Building Briefs – October 27th

State-of-the-art council homes officially opened in Dumbarton

Thirty-seven state-of-the-art new build council homes in Dumbarton were given a ministerial seal of approval when they were officially opened this week.

Margaret Burgess MSP, minister for housing and welfare, visited the new homes yesterday and joined Councillor David McBride, the council’s convener of housing, in marking the opening of the development.

The £4 million Hillstreet Square project, which received £1.9m funding from the Scottish Government, has transformed the area of Brucehill, taking just 11 months to complete.

For the first time in 25 years West Dunbartonshire Council designed and procured the new-build housing project in-house.

All the properties have been designed to a ‘silver standard’ which means that they are more energy efficient. They will release less carbon dioxide than the average home and use less energy to heat the rooms and water supply, allowing significant savings to be made on household bills.

The development, which was built by contractor CCG Scotland Ltd, is made up of 16 one bedroom flats, 6 four bedroom houses, 6 three bedroom houses, 6 two bedroom houses, 2 two bedroom wheelchair bungalows and 1 four bedroom wheelchair bungalow.

At the centre of the development is a community garden which is being created in consultation with the community and has had input on the designs from pupils at Brucehill Early Education and Childcare Centre.

Work to develop around 40 new homes in Clydebank is set to get under way next year.

Volume of residential sales up 6.5 per cent

The volume of residential sales in Scotland rose 6.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2015-16 compared to the same period in the previous year, according to official statistics published today by Registers of Scotland (RoS).

A total of 28,019 properties were submitted for registration between July and September, the highest volume of sales for any quarter since quarter one of 2008-09.

West Lothian recorded the highest percentage rise in the volume of sales, with an annual increase of 23.1 per cent to 905 residential sales. The highest figure was in the City of Edinburgh, which rose 9.6 per cent to 3,530 individual sales. Aberdeenshire showed the largest percentage fall in volumes, down 13.5 per cent to 1,437.

The City of Edinburgh was the largest overall market, with sales of over £805 million for the quarter, an increase of 6.2 per cent on the previous year. West Lothian recorded the highest increase in value with sales of over £148 million, up 31.5 per cent. The largest decrease in market value was seen in Aberdeenshire, down 16.6 per cent to just over £323 million compared to the same quarter last year.

Semi-detached houses were the only property types that showed an increase in prices over the quarter, up 2.0 per cent to £159,854. Detached, terraced and flatted properties were all down: detached by 0.9 per cent to £245,547, terraced by 3.1 per cent to £137,607, and flatted by 2.4 per cent to £134,377.

Alyth rebuilds after flooding devastation

A Perthshire town devastated by floods is showing shoots of recovery as the area’s businesses finally get back on their feet.

People were forced from their homes and businesses when Alyth was swamped amid devastating downpours in July.

Parts of the town were left under several feet of water, causing millions of pounds worth of damage.

Residents and business owners banded together to repair the devastation and this week the town’s only dental practice has finally reopened after undergoing three months of refurbishment work costing £50,000.

Morrison Construction to relocate from Grangemouth to Robroyston

Morrison Construction has acquired 7000 sq ft of modern office accommodation on the basis of a new seven year lease at Nova Business Park, Robroyston.

The deal will see Morrison relocate its Building Central operation, previously located in Grangemouth, to the second floor of Rowan House, Nova Business Park in Robroyston.

University of the Highlands and Islands student highly commended by CIAT

The Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists has announced the winners for its annual Student Awards which celebrate exceptional work produced by those studying the discipline.

The Student Award for Excellence in Architectural Technology (Project) is the premier accolade which recognises outstanding design achievement in Architectural Technology at this level.

The winner was The Glen Hotel Retrofit Project by Cian Gilligan (from Waterford Institute of Technology). The Judges said the project was ‘well detailed and presented to very high professional standards’.

St John’s Church by Katherine Morrison (from University of the Highlands and Islands) was Highly Commended in this category. The Harley-Davidson Centre by James O’Neill (from Ulster University) was Commended.

The Student Award for Excellence in Architectural Technology (Report) is the only accolade which recognises outstanding research achievement in Architectural Technology.

