Opinion

Rosie Gollan and Francesca Macmillan from law firm Womble Bond Dickinson discuss the Scottish Government's plans for construction in 2024 and 2025.

Richard Campbell, the new chair of the Institution of Structural Engineers Scotland, highlights how structural engineering is assisting efforts to tackle the climate crisis. Due to the combined understanding of the art and science of structural engineering, there have been many significant contribut

Peter Reekie, chief executive at Scottish Futures Trust, looks ahead to what 2024 has in store for construction and infrastructure in Scotland, and sets out one area that all organisations should make a priority over the next 12 months. “The pace of change has never been this fast, yet it

Matthew Aitchison, associate, valuation & advisory at Knight Frank Scotland, highlights the key points from the Scottish Government's proposed Heat in Buildings Bill and shares what steps landlords and occupiers should begin to take to prepare. The Scottish Government has released its

Following September’s grand opening of the South Harbour at the Port of Aberdeen, Turner & Townsend's UK head of project management Garry Murphy highlights the firm's role in the programme, particularly the importance of project controls. In September, the grand opening

Kevin Reid looks at why supporting communities is more than a choice for The Cruden Group. With the season of goodwill in full swing, it’s a poignant time to reflect on how important it is for businesses to embed social value at the heart of everything they do. This has certainly become a

In light of the recent housing emergency declared by the City of Edinburgh Council, Springfield Group CEO Innes Smith argues that collaborative working between the public and private sectors must result in review, action and crucially, an increase in positive planning decisions, to truly make a

Perceptive Communicators non-executive director Ed Monaghan discusses the importance of giving your communications team a seat at the table from the very beginning of a long-term regeneration/infrastructure project and not waiting until a crisis occurs to engage their expertise. Long-term regenerati

Bruce Robertson, lending manager for Scotland at specialist property finance lender Atelier, looks at the challenges that Scotland’s housing market is facing in 2024 and beyond. It is no surprise that Edinburgh Council and, most recently, Glasgow Council have declared housing emergencies. The

Alan Ferns, director of structural engineering at Dougall Baillie Associates, offers advice to building owners and operators affected by RAAC. Panics come and panics go in the pragmatic world of engineering. It is part of the job to identify potentially intractable problems – and then bend the

Proposed new measures to tackle unsafe cladding in Scotland will have “significant consequences” for the country’s real estate industry when adopted, writes Graham Horsman. The Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill – expected to be passed by mid-2024 – is

Caitriona Jordan, head of retrofit at Built Environment Smarter Transformation (BE-ST), Sara Edmonds, head of citizen engagement at BE-ST, and co-director of the National Retrofit Hub (NRH), and Rachael Owens, co-director of NRH, share their insights from the International Retrofit Conference. As th

To mark the first day of the Learning Places Scotland conference, Michael Ross tells SCN how Scotland's hub partnership model is helping to address key issues in the sector. In an ever-changing world, one constant remains - the power of education. It is the foundation upon which the future of o

Mark O'Neill from Hardies Property & Construction Consultants tells SCN why the latest changes to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings are very significant for building owners and occupiers. Commercial buildings across the UK are more energy efficient. At least that is what the

There is little point in planting hundreds of thousands of trees on our roads network if we don’t look after them until they can serve their purpose, says Keith Gallacher. Everyone who drives a car or travels by bus will have seen the small forests of plastic tubes at the side of any new