Building Briefs – April 13th

Cala Homes marathon man raises £5000 for Alzheimer Scotland

A CALA Homes employee and first-time marathon runner is in the home stretch of his bid to collect £5000 for a charity close to heart.

Derek Lawson, 44, has raised the impressive amount for Alzheimer Scotland in memory of his two grandmothers - who both developed dementia later in life.

Competing in the upcoming Stirling Marathon, Derek reached out to friends, colleagues and contacts in the wider property industry.

His employer, CALA Homes has also boosted his total by match-funding £500.

Derek, who is a director with CALA Homes (East), was further inspired after reading statistics predicting how dementia will impact the UK’s ageing population.

He said: “Until you have experienced it with a relative, it’s hard to understand how much Alzheimer’s and dementia can impact the lives of those around them. Having had both sides of my family go through it I know the toll it can take.

“Not just that, but it is so difficult to watch the person you’ve always known slip away.

“I hadn’t been planning on fundraising, but I was reading an article recently explaining the number of people in the UK likely to be affected by dementia in years to come and the statistics are mind-blowing and certainly concerning.

“That really brought back my own experiences and I felt compelled to fundraise for Alzheimer Scotland, who I know do amazing work to improve lives in such difficult circumstances.”

Sa Craig, events manager from Alzheimer Scotland said: “We are so grateful to Derek for choosing to raise funds to support Alzheimer Scotland and wish him well for the up and coming Stirling Marathon.

“With around 90,000 people living with dementia in Scotland and the number on the rise, it is our biggest health and social care challenge. All monies raised will go a long way to boost our vital services including our local support, services and advice which will help us get closer to achieving our aim of making sure that nobody faces dementia alone.”

In preparation for the big day Derek has been gradually increasing the distances running on country roads near his home in Wishaw, Lanarkshire.

Derek added: “I’ve now competed in a few longer races including half marathons – and training for the full marathon has been a real challenge, especially in the winter months.

“I’ve really needed the support of the donations – for which I’m hugely grateful – and I’ll certainly require the motivation of the cause to get me past that finish line.”

Only taking to long-distance running two years ago, and who also suffers from asthma, Derek managed two sub two-hour half marathon last year and hopes to complete 26.2 miles in around four hours.

Having originally targeted £2600, the developer now hopes to double his initial goal before the marathon, which takes place in Stirling on the 29th April 2018.

To sponsor Derek, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/derek-lawson

If you have any questions about dementia and of the services available in your area call Alzheimer Scotland’s 24 Hour Helpline on 0808 808 3000 or visit the website at www.alzscot.org.

Double appointment for Bakerhicks’ building services team

Multidisciplinary design and engineering company BakerHicks has appointed two senior executives to its Building Services team.

James Chorley and Graham Furness take on the newly created roles of Head of Mechanical and Head of Electrical respectively.

In his new role James Chorley will be the mechanical engineering lead for BakerHicks, overseeing the delivery of its trademark sustainable building services designs.

A Chartered Building Services Engineer and BakerHicks alumnus, James re-joins from QODA Consulting where he led and managed a range of mechanical, electrical and sustainability designs. He has proven experience of working on major projects, including transport and pharmaceutical facilities.

With more than 45 years’ experience, Graham Furness joins BakerHicks to lead the electrical engineering team. A member of both the Institute of Engineering and Technology and the Institute of Chartered Building Services Engineers, he has worked across all sectors of engineering, from the rail and transportation sectors to nuclear power stations and oil and gas installations. Prior to joining BakerHicks, he was Associate Director at WSP, and has managed data centres across Europe for clients including Goldman Sachs and Barclays Bank.

Simon Steed, Director of Building Services at BakerHicks, said: “I’m delighted James and Graham have joined the business. They both have proven track records in complex environments and will bring an even tighter control on design quality, as well as new skill sets to the team.”

