Building Briefs – August 9th

• IFT wins award for work on ‘awe-inspiring’ Macallan Distillery

IFT was contracted by the projects principal contractor Robertson Construction to provide flooring at the new £140 million Macallan Distillery that opened last summer. IFT installed screed and resin flooring to the Production Areas, Visitor Centre, Cave as well as the outside of the building.

The whisky distillery on Speyside was designed by internationally acclaimed architect Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners and during construction up to 400 people specialising in more than 20 different trades were employed on the site throughout the three year construction period.

IFT also won Large Industrial Project of the Year at the FeRFA Awards for its work with the Macallan Distillery.

• Six-figure investment brings Aberdeen indoor pitch up to SPL level

Aberdeen Sports Village (ASV) has made a £250,000 investment to install a premium 3G surface to the facility’s full-size indoor pitch.

The new pitch, which was recently completed following a five-week installation, is the same surface used by Scottish Premier League teams and Glasgow Warriors Rugby Union team.

The Greenfields MX Elite 60 is also in place at the National Performance Centre at Oriam, Edinburgh.

It is the first upgrade of the indoor pitch since the sports village opened ten years ago and is set to bring huge benefits to the 50 plus local clubs which currently use the facility, as well as attracting elite teams to the city for indoor training.

The Glasgow Warriors are the first major team to utilise the new pitch at ASV, using it for a full training session this week.

Aberdeen Football Club’s Kingsford training facility is set to boast the same advanced indoor pitch surface but ASV is the first in the north-east to install a full-size pitch with a woven 3G technology surface, which will be available for public use.

• Dundee glass firm shatter sales record

Dundee-based glass manufacturer Ravensby returned to profit last year after increasing its sales by almost £1 million.

Newly published accounts show sales of £14.3m for the year ending October 31 2018, a rise from £13.4m the previous year.

The firm made pre-tax profits of £186,000 last year against a pre-tax loss of £345,000 in 2017.

In his strategic report, chairman Nicholas Cunningham said the firm had achieved higher commercial glazing sales as well as greater operational efficiency last year. He said the firm “continues to endeavour to promote sales and develop further diversification in its product range within the construction industry sector”.

• Argyll and Bute secures greatest benefit from Scottish Timber Transport Fund

Argyll and Bute has secured £1.7 million the Scottish Government’s Timber Transport Fund.

The council has been successful in getting the largest share of the government’s £6.6m fund which is earmarked for projects that minimise the impact of timber lorries in its rural road network.

The £1.7m allocated to local projects means that every £1 spent by the council has been almost doubled by the Scottish Timber Transport Fund (STTF). Total spend for timber roads’ improvements, including the council’s investment, will come to more than £2.7m.

The works being undertaken will make it easier for local residents and businesses to share the roads.

• Plans to upgrade Aberdeen shopping centre

Edinburgh-based Montagu Evans is behind plans to upgrade an Aberdeen shopping centre.

Orchard Street Investment Management LLP has applied for permission to revamp Westhill Shopping Centre on the town’s Old Skene Road.

The development would include a refurbishment of the shopping centre, the removal of its existing canopies and the creation of new signage.

• Halliday Fraser Munro to sponsor Build Your Future challenge

Architectural design and planning practice Halliday Fraser Munro is encouraging the next generation of Scotland’s construction industry workers as the main sponsor of the Build Your Future challenge.

The competition, led by Grampian Construction Training and the Construction Industry Training Board, aims to highlight the range of careers in the sector.

The challenge will see around 300 second year school pupils take part in a series of challenges testing their skills in joisting, designing and building weight-bearing structures, bridge building, plumbing a radiator, and developing the roads of the future.

Heats will take place across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire in the autumn, with the grand final being staged in January 2020. It is hoped the event will educate pupils, teachers and their parents about the breadth of career opportunities that exist in a buoyant and exciting sector of industry.

• Scottish Water and partners bring Pentlands footbridge ‘back to life’

A group of volunteers from Scottish Water and alliance partner Caledonia Water Alliance (CWA) have brought the Laverockdale wooden footbridge in the Pentlands back to life.

The footbridge, which crosses Bonaly Burn next to Colinton, had become worn and staff at Pentland Hills Regional Park had been looking for it to be repaired as, although outside the Park area, it forms part of a vital link from the city.

The bridge is next to an area of the Pentland Hills where Scottish Water is carrying out a £20 million project to make the drinking water network in Edinburgh and beyond more resilient.

The work is being carried out by CWA and staff from the company organised the volunteer event after learning about the work which needed to be carried out.

A 13-strong team of volunteers – from Scottish Water, CWA and Pentland Hills Regional Park, spent a day dismantling the old footbridge and building a new one - complete with two handrails.

Scottish Water has almost completed the installation of 12km of brand new mains in the south of Edinburgh, including parts of the Pentlands. The investment will allow customers to be supplied from two different locations – Glencorse and Marchbank Water Treatment Works - making it less likely they are left without water.

• Pacific Building set to work on fire-damaged pub

Pacific Building will carry out the work required to bring a Glasgow city pub back to life following major fire damage.

Lauder’s Bar in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, which is owned by the same team behind The Horse Shoe and the Auctioneers in the city, has been closed since March 2018 when the fire ripped through the building housing the pub and other businesses.

Much of the main structure has been demolished but Lauder’s survived intact, and now the company who run it, Mitchells & Butlers, have confirmed publicly that building work is under way.

They have also created a Facebook event with an opening date of September 3.

Lauder’s dates back to 1871 when the pub was owned by whisky maker Archibald Lauder.

It is one of the most iconic watering holes in Glasgow city centre and backs on to the Pavilion Theatre.