The winner was Joshua Slingsby (from Sheffield Hallam University) for his report; A Critical Evaluation of Cross Laminated Timber Construction (investigated for a Medium Rise Commercial Health Care Facility). Petra Schwarczova (from Sheffield Hallam University) was Highly Commended for her report and Samuel Trevor (from Sheffield Hallam University) was also commended by the Judges.

Loyal James Frew staff celebrate a century of service

Four members of staff have clocked up an impressive combined 100 years of service with Ayrshire-based building services company James Frew.

Malcolm West and George Grayston from Irvine, David Downie from Kilmarnock and Barry Gilmour from Ardrossan are each celebrating 25 years of service with the company.

In recognition of their dedication and service Roddy Frew, managing director at James Frew, presented each of them with a watch.

Both Malcolm and George joined the company as apprentices, while Barry Gilmour practically grew up with the business as his father Arlie worked there before him.

James Frew provides heating and maintenance services for 46,500 properties within 33 housing associations throughout the Scottish central belt and Ayrshire. The company’s maintenance plan for homeowners, known as GasSure, also provides services for 10,250 customers.

Northern Housing Company welcomes rising surplus

Northern Housing Company, the charity that runs 750 homes across Dundee, Perth and Edinburgh, increased its trading surplus by 50 per cent last year.

Part of the Hillcrest group of companies, Northern’s mission is to provide affordable housing for the community at discounted, mid-market rents for people on limited incomes.

The rent is generally discounted from open market rent by around 15-20 per cent.

Most of the company’s activities over the last year have been in Edinburgh, but it is also managing agent for a National Housing Trust project in Broughty Ferry.

In the current year the company is extending into Angus as well as investing on improving its existing stock throughout Dundee and Perth. This year will see a full stock condition survey to allow a revised maintenance programme to maintain the standard of the properties.

Glasgow MPs scale the heights in East End regeneration site visit

Two MPs donned hard hats to see for themselves how a pair of Glasgow tower blocks are coming down as part of regeneration plans for the area.

Alison Thewliss, MP for Glasgow Central and Natalie McGarry, MP for Glasgow East joined GHA chair Gordon Sloan to get a bird’s eye view of how the Bluevale and Whitevale tower blocks at Gallowgate in Glasgow’s East End are being deconstructed piece by piece.

The demolition, the next phase of the area’s regeneration, is being carried out using the ‘TopDownWay’ demolition technology, previously used in France. A gantry system is used to create a safe working area to bring the building down floor by floor, helping minimise dust, rubble and inconvenience to the community.

The demolition of the first block is almost complete and work is progressing quickly on demolishing the second block. Work is expected to be complete by the end of 2015, with the site cleared by spring 2016.

The first phase of new build is already finished, with 62 new GHA homes built just across the road. Some former tenants from Bluevale and Whitevale have already moved into the brand new homes.

Gallowgate is one of the areas identified as a priority for regeneration by Transforming Communities:Glasgow (TC:G), a partnership between GHA, Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government. GHA is currently in discussions with strategic partners and the community to agree future plans for the area.

Plans drawn up for new wind farm near Hawick

Plans have been drawn up for a new wind farm near Hawick.

RES Ltd wants to put up to 13 turbines on Highlee Hill, south of the village of Chesters.

The firm has sent a pre-planning application to Scottish Borders Council.

Rainbow Springfield visit for future engineers

A local West Linton Rainbows group visited the Springfield Robinsland development site to achieve a new badge and help them on their way to becoming civil engineers of the future.

The girls, aged five to seven, who attend the nearby West Linton Primary School, needed to complete five challenges in order to accomplish their “I could be a Civil Engineer” badge.

Having already looked at structures, learned about foundations, ground conditions and made paper windmills with a wind farm engineer the youngsters were well on their way to achieving their badge.

Springfield were delighted to offer the group a tour of the Robinsland site as it backs onto the local school, which is where the Rainbows troupe hold their weekly meetings. During the visit they explored the development and got the opportunity to see first-hand the homes in the various stages of construction.