Building Briefs – October 6th

National Theatre of Scotland HeadquartersStars back campaign for £6.4m national theatre HQ in Glasgow

Alan Cumming and Blythe Duff have lent their support to a new £6.4 million headquarters for the National Theatre of Scotland.

Celebrated theatre, TV and film artists including Star Wars favourite Ian McDiarmid and Still Game’s Greg Hemphill, have backed plans for the new centre, set to be built in the Speirs Wharf regeneration area of north east Glasgow.

The new National Theatre of Scotland Creation Centre, designed by RIBA award-winning architects Hoskins, will enable the company, for the first time, to house all its rehearsal and production activity under one roof and address the urgent need to move from current locations.



The project has launched its last major appeal for £1.9m in funding to complete the plans.

The total estimated project cost for the new building is £6,475,000 with £4,579,000 already secured.

Construction work on site is due to begin this month with an estimated completion date of summer 2016.

 



Forth Road Bridge to close for three weekends

Road users are warned to avoid the vicinity of the Forth Road Bridge when the A90 and M90 (M9 Spur) will be closed to all traffic south of Echline Junction to allow for the demolition of the B800 bridge located between South Queensferry and Kirkliston.

This signals another milestone in the progress of the project and this will allow the next phase of roadworks for the Forth Replacement Crossing in the Scotstoun area to progress.

From 8PM on Saturday October 24, 8PM Saturday October 31 and 8PM on Saturday November 14 the A90 and M90 (M9 Spur) will be closed in both directions through to a latest re-opening time of 6AM the following Monday morning.



 

Lovell celebrates safety performance award

Lovell health and safety advisor Calum McKay (on left) being presented with the RoSPA President’s Award by RoSPA deputy chief executive Errol Taylor
Lovell health and safety advisor Calum McKay (on left) being presented with the RoSPA President’s Award by RoSPA deputy chief executive Errol Taylor

Lovell has received an award from safety charity RoSPA (the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) in recognition of the company’s exceptional health and safety performance over more than a decade.



The RoSPA President’s Award marks Lovell’s achievement of consecutive RoSPA Gold Awards – which are only given to organisations with outstanding safety management systems - in Scotland over the past 11 years. It was presented to the Glasgow Business Park-based company in a ceremony at the Hilton Glasgow Hotel.

 

Ferry facilities on island of Kerrera get £1.7m upgrade

A tiny Scottish island which is home to fewer than 50 people is to receive a £1.7 million upgrade to its ferry berth in a bid to help the local economy.



Kerrera, near Oban, is about four miles long and one mile wide and has a castle ruin dating back almost 500 years.

The cash will see the construction of a new breakwater and the extension of the ferry berth slipway on the island and on the mainland at Gallanach by 2016.

It is hoped the improvements will make the ferry more reliable in bad weather.

The work, which is due to start in January, is to be carried out by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL), and will be completed by summer 2016.



 

£3m Highlands cycle way upgrade complete

A £3 million upgrade of a cycleway in the Highlands is now complete.

The project to improve the Great Glen Cycleway has been funded by Transport Scotland.



The route, from Fort William to Inverness, is the last leg of the Caledonia Way, National Cycle Network Route 78.

New sections of the cycleway have been installed to link the existing paths.

The project was delivered by Transport Scotland, designers AECOM and contactor RJ McLeod.

Works included the refurbishment of the disused railway tunnel on the Aberchalder Estate and innovative rock trapping measures.



 

Bellway site manager wins top award

George Carty
George Carty

Bellway site manager George Carty has won one of the building industry’s highest honours.

He picked up the Regional Award in the Large Builder category at the NHBC’s Pride in the Job Quality Awards Scotland Region lunch on 2nd October in the Hilton Hotel in front of an audience of 500 industry peers.

George, from Cumbernauld, was entered for the honour after winning his fourth Pride in the Job Award in June.

He was one of only five Scottish Regional Award winners and will represent Scotland in the UK Supreme Awards in London in January in the large builder category. He was also awarded a Seal of Excellence Award for excellence in on-site management.

The awards were presented for his work on The Marches, a development of three, four and five bedroom properties in Stepps outside Glasgow.

 

Kingdom makes cost cutting utility deal

Kingdom Housing Association Limited has signed a two year agreement for the management of its commercial and office utility services, electricity, gas and water across its sites with Business Cost Consultants Limited of Glasgow (BCC).

The arrangement with BCC will ensure that not only are Kingdom Housing Association (KHA) utilities tendered on contract expiry to achieve the most competitive rates possible but also that BCC will manage the services with utility providers releasing valuable resources within Kingdom to focus on other matters. The arrangement guarantees that KHA will make financial savings or the fees to BCC will be waived.

 

Scotland meets community renewables target early

A target which aims to get renewable energy into community or local ownership has been met five years early.

An estimated 508 megawatts (MW) of community and locally owned capacity is now operational in Scotland which exceeds the 500MW target by 2020.

The announcement was made by the energy minister Fergus Ewing ahead of the Holyrood Magazine Community Energy Conference in Perth later today.

The Scottish Government’s recently published its first ever Community Energy Policy Statement, which outlines the economic and social benefits of shared energy ownership and promotes a new approach to energy development in Scotland.

 

Fife Council to carry out resurfacing works

Fife Council has announced it will carry out major resurfacing works this weekend.

The roadworks will take place on the A91 from 10 October for up to two weeks.

The A91 will be closed East to West for the duration of the works while the B936 will be closed North to South through Auchtermuchty on the 10 and 11 October.

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