Building Briefs – January 7th

Graham Construction has completed work on a £20m extension of the Silverburn Centre, Pollok, a 120,000sq/ft block incorporating a cinema, restaurants and expanded retail.

Designed by BDP the western extension has been funded by Hammerson to improve the centre’s leisure offer.

£15m hotel to fill Edinburgh gap site

An Edinburgh gap site used as a car park is set for a new lease of life as a £15 million hotel.

Developers want to knock down an “unsafe” parking garage to make way for four-star accommodation on Market Street. An operator has already been found for the hotel – which will boast 98 bedrooms over seven floors and promise stunning views across the city – by council-owned development firm EDI.

£17m going underground

Plans to modernise the 188-year-old tunnels of Scotland’s only underground railway have been welcomed by the Scottish Government.

Sections of Glasgow’s Subway network are to be relined at a cost of about £17 million. The work is needed to keep the underground running.

Housing plans mean £3.3m expansion of Errol Primary School

A Perthshire primary school is in line for a £3.3 million expansion.

Plans have been tabled to provide new classroom accommodation at Errol, boosting the school roll by more than 100.

Perth and Kinross Council said the extension is urgently needed to cope with demand from new housing being built in the school’s catchment area.

A derelict bus garage to the north-east of the Station Road school has been bought by the council to make room for the extension.

The school, a B-listed building dating from 1897, has recently undergone a major refurbishment. According to a design statement prepared by the council, the new-look school replaced an “incoherent assortment of buildings and prefabricated huts” and creates a welcoming and “non-institutional” atmosphere.

Scottish Futures Trust director appointed as new UK Lighting Board chairman

The UK Roads Liaison Group (UKRLG) has appointed Lindsay McGregor as the new UK Lighting Board chairman following a consultation across UKRLG and its associated groups. He takes over from Dana Skelly who has been appointed as the new chair of the UK Bridges Board.

Mr McGregor is associate director of the Scottish Futures Trust, working across the organisation’s Low Carbon work stream and leads on the Street Lighting National Energy Efficiency Programme in Scotland, which is fast becoming an energy efficiency exemplar programme for other areas of the UK.

Mr McGregor is also currently chair of the Society of Chief Officers in transportation working group SCOTS and his other area of expertise involves driving forward the SCOTS asset management programme – a joint project run collaboratively with the Scottish and Welsh local authorities.

Page\Park develop Register Lanes proposals

Page\Park architects have developed early stage proposals for the redevelopment of Edinburgh’s Register Lanes, as part of a delivery group comprising key stakeholders in the regeneration.

Chris Stewart Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, City of Edinburgh Council, TIAA Henderson Real Estate and the Scottish Government are overseeing the £97 million scheme which would deliver 40,000sq/ft of retail and leisure accommodation, 178 hotel rooms, 97 apartments and 23,000sq/ft of office space.

Tying in with public realm enhancements associated with redevelopment of the St James Centre the project would see new pedestrian routes threaded through a central garden.

Work to restore the former RBS headquarters, including its art deco banking hall, would also take place as part of this work with phased development scheduled to begin as early as June 2015 for completion by January 2019.

Historic Scotland opposing Ann Gloag’s Waverley Hotel plan

Historic Scotland is refusing to support plans by one of the country’s richest women to demolish a Perth hotel building.

The Waverley, in York Place on the edge of the city centre, has stood empty since it closed its doors more than four years ago.

Now leading businesswoman Ann Gloag wants to tear down the building and create a new hall and gym for the adjacent Trinity Church of Nazarene.

But The Courier reports that the plan is under fire from Historic Scotland, the same government agency which is opposing long-standing plans to demolish Perth City Hall.

The heritage body has written to planning officers at Perth and Kinross Council, arguing that developers have failed to proof their case for knocking down the 19th century hotel.

