Building Briefs – July 6th

Gullane Golf Club has opened its doors to a newly revamped clubhouse following an extensive 21st century upgrade by Esh Border Construction.

The development was completed in time for the 2015 Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open which the East Lothian club will host this month.

The 18-month project saw Gullane’s iconic clubhouse close to both members and the public while the extensive restoration work took place. To accommodate its members during this construction phase, the club built temporary accommodation next to its Visitors’ Clubhouse which will be retained until after the Scottish Open.

The technical task of upgrading Gullane’s clubhouse while retaining the essence and classical frontage, went to Edinburgh design firm Susan Stephen Architects. The completely redesigned first floor, which incorporates the main dining facilities maximizes the views across Gullane’s famous links courses. The plans allowed for a new contemporary glazed golfer’s entrance to the rear of the building with a welcoming bag drop lobby, drying room and trolley charging store.

The rear extension not only provides both men’s and women’s locker rooms with direct access to the new entrance lobby, but importantly sits quietly hidden from public view.

The clubhouse now incorporates flexible, interlinked social spaces while retaining the character of the original layout.

In addition to the new clubhouse, Gullane has also created a new Championship Course for the Scottish Open which will incorporate 16 holes from Gullane’s renowned No. 1 Course and two holes from its striking No. 2 Course. Three of the holes will feature newly built tees creating a modern test across a traditional links setting.

Works progressing at Audi Aberdeen

Work by cladding firm Curtis Moore is progressing at the new flagship, high tech Audi dealership in Aberdeen.

John Clark Motor Group announced plans to invest over £9 million in the development at the end of 2014 and the development, in partnership with Balmoral Group, will be the first project of its kind in Scotland and one of only a handful of similar dealerships in the UK.

The 59,860sq ft site will be almost double the size of the current Aberdeen Audi footprint.

Fitted with the latest interactive retail technology, it will allow visitors to browse the full Audi range electronically and access every possible model and variant configuration, all at the touch of a button.

The new premises will see an increased service capacity for up to 36 cars accessed by customers via a fully-enclosed drive-through service reception, another first for Scotland.

Curtis Moore has been on site since early March with a team of between four and seven operatives and expects to be complete by the end of August.

The firm is installing a number of different products on the various buildings including Kingspan Low Pitch & Topdeck Roof Panels, Kingspan MR & Box Profiled Wall Panels, A built up wall cladding system including an outer Skin of TATA cladding sheets and an Extruded, Anodised Aluminium Mesh Rainscreen supplied by EDM Spanwall.

£1.7m project starts on flood safety measures for Kincardine

Work will start this week on a £1.7 million project to reduce the risk of more flooding problems on Kirk Street in Kincardine.

Scottish Water said the work will centre on a grassy area behind Tulliallan Primary School and will mean the closure of a part of Kirk Street and restricted access to the overspill car park used by the school.

For safety reasons, the public footpath linking the A977 with the school will be closed for the duration of the work.

Project manager Charles Paul said the road closure on Kirk Street will start on Monday and take around six weeks.

Contractors Morrison Construction have been appointed to carry out the work, which is expected to take five months to complete, though dates may change depending on progress.

McTaggart to host ‘meet the buyer’ housing event in West Lothian

A company who will shortly be tendering for contracts as part of West Lothian Council’s new-build housing programme, is inviting local businesses who would like to know more about the project, or become part of its supply chain, to a ‘meet the buyer’ event.

McTaggart Construction management team will be holding the appointment-only event at Howden Park Centre from 1pm on Tuesday 7 July.

South Glasgow University Hospital hailed as a ‘feat of engineering’

WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff is celebrating its role on the £843 million South Glasgow University Hospital which officially opened on Friday, 3 July.

The global consultancy has been involved in the project since being appointed by main contractor Brookfield Multiplex in 2009.

The project, managed and technically led from Glasgow, involved the provision of civil & structural engineering, fire engineering, sustainability and geo-environmental services, with a workforce of 100 working across 13 different locations to deliver the world-class facility on time and on budget.

WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff held director Pete Dunbar said: “This is a momentous milestone on our incredible journey to delivering the structural and civil design of the largest ever building in Scotland and one of the largest reinforced concrete frames ever built in Europe.

