using their supply chain partners Anderson, Bell & Christie Architects, who also designed the council’s Community Hub in Lennoxtown, and main contractor CCG.