Housing boosts Walker Holdings

Housebuilding and property-development group Walker Holdings (Scotland) has described its result for the 12 months ending September 30 as positive, saying it was buoyed by growing consumer confidence with optimism regarding its outlook for 2015.

However, while the business expects house prices to remain stable, it noted the continued pressures on mortgage lending in a market that remains “challenging and competitive”.

The company, the parent company of Livingston-based Walker Group, reported pre-tax profit of £5.5 million, up from £4.6m in the year-ago period, and turnover jumped to £25.9m from £19.2m.

According to accounts filed with Companies House, group operating profit rose to £5.3m from £4.1m, while gross margin was described as “satisfactory” and reached £8.2m compared to £6.4m 12 months previously. Trading profit grew to £4.7m from £3.3m.

The business said confidence returned to the housing market, boosted by the Help to Buy scheme. However it expressed disappointment in the Scottish Government deciding to limit the scheme to homes costing up to £250,000, saying it will hamper the likes of those moving to “moderate” four-bedroom properties, which the firm offers.

It also noted that the time taken to secure mortgages has grown, “due to the increased diligence by lenders following the Mortgage Market Review earlier in the year”.

Macdonald lifts profits as supermarkets halt developments

Property company Macdonald Estates has lifted profits by 14 per cent in its latest financial year, but said the figure would have been much higher had it not been for write-offs linked to two abandoned supermarket developments.

The Edinburgh-based firm said pre-tax profit on ordinary activities reached £2.4 million in the 18 months, accounts filed with Companies House. This compared with £2.1m in the year ended December 31, 2012.

Operating profit was down to £312,672 from £1.9m in the prior period.

Builder steps in to object about Kinross dance studio plan

A construction firm is trying to block plans to open a dance studio in Kinross.

The purpose-built facility is earmarked for land near the town’s Montgomery Way.

Developer George Webb has submitted his proposal for the hall, 360 square metres, with Perth and Kinross Council.

If approved, the building will have two studios, a café and changing rooms.

But the plan has come up against opposition from local housebuilders GS Brown Construction.

The firm has lodged a formal objection, claiming that the proposed building will be too close to several new properties it is working on.

Proposals to convert Kinfauns Church into luxury house back on the table

A controversial plan to convert a derelict Perthshire church into a luxury home has been resurrected.

For more than 20 years campaigners have fought to preserve the vacant Kinfauns Church.

They believe long-standing plans to turn the C-listed building into a family house would lead to the “desecration” of the cemetery, just yards away.

Proposals to change the use of the building have been rejected four times on the grounds that it would be incompatible with the graveyard.

The most recent bid was in 2011 — attracting scores of objections from local residents — and was approved following an appeal to the Scottish Government.

It was passed on condition that a beech hedge would be planted to protect neighbours’ privacy.

But planning consent for the project has expired and developers have gone back to Perth and Kinross Council with a fresh application, calling for extra time to progress their scheme.

Bob McDougall to step down as Trust Housing CEO

Bob McDougall has announced his retirement as chief executive of Trust Housing Association at the end of April after 40 years working in housing.

Bob’s long career in housing includes working in a variety of roles across Scotland, within Local Government, Livingston Development Corporation and most recently two housing associations as chief executive. During his career he has been an active participant and a chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Housing.

Garva Bridge substation plans

Plans to build a giant electricity substation at a historic Highland beauty spot have been revealed.

The scheme will be near Garva Bridge on the Corrieyairack Pass, to link a new “city-sized” wind farm to the Beauly to Denny power line.

The double-arched bridge was constructed by General George Wade’s army in 1731 as part of a military road linking Dalwhinnie to Fort Augustus.

The substation, at the end of a ten-mile line of pylons, will provide a link for the wind farm at Stronelairg,near Fort Augustus.

Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission, the energy firm behind the project, has notified Highland Council that it intends to apply for planning permission.

Scottish ministers gave the go-ahead for the wind farm at Stronelairg last summer, despite strong opposition.