Building Briefs – December 17th

• Wood Group Aberdeen office building sold for £80m

The purchase marks the largest investment deal this year in the city.

This is the third acquisition in the city by the New York-based private investment firm and follows the build-to-suit acquisition of the Aker Solutions UK Campus in 2018, and the Lloyds Register building in Prime Four in 2017. LCN also has offices in Amsterdam, London and Luxembourg.

Vendor HFD Property Group completed the development in 2016 and this year, in conjunction with LCN Capital Partners, negotiated a new 15-year lease with Wood, building on their strong relationship.

Located on CityPark, just south of Aberdeen City Centre, Sir Ian Wood House, named after the company’s former chairman, extends to 216,000 sq ft of Grade A office accommodation. The property is a unique offering with floorplates of 54,000 sq ft and is occupied entirely by Wood, accommodating around 2,000 employees.

The deal price represents a yield of approximately 7.00%. HFD was represented by Avison Young; while LCN Capital Partners was advised by Cushman & Wakefield.

• Work on phase two of Inverness West Link ‘progressing well’

Contractors working on the second stage of the Inverness West Link bypass have said they are making good progress.

Road surfacing started on November 5, with access to the canal and roundabout prioritised to allow it to open for the Regatta on 9 and 10 November.

Tow path diversions and temporary car parking for the rowing club were also installed.

The sheet piling to the new wharf began on 10 November using an 80-tonne piling rig with vibrating hammer.

The canal was closed on 18 November to allow the installation of coffer dams at the extents of the bridge and wharf. Pipelines and pumps were also installed for the over-pumping operation.

Constructors are required to keep the canal downstream topped up, which requires 750 litres a second being pumped between the upstream and downstream dams. 

The planned works for the next month include piling of East and West abutments, dewatering of the canal, concrete tie wall and anchors, deep drainage across A82 and duct installation across the canal.

The West Link project has significantly enhanced accessibility since the completion of Phase 1 back in December 2017 and Highland Council is looking forward to all the benefits that Stage 2 will bring for local residents, businesses and visitors to the City of Inverness. 

• Emergency closure of the Milltown of Towie Bridge

Aberdeenshire Council has closed the Milltown of Towie Bridge to all vehicles following confirmation that ongoing degradation has further reduced structural capacity.

The emergency measures follow a condition and structural appraisal of the bridge which carries the C67M road over the River Don near Towie and Glenkindie.

An early reinforced concrete structure constructed in 1924, the bridge has been weight-restricted since 2004.

In 2015 a new bridge was constructed at Glenkindie - also on the designated C67M road - which is one and a half miles upstream of the Milltown of Towie Bridge.

Aberdeenshire Council structures manager Donald Macpherson explained: “The Glenkindie bridge will be the alternative crossing for the present.

“The Milltown of Towie Bridge is considered to be beyond economic repair and we will assess future provision for bridge crossings in due course.”

In the meantime, the council is preparing an 18-month road closure order for the affected bridge.

• Legacy for Howwood from Mactaggart & Mickel

Mactaggart & Mickel’s Building Communities Fund has contributed £1,000 to Howwood Wildlife and Woodlands, a registered charity in Renfrewshire whose Rhombus Community Garden is maintained by volunteers with the aim of making the village of Howwood as welcoming and friendly as possible.

The Rhombus Garden required a thorough makeover and much work was progressed by the charity in 2019, however preparatory work to create a wheelchair-friendly path to facilitate access to the garden by wheelchair users and others was stalled, due to a lack of funds, and accessibility remained an issue.

The contribution from Mactaggart & Mickel has been put towards tarmacking the pathway in the Rhombus garden to increase accessibility for wheelchair users, and to allow others (including the elderly or less able bodied) to safely access the garden without the risk of trip or fall. The garden is located on a few hundred metres from Mactaggart & Mickel’s picturesque Midton Fields development, which is almost fully occupied with only five 4- and 5-bedroom homes still available for reservation.

Joanne Casey, director at Mactaggart & Mickel, said: “We are delighted to make this contribution towards such a valued and important community space, and also to recognize the hard work put in by volunteers in the village to ensure its benefits can be enjoyed by all. We are proud to have become a part of the Howwood community and happy to be leaving this further legacy behind for our residents and neighbours.”

• Double delight for building designers of the future at New College Lanarkshire

New College Lanarkshire’s Architectural Technology team has been shortlisted in two categories in a prestigious industry awards scheme.

