Building Briefs – February 4th

ACHA to invest £700,000 in energy efficiency measures on Mull

Argyll Community Housing Association (ACHA) has awarded a contract for £700,000 of works to modernise 25 of its properties on the island of Mull.

The contract will see specialists in roof and roughcast renewal A C Whyte improve the energy efficiency of properties in Bunessan, Craignure, Aros, Tobermory and Dervaig.

The works are due to start in February and will be completed by May.

St Andrews University kicks off latest phase of work on £14m sports centre upgrade

The latest stage in a £14 million redevelopment of St Andrews University’s sports facilities has been launched.

The £5.55m works will see a new and extended sports centre created at the existing St Leonard’s Road site.

It will include a new, eight-court sports hall, in addition to a major refurbishment and extension of the current building.

A new reception area and six new changing rooms will also be created, while the access road to the centre is widened and a new, temporary car park is built to the rear. The new sports hall will also be able to accommodate removable seating for 400 people.

Following completion in December, the next phase will involve refurbishing the current sports centre.

The present facilities will be converted into a new, 130-station fitness suite and space reallocated to create a new strength and conditioning suite.

The final phase will see a four-court indoor tennis centre constructed adjacent to the sports centre.

Plans are under way to build a new boathouse — off-site — on the River Tay.

Construction apprenticeship crisis ‘worse than feared’

New figures obtained by construction union UCATT, reveal that the crisis facing construction apprentices is worse than previously feared.

Last month it was revealed that in 2013/14 just 8,030 apprentices completed construction apprentices, when the industry needs nearly 45,000 new entrants every year.

A Freedom of Information request made by UCATT to the Department of Business paints an even worse picture. Provisional figures for the 2014/15 academic year record that there are just 24,850 undertaking construction apprenticeships. Of these the vast majority 19,830 were participating in intermediate level apprenticeships (Level 2), with just 5,190 apprentices undertaking advanced level apprenticeships (Level 3) and 130 apprentices on higher apprenticeships (Level 4).

The dearth of apprentices studying for a Level 3 qualification is particularly alarming as this is considered the minimum standard needed to enter the industry as a fully skilled construction worker.

The growing skills crisis in the construction industry and the failure to train apprentices will be raised by Steve Rotheram MP in a House of Commons debate today.

Turley strengthens Urban Design team in Scotland

Planning consultancy Turley has strengthened is Urban Design team in Scotland with the appointment of director Geoff Whitten.

Whitten, a chartered landscape architect and urban designer, joined Turley in Edinburgh on Monday 2 February. He brings to Turley’s 18-strong Design team extensive experience and insights into large, complex developments, particularly in the residential, education and leisure sectors.

In Scotland, Whitten has played major roles on the successful planning and implementation of projects at The Carrick Loch Lomond, the Edinburgh City By-Pass, design guidelines for the Dundee Digital Media Park, masterplanning frameworks such as Queen Margaret University College Edinburgh and numerous urban expansion projects around Glasgow.

He has for the past two years been working for international engineering and construction consultancy Parsons International as a landscape project manager on the Lusail City scheme in Doha, Qatar – a 38km2 scheme that will create aself-sustaining mix of residential, commercial, retail, hospital, resort and entertainment venues.