Building Briefs – August 1st

Glasgow School of Art has announced that the work to take down the Mackintosh Building remains on schedule, despite having to stop work over the weekend as the high winds made it too dangerous to proceed.

Stabilisation work on three sides of the building got underway this week.

Last week saw two cranes and two mobile elevated working platform (MEWP)s on site enabling work to be undertaken at a high level on the east gable, south façade and north façade. The focus of the work continued to be on the east gable and south façade so as to make these areas of the building safe as soon as possible.

On the east gable remedial steel restraint strapping was installed. This allowed safe working for removal of the existing scaffolding, which is to be replaced by new, shoring scaffolding. Removal of the existing scaffolding is currently being undertaken by SGB and is close to being completed. Meanwhile, the GSA’s expert structural engineers, David Narro Associates, have developed the scheme for the shoring scaffold. Detailed design and calculations have been progressed and were shared with Glasgow City Council Building Standards.

At the west end of the building the existing scaffolding on the north facade (corner of Scott Street and Renfrew Street) was cut away and reduced. This meant it was possible to do high level work, including removal of roof steelwork and RHS beams. The contractor was then able to do further interior down-takings.

Following the issue of a Section 29 notice work began to make a key area of the ABC O2 building safe so that stabilisation of the south façade of the Mackintosh Building could proceed. This work is being undertaken on behalf of Glasgow City Council by Reigart.

In the coming week work will begin in earnest on the west end of the building starting with the south façade above Sauchiehall Street.

UK government boosts Interserve with £67m FM contract

Interserve has secured a new £67 million, five-year contract to provide total facilities management services for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

The deal extends the company’s ten-year relationship with the government department and provides service continuity.

The contract includes services to FCO’s main building in London, as well as to embassies and supporting properties throughout the UK and in France, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Switzerland.

As part of the core £67m fee, Interserve will continue to deliver a wide range of services through the contract including, engineering, cleaning, front-of-house support, landscaping and ground maintenance, helpdesk, porterage, mail room, catering and helpdesk services at over 450 buildings internationally. In addition to the core fee, they will also provide delivery support to future project works throughout the contract.

The new five-year contract, with the opportunity to extend by a further two years, increases service transparency, integration, resilience and reporting to facilitate the evolution and optimisation of the FM services over time to match the demanding operational requirements of the FCO.

Third consecutive President’s Award for Clark Contracts

Clark Contracts has been awarded its third consecutive President’s Award in the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA)’s Health and Safety Awards 2018.

To receive the President’s Award, Clark Contracts has achieved 12 consecutive Gold Awards by demonstrating excellent occupational health and safety management systems, a rigorous approach to occupational health, a continued high level of performance and compliance with control measures.

Clark Contracts will be presented with the President’s Award during the annual presentation ceremony at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow on September 13.

Two drive-thrus planned for land near Kingsford Stadium

Plans have been lodged to build two new drive-thrus to cater for football fans at Aberdeen Football Club’s new Kingsford Stadium.

CAF Properties Limited has applied for planning permission from Aberdeen City Council to build a new drive-thru site on land next to Ardene House Veterinary Hospital in Kingswells.

The plans include the creation of three separate units, with two including a drive-thru lane, but no indication has been made as to who may occupy the site.

Plans submitted for new gym ‘warehouse’ in North Glasgow

Plans have been submitted for a new ‘warehouse’ gym in North Glasgow.

Elation Fitness Training want to use an industrial unit on Strathmore Road as a gym. It has asked Glasgow City Council for permission to change the use of the unit.

Work continues on A9 Dualling project

Work is continuing to progress on the A9 Dualling project across Perth and Inverness, with public exhibitions expected to take place in Ballinluig this month.

The A9 Dualling scheme is one of Scotland’s biggest ever transport infrastructure projects, which will upgrade the road into a dual carriageway.

Draft orders are expected to published on further dualling projects shortly.

Construction begins on Stirling pontoon

Construction work is underway on a new pontoon at Stirling’s Old Harbour as part of a regeneration plan for the River Forth.

The £270,000 project will be completed by contractors Gareloch Support Services (GSS).

The pontoon landing stage will be 30 metres long, with an additional five-metre section for rowing boats and kayaks. The state-of-the-art pontoon and access walkway will rise and fall with the tide and is designed to be wheelchair compliant.

The scheme is being carried out in conjunction with the restoration of the Old Harbour Wall.

The pontoon is expected to be completed at the start of September.

Consultation underway on Uig Development Brief

A consultation is officially underway on the Uig Development Brief, which will run for eight weeks until 21 September.

The draft Development Brief covers the area around the commercial core of Uig which lies immediately to the west of the Harbour. It aims to provide a structured framework for the physical development and transformation of the area over the next 20 years.

The Brief will also identify and coordinate development and regeneration opportunities which may arise from the £30 million expected to be invested by Transport Scotland in the Skye Triangle ferry service, which includes a new and improved ferry vessel and major upgrade of Uig Harbour.

It can be viewed at here, as well as via a hard copy available at the CalMac Ferry Terminal in Uig and at Highland Council HQ in Inverness.

A consultation event is also being held at Uig Village Hall on 10 September, along with a drop-in exhibition between 3pm and 5.30pm and a round-table workshop between 6-7pm.

Century-old sewer in Haymarket replaced

Scottish Water has successfully upgraded a century-old Victorian sewer in Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh.

The new modern sewer allows for an increased capacity in the network while also reducing the risk of flooding in the area and helping to keep Edinburgh’s wastewater cycle flowing.

Upgrades to the sewer took place over a nine-month period. Amey Black and Veatch (aBV) began the work in October to install 250m of new sewer up to 3.5m underground. The work to install the new 1.2m diameter storm storage sewer pipe was carried out on four phases in order to keep disruption to the area to a minimum.

Further work is to begin this week to resurface sections of road on both Eglinton Crescent and Magdala Terrace where the diversion route operated.

Gas distribution company SGN will also complete its final reinstatement work in the area. Some traffic management will be in place.

The upgrade was part of Scottish Water’s programme of investment between 2015-2021 which will see £29.5 million of water and wastewater infrastructure projects completed across the capital.

Information event to take place on Irvine public realm works

An information event is to take place on the ongoing public realm works in Irvine.

The drop in session will be headed by North Ayrshire Council along with contractors Maclay Civil Engineering, and will inform locals on the status of the development.

The session will occur on 01 August from 10am-3pm in Unit 19T on Bank Street.

Maclay completed initial drain works on High Street earlier this month.

The first phase of the public realm work commenced yesterday, 30 July, at High Street North.

Work will also be undertaken at the Vennels, Bank Street and High Street South and is expected to be complete by the end of 2019.

Allstone Glasgow appointed to upgrade Milngavie football pitch

Allstone Glasgow has been appointed to upgrade the football pitch at Oakburn Park in Milngavie.

The contractor will carry out drainage improvement works as part of a £30,500 investment.

The work, which should reduce waterlogging on the pitch, was identified as one of the Milngavie Open Space priority projects in the Council’s Open Space Strategy.

The work is expected to be complete in four to six weeks, with the pitch available for play in late summer.