Building Briefs – December 3rd

• Highland Council toasts record success at Scottish planning awards

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the event is one of the government’s most prestigious awards and celebrates achievements in planning, right from the detail of processing through to the bigger picture of creating places which will become the legacy of professionalism.

Highland Council won awards across two of the five categories and was shortlisted in another.

The full list of categories are:

Partnership – innovation in working collaboratively, at any stage, within the planning process.

People – innovation in the participation of a person or people (whether young or old) making a demonstrable effect on the transformation of a place or within the planning system.

Place – innovation in any architectural building or place (built or natural) - Highland Council was shortlisted for New Council offices, Fort William and Raining Stairs.

Plans – innovation in development planning ranging from strategic to settlements. – Highland Council won an award for Fort William 2040.

Process – innovation in improving, or simplifying, any type of processes. Highland Council won three awards in the process category: Historic Environment Record Online, Developer Contributions and Housing Delivery Team and was also shortlisted for Modernising Monitoring.

Stuart Black, Highland Council, executive chief officer transformation and economy, said: “We are delighted to have had had such a successful night which reflects the hard work of all our the staff across the service which is one of the busiest in Scotland. It’s particularly pleasing to see awards for process improvements, place-making and development planning work.”

• Pirniehall pupils road test new play park at Pennywell Living

Local children in north Edinburgh can now enjoy playing together outdoors thanks to a new play park recently installed at Urban Union and the City of Edinburgh Council’s Pennywell Living development in Edinburgh.

To celebrate the opening of the new park, pupils at local Pirniehall Primary were invited down to try out the new space to enjoy the slides, swing sets and mini-spiders web, playing together in a safe and fun environment.

Set within the housing development, the shared park fosters a sense of community and offers an opportunity for families to socialise within the neighbourhood while their children enjoy playing outdoors.

By installing the park, developer Urban Union and the City of Edinburgh Council hope it encourages socialising between both the children and adults at Pennywell Living, allowing them to get to know their neighbours and make friends with those living around them.

The extensive Pennywell development is the result of a partnership between award-winning housebuilders Urban Union and the City of Edinburgh Council.

Following the success of Phase 2, Urban Union launched the third phase of Pennywell Living in July, offering a range of apartments and family homes to house-hunters in Edinburgh.

• Savills shows commitment to racial equality

Savills has announced its commitment to racial equality by signing the Race at Work Charter, a government initiative in partnership with Business in the Community (BITC) designed to improve outcomes for black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) employees in the UK.

The charter builds on the work of the 2017 McGregor-Smith Review, ‘Race in the workplace’, a wake-up call for UK employers, which found that people from BAME backgrounds were still underemployed, underpromoted and under-represented at senior levels.

The Race at Work Charter is designed to foster a public commitment to improving outcomes of BAME employees in the workplace. It consists of five principles to ensure organisations address the barriers to BAME recruitment and progression.

• Rosebery Farmstead benefits from Flexenergy’s pipe technology

A former farmstead on the Rosebery Estate in Midlothian, which is being renovated to create bespoke luxury holiday accommodation, is using eco-friendly pipe technology from Flexenergy to enhance the efficiency of hot water and heating systems.

The Rosebery Home Farm Steading most recently formed part of a working farm, but the buildings are now being transformed to provide three high quality holiday rental properties. Progress is good and the magnificent Clock Tower has recently been fully repaired and renovated.

To ensure optimal energy efficiency of the hot water and heat network, Edinburgh-based Irons Foulner Consulting Engineers specified Flexenergy’s pre-insulated polybutylene pipe. The pipe offers impressive life cycle qualities and will not corrode over time in the same way as conventional pipe. It is thermally efficient and is the only pre-insulated plastic pipe in the UK that can be fully welded, thereby securing the integrity of the network.