Building Briefs – August 21st

• Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre opens officially

The facility is the first of its kind in Scotland and with the aid of state-of-the-art technology, over 200,000 tonnes of the city’s waste will be diverted from landfill every year while also generating enough electricity to power 26,496 homes.

The project will be delivered through a 25-year partnership between the council and recycling and energy recovery company Viridor.

The GRREC has the ability to extract recyclable material from general waste and boost Glasgow’s overall recycling rates, diverting 90% of all council waste from landfill and saving 90,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year.

The GRREC is groundbreaking as it comprises of three main technologies under one roof. It has a smart recycling facility extracting recyclable material from general waste to create a Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) which can be further processed to release energy as well as an anaerobic digestion facility using bacteria to break down organic waste and release methane for fuel to generate renewable electricity.

It also includes an Advanced Conversion Facility (ACF), which heats the RDF creating a gas which is captured and combusted to generate steam which powers a turbine to generate renewable electricity exported to the national grid.

• Algo awarded Perth church construction contract

Algo has been appointed as the contractor for the new Trinity Church in York Place, Perth.

The contractor has taken ownership of the site and work is already under way. The project will be run by site manager Scott Cameron, who has a wealth of experience in site management.
Algo will be working closely with Denholm Partnership Architects on the project and predicts the work will last some 52 weeks.

• Crowdfunding campaign launched to save Aberdeen’s Westburn House

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to save Westburn House in Aberdeen.

The Save Westburn House Action Group was set up by a group of driven community members, passionate to see Westburn House developed to provide core facilities for the community.  The building was designed by Archibald Simpson and is one of the outstanding examples of his contribution to the architectural heritage of Aberdeen.

Sympathetic restoration will provide community assets (toilets, café, meeting rooms, educational centre and gallery space). The building is in very poor condition and urgent work is required to save it from complete ruin and restore it back to its former glory.

• Housing association completes phase 1 of new build Gretna project

Cunninghame Housing Association (CHA) has marked the completion of phase 1 of its first new homes build in Gretna.

The new build project has taken place at the former Halcrow Greyhound Stadium. The site will accommodate 90 houses, with phase 1 providing 47 new homes, phase 2 delivering 43 and phase 3 providing 36. The complete project delivering 126 new homes is due to be finished by June 2021.

Last week, the site was visited by MSP Kevin Stewart, minister for local government and housing, to mark the occasion.

During his visit, the minister was introduced to Mrs Susan Fox, one of CHA’s first tenants, who has moved into one of the new houses. After a tour of her new home, the minister then participated in a tour of the site. This tour was accompanied by a CHA drone which filmed the ceremony and can be viewed on the CHA website.

• Shepherd joins Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors Business Clubs

The Edinburgh and Glasgow offices of Shepherd Chartered Surveyors have joined the respective business clubs for Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors for season 2019/2020.

Both professional clubs provide members with regular opportunities to network and build relationships with like-minded business people across their cities at every home match throughout the season.

Steven Clarke, commercial surveyor, Edinburgh, said: “The opportunity to support our local Rugby Union teams via their respective business clubs was an opportunity that was too tempting to turn down. With both clubs competing for the Pro14 title and European Cups in recent seasons, their following and support have been growing and that is something that Shepherd is very excited to be a part of.

“As well as supporting the continued success of Scottish Rugby as a whole, we are as much looking forward to the East Coast/West Coast rivalry between Edinburgh and Glasgow, where there will be no love lost in the 1872 Cup fixtures – something which will be mirrored within the Shepherd employees and clients attending those fixtures too I am sure!”

Martin Waite, managing partner, Glasgow South, added: “Both clubs are integral parts of their respective business communities and we feel that both offer a great platform, not only to support our local sports teams but also provide a superb platform for networking for our employees and clients at their stadiums, BT Murrayfield and Scotstoun respectively.”

As Business Club Members, Shepherd said it looks forward to entertaining and networking over the coming season and wish both Scottish Clubs a successful season on the pitch.

• West Dunbartonshire to consider new Gypsy/Traveller site

West Dunbartonshire Council will today consider the development of a short-stay site to accommodate additional members of the Gypsy/Traveller community during the summer months.

The council area, in particular Dumbarton, is a traditional stopping place for many gypsy and travelling families, and while the local authority already has an established ‘fixed’ site at Dennystoun Forge, there is increasing demand for short stay pitches, particularly in June, July and August, when there have been unauthorised encampments in public spaces.

Officers have conducted research to identify the best way to manage the additional camps and, as part of this, visited other authorities throughout Scotland to review the solutions they have in place.  

It is now being proposed that an additional designated site is created in West Dunbartonshire with the aim of reducing the number of unauthorised camps, minimising disruption to residents, and also decreasing the resultant costs to the council.

The proposal will be considered by members of the infrastructure, regeneration and economic development committee this morning in Clydebank Town Hall.

If the proposal is given the go-ahead, a programme of consultation will be undertaken, involving key local services, residents, and the gypsy/traveller community.