Building Briefs – June 27th

  • More time to give views on ‘transformative’ proposals for Edinburgh

People across Edinburgh have been given an extra week to have their say on major changes proposed for the city centre.

Building Briefs – June 27th

Proposals for changing the Haymarket area of Edinburgh are projected onto Haymarket railway station

The Edinburgh City Centre Transformation consultation, which began on 20 May, will now finish at midnight on Sunday, 7 July, instead of Friday, 28 June.



Around 2,500 people have already responded to proposals, which focus on changes aimed at improving public spaces and prioritising travel on foot, by bike and on public transport.

Extending the consultation by one week will let any residents, community groups and other interested parties, who haven’t yet had the chance to give their feedback, help shape the next stage of the project.

Feedback will be taken into consideration when preparing the final strategy and a costed ten-year delivery plan, which will be presented to the Council’s Transport and Environment Committee in September for approval.

The consultation runs alongside two additional, closely linked consultations on major proposed changes to the city – Meadows to George Street, which aims to significantly improve walking and cycling along the route (closing on 7 July), and the Low Emission Zone (closing on 21 July).



 

  • Renewable electricity at record levels

Renewable electricity generation in Scotland reached record levels in the first quarter of 2019, the latest figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) show.

In the first quarter of 2019 renewable generation in Scotland was 8,877 GWh, which is enough to power around 88% of Scottish households for a year. This is an increase in generation of 17% on the same quarter in 2018.



The latest statistics also show the growth of Scotland’s renewable electricity capacity continues – rising from 10.4 GW in March 2018 to 11.3 GW in March 2019, or an increase on 0.9 GW or 9.1% in the last 12 months.

Scotland’s net electricity exports are at their highest since Q4 2017, with a net 4,543 GWh exported – equivalent to powering more than 1.1 million households for a year.

 

  • Spike in Scottish million-pound property sales

Million-pound property sales in Scotland increased by 14% in 2018, with 180 homes sold compared to 158 in 2017.



The total increase in Scottish million-pound home sales over the last five years was 67%, beating the Great Britain average of a 36% increase over the same period. However, when comparing sales with 10 years ago, Scotland was 4% lower in 2018, while Great Britain has increased by 194%.

The number of properties sold for a million pounds or more in Great Britain as a whole however held steady over the last year.

The greatest volume of sales in 2018 was in Edinburgh, with a 10% increase over the last year from 101 to 111, bringing its overall growth in sales to 23% over the last 10 years. Edinburgh also saw the largest proportion of sales of homes worth £2 million and above, with 13 sold in 2018 - up from five in 2017.

Growth was also sustained outside the capital. There was a 150% increase in million-pound property sales in Stirling in 2018 (from two to five) and high value homes sold in Aberdeen City jumped from three to seven in 2018 (an increase of 133%).



East Lothian had the highest number of Scottish million-pound sales outside Edinburgh in 2017, but this trend was reversed in 2018 as sales dropped from 10 to five.

 

  • Hanover’s Kesson Court sweeps the board at Saltire Housing Awards

Hanover (Scotland)’s Kesson Court, in Elgin, swept the board at Tuesday night’s Saltire Housing Awards.



Building Briefs – June 27th

Euan Millar, ICOSIS director, and Helen Murdoch, Hanover Scotland CEO. Photographer – Graham Clarke

Kesson Court not only won the Saltire Housing Design Award but also the CIOB Building Award and the Saltire Medal at the Scottish Parliament event.

Designed by ICOSIS Architects, Kesson Court was completed in 2018 and contains 18 two-bedroom amenity flats, three two-bedroom wheelchair cottages and a communal garden.

The Saltire Society Housing Design Awards have been celebrating Scotland’s achievements in housing since 1937. These highly regarded awards both reward and advocate innovation and excellence in Scottish house building and place-making.



The awards come in a special year for Hanover (Scotland) Housing Association which is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2019. Over the last 40 years, Hanover (Scotland) has been at the forefront of providing innovative care and housing to meet varying needs and supporting residents to experience full and active lives.

