Building Briefs – July 12th

Two senior site managers from CALA Homes (West) have each scooped a prestigious award in recognition of their commitment to the highest standards in housebuilding.

The homebuilder performed particularly well, with a total of nine winners across its regions landing the “Pride in the Job” awards, which received over 16,000 applicants and were awarded to the top 450 Site Managers across the entire UK.

Winners for CALA Homes (West) were Michael Carrigan for his work at Dullatur Greens, Cumbernauld and Stuart Dallas for CALA at Thorntonhall.

For Michael Carrigan, this marked his fifth “Pride in the Job” award, demonstrating his consistent standard of excellent work.

Michael and his team are working on the newly launched Dullatur Greens development in Cumbernauld which comprises 71 four and five bedroom detached homes from its Signature collection.

Consistent recognition for award-winning site manager

A Perth site manager, who is making the finishing touches to his Perthshire development, has secured the 15th ‘Pride in the Job’ award for the site.

Having joined as an apprentice at the age of 16, Alan Robertson has worked for Perth-based Stephen for 38 years. The team arrived on site at Balgarvie in Scone in 2000, with only a handful of properties now remaining available for sale.

Competing in the Small Builder category, Alan commented, “As a family run business, it’s fantastic to gain national recognition for the work we do each day. It’s particularly pleasing to receive this award as we make the finishing touches to the site, 17 years after the team began creating this fantastic development.”

Having received his first ‘Pride in the Job’ award in 2011, Alan added: “This award recognises the work of the entire team and the fact that we have received consistent praise from NHBC makes me very proud. Every member of our 30-strong team has excelled, from electricians, plumbers and bricklayers to painters and forklift drivers. Without their commitment, we would not be winning such high praise.”

John Stephen, managing director of Stephen, added: “Our success very much depends on the team and their efforts in achieving a consistently high-quality product is of paramount importance. Alan has built an enviable reputation for quality and is always looking to exceed clients’ expectations. I would like to thank Alan and his team for their continuing support and commitment. The Balgarvie development has proved to be a winner with buyers due to the high quality finish of our homes, together with the prime location.”

‘Team Stromness’ up for planning award

Orkney Islands Council’s ‘Team Stromness’ scheme – a regeneration effort spanning the last ten years – has been shortlisted in this year’s Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning.

The scheme has been nominated for the ‘Process’ category, and will be up against six other projects from across Scotland.

‘Team Stromness’ featured a council-wide task force to coordinate several distinct regeneration projects within the historic core of the town, including:

A team from the council will present their case to a panel of judges in Edinburgh in September, with winners expected to be announced in November.

Work starts on new gateway into Port Glasgow

Contractors have begun work on a key Inverclyde Council regeneration project to create a new entrance into Port Glasgow town centre.

A new spur road will be built off the A8 forming a junction with Shore Street and Princes Street and a new civic square created in front of the Town Hall.

The new road will have footways on either side and a grass lawn will be created on the site of the present car park.

A new hard-landscaped civic space will extend over Shore Street from the front of the Town Hall. In order to make room for the new spur road the existing civic square will be made smaller including the removal of the canopy and some of the steps and hard landscaping.

The project is being delivered on behalf of the council by the urban regeneration company Riverside Inverclyde.

The Port Glasgow town centre master plan was developed after speaking extensively with local residents and businesses and identified the need to develop a new gateway to the town centre as a priority for investment.

In addition to the new access into Port Glasgow from the A8 the Port Glasgow regeneration strategy and master plan recommends environmental improvements to the town centre; removal of redundant buildings; the restoration of empty shop units to provide ‘fit for purpose’ retail space and new office and commercial accommodation.

The priority list in the Port Glasgow master plan includes:

New £16.5m pier opened at Lerwick Harbour

The biggest expansion yet to service port users at Lerwick Harbour was officially opened today following a project which is leading to further development.

The £16.5 million quay was named Mair’s Pier by Shetland MSP Tavish Scott when he unveiled a new sign before invited guests, including port users, stakeholders and others.

The largest single capital investment in the 140-year history of Lerwick Harbour Trust and its successor since 1999, Lerwick Port Authority, it is being used by the fishing industry and the offshore and cruise sectors.

The project involved land reclamation, construction of an 804-metre deep-water L-shaped quay, and demolition of a smaller jetty and included creating a working area over 1.5 hectares for the fishing fleet and oil vessels. The outer arm creates a dock which will shelter the new market, with construction planned to start this year.

The main consultant was Arch Henderson LLP, which includes a Lerwick office, providing full design, project management and cost control, with Shetland civil and marine contractor, Tulloch Developments Limited.

Work starts on Edinburgh sewer network upgrade

Work has started to upgrade parts of Edinburgh’s sewer network.

The scheme involves installing two new manhole chambers with APNRV pumps inside to alleviate internal sewer flooding on Mountcastle Drive North. One manhole will be built on the road, with the other on the pavement.

To carry out the work safely, two-way temporary traffic lights in place from 24 July for around four weeks.

Renfrewshire park equipment installations begin

Work is underway to install new play park equipment in Renfrewshire.

The schemes at Barshaw Park in Paisley and Robertson Park in Renfrew are part of a phased programme of infrastructure works worth £2 million being carried out at both parks.

The works are likely to last approximately six weeks at Barshaw Park and 10 weeks at Robertson Park.

The first phase of works is already being carried out and scheduled for completion next week. Features included a series of upgrades made to pathways, roads and drainage systems improving areas affected by flooding and enhancing the overall park experience for visitors.

The next phase of works is to provide dynamic play opportunities for a wide age group of users. Items being installed at the parks include; a wooden castle unit, a range of swings, crawling pyramid, five-way swing, climbing wall and tyre swing.