Building Briefs – February 29th

Consultants JM Architects have completed initial designs on a new £3.65 million school in South Ayrshire.

The designs for Invergarven School in Girvan are to be put on public display on March 9, and the architects and other representatives will also be attending to answer any questions about the new development.

The new school, which will be built in the grounds of Girvan Academy, will deliver spaces for learning and teaching including a sensory room, life skills kitchen, multi-use hall, hydrotherapy pool and external areas that support outdoor learning.

£25m Regeneration Capital Grant Fund announced

Communities across Scotland are set to benefit from a share of £25 million to help regenerate their areas.

A total of 26 projects will receive funding from the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF), which has been developed in partnership with local authorities, supports projects that deliver new and improved infrastructure bringing significant positive outcomes for deprived areas. The funding brings the total number of RCGF projects supported to date to 66.

Projects receiving a share of the funding include:

Pupils get a glimpse of new Clydebank Leisure Centre

Clydebank’s next generation of sporting stars got a glimpse of the future when they visited the construction site of the town’s new £23.5 million leisure centre.

Five pupils from the local Whitecrook Primary got a tour of the site to find out more about the extensive facilities – including Scotland’s first interactive flume ride – that will be available once the centre opens early next year.

Construction began just eight months ago on the four-storey building and already significant progress has been made.

All of the concrete cores which will form the stairs and lifts within the building have now been completed, with steelworks now underway and the creation of the swimming pools getting started.

It was also announced as part of the Administration’s budget that an additional £1.3m will be invested into creating a unique interactive activity zone and gym for children at the facility.

Aimed at children aged up to 13, the entire first floor of the leisure centre will provide state-of-the-art adaptable facilities for young people to encourage active lifestyles.

The very latest technology, including wall and floor projectors, will be used to create two large activity areas and two large party rooms.

Activity led games will be used to promote physical activity and interaction, as well as a range of other interactive and sensory equipment to help put the fun back into fitness.

The project is being delivered by hub West Scotland, the council’s development Partner. The main contractor is BAM and the architects are Kennedy Fitzgerald.

Stirling Council budget commits £9m to new homes

Stirling Council renewed its commitment to building new homes in 2016/17 at its budget meeting last week.

The local authority will be investing over £9 million this year, as part of a programme of new house building which began in 2010/11 and will provide 210 new houses in the area.

This year, the council will buy eight new properties from developers at Highland Gate, Kildean. Between 2016/17 and 2017/18, it will also buy 24 new properties in Raploch.

In addition, the council will build eight new homes at the old swimming pool site at Riverside, and five at Firs Crescent in Bannockburn.

In the last year, tenants in Stirling have benefited from ten new homes in Cowie, adding to houses completed previously in Cornton, Plean, Cambusbarron and the Top of the Town, as well as Killearn.

Stirling Council’s ambitious £6m city centre affordable housing project on Goosecroft Road has also recently been completed, with the first tenants due to start moving in shortly.

Since 2012 Stirling Council has either built or purchased more than 100 new flats and houses for social rent.

Edinburgh developer puts young people to the test

Ahead of Scottish Apprenticeship Week (29 February – 4 March), regeneration company Urban Union has given young people in Edinburgh the chance to try their hand at house building with a special ‘Construction Challenge’.

Employees from Urban Union arranged a series of training sessions at its Pennywell Living development, in the north of the capital. Seven local young adults took part from Tomorrow’s People, which is a national employment charity that works with those facing the greatest barriers to employment and helps them to get and keep a job.

Participants were taught a range of skills such as brick-laying and mono-blocking, and even got to put their skills to the test by helping repair a wall around the local astro turf pitch at the West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre.

Slight fall in quarterly new home registrations

The number of new homes registered by local authorities in Scotland during the last quarter fell by 4 per cent compared to the same time last year, according to new figures.

Statistics provided by NHBC revealed that councils registered a total of 2,470 new homes between November 2015 and January 2016, compared to 2,579 homes over the same period 12 months ago.

UK wide figures also indicate a slow start to the year with 10,309 new homes registered to be built in January 2016, a 9 per cent fall compared to 11,346 in January 2015.

The figures come after NHBC reported a 7 per cent year on year increase in the number of new home registrations in 2015. In January 2016 a total of 7,885 private sector and 2,424 public sector homes were registered compared to 8,784 private sector and 2,562 public sector homes in January 2015.

In the rolling quarter (November 2015 to January 2016) a total of 32,468 new homes were registered, compared to 35,732 in the same period 12 months ago, a fall of 9 per cent.

NHBC figures also show a 10 per cent increase in the number of new home completions in the rolling quarter (November 2015 to January 2016). Completions increased to 33,182 from 30,155 in the same period 12 months ago, reflecting the strong registration growth seen during 2015.

£87k to repair war memorials across Scotland

Eight war memorials across Scotland have been awarded a total of £87k for repairs.

The recipients are located from across the country, with awards going to memorials in Barra, Falkirk, Orkney, Cowie, Strathblane, and East Dunbartonshire. The size of grant ranges from just over £48k for significant repairs to a large archway in Kirkintilloch, to £750 for the provision of professional advice to understand the complexities of works required before starting the full conservation of a war memorial.

These grants bring to £617k the total amount offered to 73 Scottish war memorials since the scheme was launched by former first minister Alex Salmond in 2013.