Building Briefs – February 3rd

The owners of Paisley’s Piazza shopping centre are set to deliver a £1.2 million transformation of their car park.

The multi-story car park will close for the work this month, with the revamp to be complete by the summer.

The work will see improvements to the entrances, lighting and surface, repainting the outside of the building, as well as new lifts and CCTV.

Milngavie Station works to begin later this month

A new start date is being agreed to pave the way for improvements at Milngavie Station.

Footpath, carriageway and car park improvement works were due to begin on Monday 1 February 2016.

However, work has been postponed due to the recent bout of poor weather and contractual processes.

It is now envisaged that work will begin later this month and will last approximately seven weeks.

East Dunbartonshire Council is creating a Sustainable Travel Hub - making it easier to connect journeys whether you are travelling by train, bike, bus or car.

Some parking provision will be limited while works take place, but this will be kept to a minimum.

Work is taking place as part of the A81 Route Corridor Improvements and is being paid for through Transport Scotland’s Bus Investment Fund.

As well as working on the car park, old slabs will be replaced with high-quality granite - creating a welcoming gateway to the town centre and encouraging footfall.

At the moment there are 133 spaces - including seven disabled bays. That will be temporarily reduced to around 75 during works.

When work is completed there will 135 spaces, more bike racks and greater access for all.

The Quay in Glasgow to get £1m overhaul

The Quay leisure park in Glasgow is to be given a £1 million facelift by owners Strathclyde Pension Fund.

Opened in 1996, the site is on the south bank of the River Clyde and includes a multiplex cinema, bingo, ten-pin bowling alley, hotel with 165 rooms, Scotland’s largest casino, Alea, and several restaurants.

The upgrade is due to begin this month and will see the creation of a new public realm zone, improved wayfaring and a series of measures to increase customer engagement activities that integrate the waterfront location.

The project is expected to be completed by June 2016 with businesses operating as normal during this time.

Lowther Hills wind farm seeks progress

A scoping report has been submitted to the Scottish Government on plans to build 42 wind turbines in the Lowther Hills in Dumfries and Galloway.

The North Lowther Energy Initiative is a partnership between Buccleuch and 2020 Renewables.

It would see the turbines constructed to the north west of Wanlockhead.

The scoping report details the layout of the turbines and could pave the way for a full planning application.

West Lothian Council aims to help get girls into construction

West Lothian Council’s apprenticeship scheme has helped hundreds of young people gain vital training and employment opportunities within building and construction trades.

Each year the council recruits new young people from across West Lothian, with many going onto win national accolades for their work.

However, although the scheme attracts hundreds of applicants each year, women are greatly underrepresented with the number of female trades apprentices working for the council still small, compared to their male counterparts.

Job adverts for the 2016 intake of trade apprenticeships will be available in March and West Lothian Council is encouraging more young women to apply for craft apprenticeships within construction trades.

A number of girls from Whitburn Academy and St. Kentigern’s Academy attended workshops and information sessions recently which were organised by the council’s Housing, Construction and Building Services.

The aim of sessions was to encourage more young women to apply for apprenticeships in the trades. The pupils took part in various “have a go” workshops including; plastering, Electrical, Joinery, Painting, Plumbing and Bricklaying

They also visited a site so they could see they type of work council apprentices undertake.

Recruitment for the next batch of apprenticeships starts in mid-March.