Granton homes return for second stab at approval

Ed Consilium has submitted an application for the creation of 11 flats on vacant ground off Edinburgh’s West Granton Road.

The plans supplant an earlier application for a taller building that was refused permission.

The latest proposals have been drawn up by Cockburn’s Consultants by taking on board criticism of the original scheme by cutting out the top floor and expanding the amount of open space bordering Granton Crescent Park.

Finished in white roughcast with timber lining above a grey brick base course the project will include undercroft parking for three vehicles as well as a further eight surface parking spots and a landscaped amenity area.

Tenants move in to Hadden Group-built Forfar housing redevelopment

A community of Forfar residents can officially call a £2-million housing redevelopment home after it was formally handed over to its tenants.

Viewmount’s modern, low-rise, affordable council accommodation consists of eleven attractive new homes built by contractor Hadden Group to replace unpopular multi-storey flats.

High quality semi-detached houses, with secure gardens, and a new parking space for 21 vehicles have been developed using Angus Council funds and a £649,000 grant from the Scottish Government’s Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

Four of the properties are suitable for householders with disabilities and all of the addresses benefit from solar panels, high levels of insulation and ventilation. They will all contribute to reducing utility costs for tenants and help to meet carbon reduction targets.

Four of the properties are suitable for households containing people with disabilities, and as such, include level access entries and showers, door entry systems, adjustable kitchen worktops, widened hallways and doorways, future-proofed ceilings that can accommodate hoists if required and double parking spaces to help individuals with everyday living.

Overall, the project comprises of 4 three-bedroomed two-storey semi-detached houses; 4 two-bedroomed single-storey semi-detached houses; 2 three-bedroomed two-storey terraced houses; and 1 two-bedroomed two-storey terraced house.

Scott Hadden, chairman of contractor’s Hadden Group, said: “We are very proud of our role in delivering these new homes for Forfar in partnership with Angus Council. Across the project, the team has worked very hard to deliver attractive, affordable homes without compromising on a desire to create a sustainable development that is sympathetic to the surrounding area.”

Barrier replacement M8 Junction 22

As part of Transport Scotland’s strategic trunk road management programme, Scotland TranServ will replace 1.2 kilometres of motorway barrier on the M8 eastbound between Junctions 22 and 21 at Kinning Park.

Scotland TranServ, has successfully replaced around 25 kilometres of central reservation barrier along the M8 over the last three years as part of a major refurbishment scheme.

Works will start on 19th of April and run overnights from Sunday to Thursday for ten weeks, starting at 8pm and ending at 6am each morning.

Laura Gray, Scotland TranServ’s deputy planned maintenance manager, said: “Already, on behalf of Transport Scotland, we have invested over £4.5million to replace M8 barriers that are reaching the end of their maintainable life. We’ve improved lighting with hundreds of new energy efficient LED lamps and refurbished overhead gantries, installing new LED signage, delivering long-term benefits to Scotland’s busiest motorway.

“In order to complete the £620k project as efficiently and safely as possible it will be necessary to implement overnight lane closures on the motorway from Sunday to Thursday each week for up to ten weeks. Short local diversions will be clearly signed.”

The programme of works will again be carried out by specialist contractor HBS, which has already replaced enough M8 barrier to stretch from Glasgow Airport to the Glasgow Fort.

Ms Gray added: “Scotland TranServ has worked closely key stakeholders such as Police Scotland and the local authorities to schedule these works, to reduce the impact on commuters and freight traffic.”

The M8 is Scotland’s busiest motorway, with more than 100,000 vehicles using the trunk route daily.

Andy Fraser, Scotland TranServ’s operating company representative, added: “Scotland TranServ continues to deliver a programme of works to modernise this major route, while keeping disruption to a minimum. Across South West Scotland, we’re working on behalf of Transport Scotland to prioritise road maintenance issues, improve lighting, replace barriers and deliver road surface improvement projects as quickly, efficiently and safely as possible.”