The BIM Awards 2020 acts as a platform to honour organisations at the forefront of innovation in digital construction.

BIM is a fast-growing discipline within the construction and built environment sectors.

The third annual BIM Awards feature nine categories, with New College Lanarkshire named as a finalist in the ‘Best BIM Training Programme’ category, in addition to recent graduate Patrycja Wisniewski being shortlisted as one of three contenders for the ‘BIM Rising Star’ accolade.

Patrycja, who lives in Wishaw, recently graduated in HND Computer Aided Architectural Design and Technology (CAADT) from the College’s Motherwell Campus, where she studied for three consecutive years.

The winners of the BIM Awards 2020 will be announced at a glittering ceremony at Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s Boiler Shop venue on Wednesday 26th February.

• LAR opens latest housing development in East Lothian

Housing charity LAR has officially opened its newest development and its seventh in East Lothian.

The 23 properties were designed and built by CALA Management Ltd at its Castle Bay development near Dunbar. It represents the fourth time LAR has worked on projects with the construction company.

LAR was launched four years ago to help tackle the shortage of quality mid-market rental homes across Scotland and its first completed development was also in East Lothian, at Pinkie Mains in Musselburgh.

The Fife-based housing charity now has over 700 homes occupied, under construction or in the planning process at 33 sites across Scotland.

Delivered by CALA, LAR’s newest site consists of 12 two-bed cottage flats and 11 three-bed terraced houses with all homes let in just three viewing sessions. The development will be fully occupied by the New Year.

LAR’s other sites in East Lothian are at Pinkie Mains in Musselburgh, Macmerry, Cockenzie, Old Craighall, Prestonpans and Dolpinstone.

• New North Ayrshire Council homes open

North Ayrshire residents have been given the perfect Christmas present by moving into their new council homes in time for the festive season.

The 31 new homes at Seamill - developed in partnership with Hope Homes and The Wee House Company Ltd - are just the latest in North Ayrshire Council’s housebuilding programme.

The £3.4 million development has been completed in double-quick time by using innovative off-site construction methods at The Wee House Company’s Ayrshire factory. This speeds up the process, generates less construction waste and makes the houses more environmentally friendly.

Called Montgomerie View, the development has been named after the historic landowner of the site.

The 31 high-quality, energy-efficient homes form part of a wider 124-house private development by Hope Homes and The Wee House Company at Ardrossan Road, Seamill.

The new 31-unit development at Seamill provides a mix of general needs, amenity and wheelchair homes.

• Highland Council takes ownership of new Ullapool homes

The Highland Council has taken possession of 16 new homes in Ullapool with a further four units due to be handed over in the New Year.

The homes are located on the former Glenfield Hotel site and are part of a joint development project between Compass Building and Construction Services, the Highland Council, Cairn Housing Association and the Highland Housing Alliance.

The shared site in the village has a range of homes for social rent, mid-market rent and some for private sale.

Designed by Colin Armstrong Architects and built by Compass, the council’s homes will be rented out to people on the housing list who will be moving in shortly.

• Taylor Wimpey West Scotland donates to four local foodbanks

As part of its ongoing commitment to working in partnership with local communities, Taylor Wimpey West Scotland has donated cash and essential food items worth over £800 to four local Trussell Trust foodbanks situated across its west of Scotland operating area.

The Renfrewshire Foodbank received over £200 worth of groceries; while the Glasgow North East Foodbank, South Ayrshire Foodbank and the Rutherglen and Cambuslang Foodbank each received a cheque for £200 to buy the items they need on their shopping lists, as well as some kind donations from residents at these developments too.

Trussell Trust foodbanks provide three days of emergency food to local individuals and families in crisis. Frontline care professionals including health visitors, social workers and school liaison officers refer people who are facing hunger to the foodbank.

As well as receiving nutritionally balanced, non-perishable food parcels, people visiting the foodbank are welcomed with a cup of tea, listened to and signposted to agencies who are able to help resolve the underlying cause of the problem.

Kirsty McGill, head of sales at Taylor Wimpey West Scotland, said: “We are delighted to be able to show our support for four local Trussell Trust foodbanks in this way, and we hope that it will go a little way in helping those that need their services most.

“The work we do is a lot more than just building high-quality homes. Being able to work with local organisations that surround our developments means a great deal to us and it’s great to know that we are helping to make a difference to the lives of people in local communities.”

Taylor Wimpey’s donation to these four Trussell Trust foodbanks is one of the many contributions being made by the housebuilder towards community facilities and infrastructure in the wider area.