Building Briefs – August 29th

Family business Campbell & Kennedy (C&K) has been nominated for the Best Use of Training award at the SELECT Awards 2016.

The SELECT Awards, organised by CABLEtalk magazine, are dedicated to recognising excellence in Scotland’s electrical industry, with categories covering a wide range of disciplines.

C&K has been recognised for its best use of training and are committed to offering a wide range of diverse training opportunities which are available to all staff members across the entire company.

The company has an in-house training facility which provides opportunities for professional development to their workforce and partner organisations.

As well as creating employment opportunities for apprentices, C&K has offered work experience placements for school pupils and students and bringing on apprentices, trainees and graduates has been a vital part of the company’s recent success.

Last year the team won the award for Best Environmental Project and in 2014 picked up the prestigious Electrical Contractor of the Year award as well as the prize for Best Customer Service.

The awards ceremony will take place on October 14 at the Glasgow Radisson Hotel.

Morrison begins Highland leisure centre refurbishment

Morrison Construction has commenced £2.175 million of works to refurbish the swimming pool at Craig Maclean Leisure Centre in Grantown.

The project includes the remodelling of the changing village area and installing a new swimming pool ‘tank or shell’ and water treatment plant. Roof coverings to the existing pool and adjacent fitness hall will be replaced, including the installation of new roof lights over the pool.

During the works, the swimming pool area is closed to the public for a 9-month period.

On completion of the works the pool will be deck level which will meet the needs of swimming clubs and lessons and the pool will be more accessible with an improved disabled hoist system. The changing area will be transformed into a family friendly changing village style design which will remain suitable for school use.

Two individual changing/shower rooms will be available to the public throughout the school day for the fitness suite and sports hall, and a small extension to the existing gym and a floor to ceiling viewing window from the foyer to the pool.

Flats plan for former Dundee nightclub

A former nightclub in Dundee city centre could be turned into a café and flats.

Plans lodged with Dundee City Council would see the site at the corner of the Seagate and St Andrews Lane – once home to Liberty nightclub – transformed into a “quality accommodation” made up of eight three-bedroom flats. The applicants behind the proposal also hope to create a ground-floor coffee shop.

Currently, the building is made up of four floors of separate nightclub venues.

The architect working on the plans, Jon Frullani, believes the presence of the bus station means there is a market to attract more footfall from the city centre into the Seagate.

Edinburgh property investment company secures two industrial estates in multi-million deal

An Edinburgh-based property investment specialist is set to regenerate two industrial estates after concluding missives to purchase both in a multi-million pound deal.

SRA Ventures – founded and owned by Scots entrepreneur Shaf Rasul – has taken control of Bowmains Industrial Estate in Bo’ness and Lochside Court Industrial Estate in Dumfries.

Both estates will now enjoy significant investment with accommodation undergoing a dedicated programme of improvement as SRA, part of the E-Net Group, looks to attract new tenants seeking high quality commercial units - from startups, to established blue chip brands and corporate entities.

Charity to take over landmark site from Aberdeenshire Council

A charity is set to transform the historic Westhill Old School and Schoolhouse into an inclusive facility for individuals with multiple support needs and their families after Aberdeenshire Council approved the transfer of the buildings to the charity following a rigorous two-year consultation process.

The buildings, which were considered surplus to the council’s requirements and could have been lost to the community, will now be saved, upgraded and extended to create a first class asset for the benefit of the disabled, their families and the people of Westhill and Aberdeenshire.

In addition to enabling the expansion of the charity’s therapeutic activities and specialist support for individuals with multiple support needs, the facility will have a state of the art sensory room, indoor and outdoor play areas, meeting rooms and self-catering facilities, all of which will be available to community groups.

The provision of an Out of School club for primary school children, before and after school hours, is a key element of the charity’s plans.

Highland community plans to build its own school

A community in the west Highlands has proposed building its own school to replace an ageing primary.

The new building in Strontian would be designed in such a way that it could easily be converted into three terraced houses, or another community facility.

This conversion would happen if, in the future, Highland Council went ahead with its plan to relocate the primary to a nearby secondary school.

Highland councillors have described the community’s plan as “innovative”.

The local authority’s education, children and adult services committee has agreed to recommend that the council relocate the primary to the community-built school on land close to Ardnamurchan High School.

The plan is dependent on Strontian Community School Building Ltd realising its ambition to fund and develop the project to replace the mid-1970s primary school building.

Pioneering lighting to be installed to Aberdeen multi storey blocks

Feature lighting is to be installed at multi-storey blocks after a pioneering pilot scheme was agreed by Aberdeen City Council.

Morven Court, Brimmond Court, and Grampian Court in Balnagask will be the first buildings to trial the £150,000 energy efficient lighting.

If consent from private owners is received, 156 residents could benefit from this complex project as the lights will be installed to all communal areas.

The report to committee said the project is initially cost neutral to the private owners and will offer a reduction in their future electricity costs. It is also designed to recoup much of its initial installation cost through savings in revenue costs.

The report also said the council is unaware of any previous project which combines these technical proposals with a funding model designed to achieve these design principals.

The new lights are expected to be installed towards the end of 2016.

£40m North Ayrshire campus ‘on target’

The £40 million Garnock Community Campus construction project is on course to be completed at the end of 2016, according to North Ayrshire Council.

Building works by Kier Construction are progressing well with the new school at Beith Road in Kilbirnie on schedule for completion and handover in December before the school reopens in the New Year.

The facility will accommodate pupils from Glengarnock Primary School and Garnock Academy.

The school, community and leisure campus will serve the Garnock Valley’s three main towns - Kilbirnie, Beith and Dalry - and bring together pupils who currently attend Garnock Academy, Glengarnock Primary School and Glengarnock Early Years Centre.

As well as providing state-of-the-art educational facilities for pupils, the campus will include a high quality six-lane swimming pool leisure facility, operated by partners KA Leisure, to replace Garnock Pool and a synthetic pitch suitable for rugby and football. The campus also features a number of sports halls.

Essential resurfacing works in Fife rearranged

Work on essential carriageway resurfacing on the B922 Cluny to Kinglassie double bends has been rearranged to begin on September 5, Fife Council has announced.

The £120,000 project was due to commence on Monday 29 August however it has been delayed to 05 September. The work will still be completed within two weeks, according to the council.

For the works to be undertaken safely and to comply with health and safety legislation, the road will be closed with diversion routes put in place.

Access for local people will be maintained however there will be no through access.

Public forums to be held over shape of new Bears Way

East Dunbartonshire Council has announced a number of new public forums aimed at helping to shape the future of the A81 Bears Way.

Forums will be held on 01 and 07 September in Milngavie Town Hall to inform future work on the cycleway, which offers protected space for people of all ages to cycle in safety and comfort.

Phase 1 of the Bears Way - funded by delivery partners Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) and Sustrans - runs from Burnbrae roundabout to Hillfoot. However, it will not be fully functional until all phases are complete.

The proposed Phase 2 will run from Hillfoot to Kessington and one of the goals is to address issues which have been identified through engagement to date.

Public forums will be held on:

Three other ‘drop-in’ information events will be held in the Allander Leisure Centre to complement the public forums.

Drop-in information events will take place on:

A Business Forum was held on 18 August and a Design Forum on Thursday 25 August - including invited stakeholders and representative groups.