 

  • Aberdeen’s £13m council housing development nears completion

The second phase of a major council housing development in Aberdeen has been completed – with more than half the properties now occupied.  



Building Briefs – June 27th

Fifty out of 80 homes have been delivered at the Manor Walk site in Heathryfold, representing another milestone in the Aberdeen City Council’s new-build programme for 2,000 new council homes.  

The £13 million Manor Walk project, with properties ranging from one-bedroom flats to four-bedroom houses, is expected to be completed and fully occupied by autumn 2019.  

Last year 99 council homes – 42 three and four-bedroom semi-detached properties and 57 one and two-bedroom flats – were provided at nearby Smithfield.  

The council is poised to appoint a contractor to build 369 homes at the site of the former Summerhill Academy.  

And there are plans for nearly 400 new council homes across Tillydrone, Kincorth and Craighill, with another 350 earmarked for Greenferns.  

The Manor Walk project is being delivered for the council by Bancon Construction Ltd, which was appointed following a competitive tendering process. 

The scheme embodies innovative approaches to environmental management.  

Properties are joined to the council’s Combined Heat and Power Scheme, which uses waste heat from electricity generation to lower bills, combating fuel poverty whilst reducing carbon emissions.

 

  • Blackwood showcases homes of the future at CIH annual conference

Specialist housing and care provider Blackwood adopted an ingenious method of transporting its ‘home of the future’ to Europe’s largest housing festival – by building it across three shipping containers.

Building Briefs – June 27th

A working replica of the ‘Blackwood House’ will be on display at the Chartered Institute of Housing’s (CIH) annual conference in Manchester from June 25-27.

In order to showcase the innovative home in all its glory, the Blackwood team are building the house in shipping containers so it can be transported south of the border.

The pioneering home transforms the day-to-day lives of people who want to live independently with cutting edge technology and design that reimagines living space, redesigning it physically and technologically to make it more accessible.

The adapted shipping containers will allow conference attendees and potential partners to see the technology in action and find out first-hand why it can revolutionise independent living.

Blackwood has an ambitious development programme over the next five years and every aspect of the house has been carefully considered to remove any obstacles or issues that can disrupt daily life. It features electric doors that slide open and shut at the touch of a tablet and taking away the hassle of manoeuvring around it.

Other special features include high and low-level kitchen units that rise and fall, and contemporary moveable bathroom components that provide high levels of accessibility.

The property is ‘smart’, too, with technology playing a key role: lights, blinds, doors, entry systems and heating can all be controlled via Blackwood’s bespoke digital care system, CleverCogs. Much of this technology will be able to be controlled by voice.

1,400 providers attend the CIH Conference with 98% of the largest housing associations in attendance.

 

  • Project to transform vacant Glasgow shop units into temporary creative spaces

A new project has been launched which will see 11 vacant shop units on Glasgow’s historic High Street and Saltmarket transformed into interim / temporary spaces, most of which are for the creative industries.

Building Briefs – June 27th

This Meanwhile Space project aims to both increase the vitality of areas by increasing footfall and support new and growing businesses. The first of these - the New Glasgow Society, an art gallery, moved in on 21 May, with all of the other units to be occupied shortly.

The initiative, one of 26 projects being delivered as part of the Glasgow City Council’s High Street Area Strategy (HSAS), is being delivered by City Property Glasgow (Investments) and funded by City Property Glasgow (Investments) and Glasgow City Council, is also part of the council’s wider Space for Growth strategy, will see a number of long term vacant shop units transformed into temporary creative spaces.

Based in the Saltmarket, St Andrews Street and High Street areas of the city, the shop units have undergone extensive renovation work over the last six months to transform these until they are ready for occupation.

The initiative, which has already seen success in London and Paris, is part of the HSAS plans to revitalise the area, helping to develop creative organisations, creating jobs and supporting inclusive economic growth across Glasgow. It is also hoped that by making the units available to the creative community that the initiative will complement the vision outlined in the HSAS; supporting a thriving local community, with a visitor offer focused on the unique heritage assets of the area and the independent businesses within this historic corridor.

There will be an evaluation of the project by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, which will consider the roll-out of similar models to other parts of Glasgow.

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