“Ambitious environmental targets were set and we implemented innovative solutions to rise to the challenge. The design of the building has been optimised to ensure its fabric is of a high standard and low-energy building services are used.

“We are immensely proud to have played a part in the creation of such an iconic structure and help deliver one of the most advanced adult acute hospitals in the UK for the benefit of people across Scotland.”

Work begins on road expansion in Elgin

Heavy plant and machinery equipment has been on the site of a road expansion in Moray.

The new Edgar Road extension in Elgin will form the access road to the proposed Elgin High School.

The roadworks will take approximately 13 weeks, creating a new access for both Greenwards Primary along with the new secondary school.

Contractors Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering has said the section up to Greenwards Primary will be completed before the new school term begins in August.

The remainder to the High School site will be finished shortly afterwards.

An EU accounting ‘wrangle’ has temporarily delayed work on the new school, however the council are pressing ahead with its roadworks programme.

Contractors will resurface the Edgar Road west of the Cedarwood Centre, replacing the street lighting and providing an informal parking area for visitors.

New £8m mental health facility opens in Dundee

A new £8 million mental health facility has opened in Dundee.

The Young People’s Unit provides a 12 bed inpatient unit, including family accommodation for parents.

Features include private outdoor spaces, an education facility and a gym. In addition, all bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms.

The facility is based on the site of the previous Young People’s Unit in Dudhope Terrace.

Young people from the previous unit were involved in the design of the new building.

Millport Field Centre Base ‘Thriving’

An educational and research base in North Ayrshire has been described as ‘thriving’ following a significant investment.

Two years ago the Millport Field Centre was temporarily closed with its future uncertain.

However the base, used for marine science field study and training, is now successful following a major investment from the council, the Scottish Government and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

The centre has been redeveloped to facilitate the expansion of the facility by its new operators, the Field Studies Council (FSC).

A new accommodation building with 32 twin en-suite rooms, a 150-seat lecture theatre and teaching laboratory/teaching room has been built as part of Phase One. A car park and access roads has also been completed.

An environmentally-friendly Biomass District Heating system has been installed, significantly reducing the carbon footprint and operating costs of the centre.

The total for Phase One was just over £3 million, with North Ayrshire Council investing almost £1.5m.

Funding for a second phase involving the refurbishment of existing accommodation and teaching facilities has also been secured from a variety of sources including; the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Coastal Communities Fund, Robertson Trust, Garfield Weston and the Wolfson Foundation.

Scottish Water announces plans for £1.7m project

Scottish Water has announced work will soon begin on a £1.7 million project reducing the risk of flooding issues in Fife.

Work on Kirk Street in Kincardine will take place on the grassed area to the rear of Tulliallan Primary School and will require closure to a section of the street.

Access will also be restricted to the schools overspill car park.

Morrison Construction will complete the work on Scottish Water’s behalf.

The public footpath linking the A977 with the school will be closed for the duration of the works.

Work is scheduled to begin today.

Work set to resume on West Lothian dam restoration

West Lothian Council has announced work is set to resume on a project to restore an old dam wall in the region.

The scheme involves refurbishing the century-old dam structure at Beecraigs Loch.

Over the past six months, nearly 13,000 stone cobbles were replaced along the face of the wall, each stone weighing between five and 30 kilograms.

The stones were replaced by hand, taking over 1,000 hours of work by council staff.

Work will resume from July and is expected to take a further 12 to 18 months to complete.

The project to build the reservoir at Beecraigs was supposed to last from 1913 to 1915, but the outbreak of World War One slowed the progress considerably.

New business centre opened in West Calder

A new business centre has been opened in West Calder.

Following a £250,000 refurbishment, the building is now home to 18 purpose built business units.

The units are occupied with a mix of tenants from West Calder Workspace, which is no longer suitable for modern businesses, new business start-ups and others moving to the new premises.

SP Energy Networks to install underground cables in Edinburgh

SP Energy Networks is to begin installing new underground cables in Edinburgh.

Following an agreement with the city council, the company will start the cable project that will allow for the demolition and future development of the new St James Quarter.

SP Energy Networks will be working between Broughton Street to Forth Street until 18 July.

The company has worked closely with the council to plan traffic management arrangements.