Building Briefs – August 31st

Newton Property strengthens Ayrshire presence with new contract win

Property factoring firm Newton Property has continued its growth in the Ayrshire market with a significant new business win.

The firm, which currently serves many large scale developments in Ayrshire, has been appointed as factors by the owners of Citadel Quay, Ayr.

Citadel Quay, located next to Ayr beach and only seven minutes walk from the town centre, is a major residential and commercial development which forms part of the first phase of the redevelopment of Ayr Harbour.

The development consists of three separate building blocks; Church Tower, Donnini Court and Rowallan Court, with a total of 151 privately owned residential apartments, plus a number of commercial units.

Newton has also launched its Contractor Locality Initiative whereby they source regular trades within 20-mile radius of each development they manage in Ayrshire – a move they believe has resulted in many recent business wins for the firm.

Repairs to be carried out at Eilean Donan Castle

The A-listed Eilean Donan Castle, which dates from the 13th century, is in need of extensive repairs to its ancient stones and timbers..

One area in dire need of maintenance is the ancient courtyard, frequented by tourists on daily tours, but which has a leaky roof.

Caithness slate will be used for the repair, according to the design statement, with a wall to be increased in height for “health and safety”. Scaffolding will be put in place as the roof work is carried out.

Other external areas are to be repaired, with rotten beams to be replaced with a new “wall plate”.

Highland Housing Alliance delivers new Kiltarlity homes

The Highland Housing Alliance (HHA) has completed a development of 18 new properties for the Highland Council at Balgate Mill in Kiltarlity.

Completed in conjunction with the Scottish Government, Wm Gray Construction and Ark Estates, 10 of the properties will be for affordable rent through the council with the remaining eight properties made available for the LIFT open market shared equity scheme.

HHA is also developing 10 new properties for Cairn Housing Association at Corry Road in Muir of Ord and 53 new properties for the council at Glendoe Terrace in Inverness

The properties are scheduled to be ready for Summer/Autumn 2018.

Views sought on proposed Clydebank town centre transformation

Residents and businesses of Clydebank are being invited to give their views on a £4.3 million plan to transform pedestrian, cycle and traffic routes in the town.

West Dunbartonshire Council and ‘Connecting Clydebank’ project partners Sustrans Scotland are holding a Drop-In consultation event at Clydebank Town Hall on Tuesday, September 12 between 3pm and 8pm.

Sustrans Scotland has provisionally awarded £2m of match funding to the Connecting Clydebank project through its Community Links Programme, which is funded by Transport Scotland. The project will also receive funding from West Dunbartonshire Council’s Capital Regeneration Fund.

Sustrans Scotland will work with the council to transition the funding from provisional to full funding over the next three years, following the delivery of a detailed communications plan and agreement on final designs which improve cycling and walking connections across the A814.

Connecting Clydebank aims to revitalise the civic core of the town, forming essential links between the Town Hall on Glasgow Road, the ongoing multi-million pound Queens Quay regeneration project and the existing town centre.

It will include removing the central reservation between Hall Street and Hume Street, realigning key junctions and raising sections of the road to pavement level to assist pedestrians in crossing the road.

These significant improvements will create a safer and more attractive route from the town centre to Queens Quay in order to encourage active travel such as cycling and walking. It specifically takes in the stretch of the A814 between Clydebank Library and to the west of the Argyll Road junction.

A mandatory 20mph speed limit on this stretch of the A814 will make the area safer for pedestrians and cyclists and, research shows, reduce traffic congestion.

Costa Coffee signs up to Marischal Square tenant list

UK coffee shop business, Costa, has signed a deal to become the latest high profile tenant at the £107 million Marischal Square development in Aberdeen.

Costa’s agreement will bring new jobs to the city centre regeneration site and will be the company’s fifth site in Aberdeen, at a time when they are recognised as the fastest growing coffee shop business in the UK.

Costa will join All Bar One, Prezzo, Marriott International and iconic north-east businesses Aberdeen Journals and Mackie’s at Marischal Square, which is on schedule to be completed later this summer.

The Marischal Square development includes two city centre office buildings providing 173,500 sq ft of Grade ‘A’ office space with secure parking, seven restaurants and café bars occupying the ground floor space, and a 126-room Residence Inn by Marriott.

It is being delivered by urban regeneration specialists Muse Developments, working with site landowner Aberdeen City Council with Aviva Investors providing the project funding.

First Minister opens £12m ‘first of its kind’ sports centre in Inverclyde

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon joined Paralympians, Commonwealth Games athletes, schools, clubs and community users to celebrate the official opening of the sportscotland National Sports Training Centre Inverclyde in Largs yesterday.

Following a £12 million redevelopment, funded by sportscotland and the Scottish Government, Inverclyde is now a world-class residential sports training centre designed with inclusivity at its heart, making it the first of its kind in the UK.

The development means that Inverclyde now caters for a wide range of indoor and outdoor sports and activities ranging from gymnastics to tennis, and hockey to pilates, and is available to everyone from school children to high performance athletes.

The centre was designed by architecture firm Reiach and Hall whose previous projects include Oriam, the national performance centre for sport, and Aberdeen Sports Village, both part-funded bysportscotland.

Morrison Construction delivered the project, and is also building the new Largs Joint Campus next to Inverclyde, and a partnership with sportscotland and North Ayrshire Council will provide additional capacity for events as well as access to the Inverclyde estate for local schoolchildren.

Semester of success for architecture student Sophie

A third-year Architecture student from the University of Dundee is up for two national awards this year following a semester of success.

Sophie Curran, originally from Auchterarder, has been nominated for the Royal Institute of British Architect (RIBA) President’s Medal, which is regarded as the most prestigious international awards in architectural education and celebrates outstanding design work.

Sophie has also been shortlisted for the prestigious Women in Property Awards finals in London next month.

These nominations come after a semester of success at the University where she was awarded the Dundee Plus award in April, the Michael Spen’s Award, for Best Design Theory, and the JT McLaren award, for highest aggregated marks, at her third-year degree show.

Whiteburn announces sponsorship agreement for event at 16th Innerleithen Pipe Band Championships

Urban mixed use developer Whiteburn is sponsoring the hotly contested March, Strathspey and Reel competition which includes the best Drum corps at this year’s Innerleithen Pipe Band Championships.

The developers said the move marks its commitment to playing a key role in the local community of the Scottish Borders village.

Becoming part of this popular local event will also give the team at Whiteburn the opportunity to engage directly with the local Innerleithen community, and the chance to promote its plans for the redevelopment of the former Caerlee Mill following the submission of its detailed planning application for 44 new build houses and flats to the Scottish Borders Council.

Members of the Whiteburn team will be at the Championships throughout the day to give information about the housing proposals and to seek opinion on potential uses for the former Mill buildings.

The Innerleithen Pipe Band Championships takes place at St Ronan’s Primary School, Innerleithen on 9 September, 2017 from 10am.