Building Briefs - December 3rd

• Temporary bund to be built next to Old Military Road

The 175m long, 6m high bund will be positioned next to the OMR at the foot of the vulnerable channel formed by landslips in August and September. The barrier will be formed using a modular system favoured by the military and will be largely backfilled with material from previous landslides.

Once in place, the bund will provide additional resilience to the local diversion, enabling further use during adverse weather. Construction of the barrier is expected to be complete by Christmas.

A design team is also continuing to assess the viability of the forestry track as an alternative route through Glen Croe, with further information expected to be available next week.

The Old Military Road remains in use as a local diversion route for road users through Glen Croe with teams closely reviewing the weather forecast and conditions on the hillside on a daily basis.

• Clyde Gateway announces £3.2M sale of industrial unit

Clyde Gateway has completed the sale of a prime industrial investment at its Clyde Gateway East business park.

The 28,000 square foot industrial unit was built on a speculative basis and has been purchased by Bradda Capital for £3.2m yielding 6.04% net. The property is leased to the Japanese pump manufacturer Torishima Service Solutions Europe for its European Headquarters.

Clyde Gateway East at Junction 2A on the M74 motorway is recognised as one of the central belt’s premier business parks.  Development carried out over the last 24 months by co-proprietors Clyde Gateway, Aberdeen Standard Investments and Harris Finance has produced five new prime industrial warehouse units, all of which are now leased and bring the total occupied floorspace in the business park to 246,000 square feet.  The last three development plots are currently under offer.

The business park is already home to high calibre occupiers including BT, Cusack Tools, Dentec Scotland, Glacier Energy Services, Greencore, Eden Mill, Smith Brothers and Network Rail. 

• 2024 opening date planned for Parkhead health centre

Work on a £64.3 million state-of-the-art health and social care hub in the East End of Glasgow could begin next year with the facility opening in 2024.

A pre-planning application for the facility, which will be developed on the former Parkhead Hospital, was presented to Glasgow City Council this week.

• Aberdeen road partially closed after manhole collapses

A manhole has collapsed on Wellington Road in Aberdeen.

Aberdeen City Council has been alerted to the incident near Grampian Place.

As a result, there is a northbound lane closure and all traffic is being directed to use the bus lane.

• Affordable homes set for Tarbolton primary school site

Work on 14 affordable homes in Tarbolton is to get under way next year after South Ayrshire Council gave the plans the green light.

The development will see the former Tarbolton Primary School demolished from January to make way for the homes.

It is estimated that the project will take around 12 months to complete.

• New flats plan for Dundee city centre car park

Jon Frullani Architects has submitted plans to convert a Dundee city centre car park into eight new flats.

A planning application has been submitted to Dundee City Council to transform the site at 3-7 Candle Lane.

The flats will contain a kitchen-living room space, a built-in wardrobe and a bathroom.

A communal bike storage unit will also be included on the ground floor as well, The Evening Telegraph reports.

Mr Frullani said he hopes to be on-site at the end of next year and seeing the new flats completed by summer 2022.

• Places for People developments in Scotland honoured at What House 2020 awards

Places for People has been honoured at the UK’s prestigious What House awards, known as the Oscars of the new homes industry.

In a virtual ceremony hosted by Romesh Ranganathan, the developer lifted the silver award for Best Large House Builder of the Year in recognition of its focus on placemaking and the environment, and investment in customer service.

Places for People’s approach to design was also applauded by the judges. Tornagrain near Inverness, a partnership with landowner Moray Estates and Zero C, part of Places for People, received Best House (Bronze) award for the Gifford show home, and Best Exterior (Silver) award for the development’s ‘strong sense of timeless quality’ against stiff competition from all corners of the UK.

Architect Ben Pentreath is also behind Zero C’s sought-after developments at Longniddry Village in East Lothian and Chapelton near Aberdeen.

55 Degrees North, a development of 101 modern homes creating a diverse community at Edinburgh’s waterfront designed by local architect CDA, also received the Best House (Bronze) award.