Building Briefs – June 18th

Edinburgh Academy has unveiled a £2m hockey pavilion designed by Richard Murphy Architects.

Part of a wider master plan for the school’s New Field playing pitches within the Inverleith Conservation Area, the development will incorporate six changing rooms, a first aid space and storage.

The practice has now moved on-site with the next phase of work, the alteration and extension of an existing Rugby Pavilion.

New flats for historic Paisley building

A historic former store in the centre of Paisley is being transformed into new homes.

Eleven luxury apartments are being built on the upper three floors of the former Arnotts building on Gauze Street.

Four of the properties in the Abbey View development sold last week within four hours of going on sale.

The project, which is due to be finished in November, will result in a commercial unit being created on the ground floor.

Abbey View is the second phase of a plan to bring the historic site back into use with Link Group’s newly completed developments of 31 flats for affordable rent on the corner of Gauze Street to receive their first residents this summer.

The Arnotts flats are being built and marketed by Park Lane Developments, who are joint owners of the site, along with Renfrewshire Council.

European construction output sees rises and falls

Construction output across the EU as a whole rose by 0.3 per cent in April compared to March but fell by the same amount in the Eurozone.

Annual comparisons with April 2014 show that production in construction remained stable in the Euro area and grew by 1.3 per cent in the EU28.

The figures are initial estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In March, production in construction had grown by 0.6 per cent in the Euro area and 1.4 per cent across the 28 countries of the EU (EU28).

The monthly increase of 0.3 per cent in production in construction in the Euro area in April 2015 compared with the previous month is due to building construction rising by 0.5 per cent, while civil engineering fell by 1.8 per cent.

In the EU28, the decrease of 0.3 per cent was caused by building construction falling by 0.1 per cent and civil engineering by 2 per cent.

Among member states with data available, increases in production in construction were observed in Slovakia (+2.5 per cent), Spain (+1.5 per cent), Germany and Poland (both +1.3 per cent) and Sweden (+1.2 per cent). The highest decreases were recorded in Romania (-3.3 per cent), the United Kingdom (-2.9 per cent) and Portugal (-2.5 per cent).

A75 resurfacing works

Scotland TranServ will continue to maintain Dumfries and Galloway’s road network with almost £400,000 worth of resurfacing works on the A75 at Breconrae to Rockhall Mains commencing tomorrow.

The project adds to the £4 million that has already been invested by Transport Scotland across Dumfries and Galloway’s trunk road network over the last 12 months.

Scotland Transerv will carry out the work over the weekend.

Public invited to new Helensburgh town centre opening

Argyll & Bute Council has invited the public of Helensburgh to the official opening of the newly transformed town centre.

The £7 million public realm project involved redeveloping Colquhorn Square, its adjacent streets and the esplanade.

Widened pavements and new street furniture have been installed along with artwork projects.

The public have been invited to attend the opening ceremony on 20 June in Colquhoun Square at 12pm.

Austin Smith Lord was the architect on the project, while O’Connor, Sutton and Cronin was the engineering consultant.

MacLay Civil Engineering was the main contractor.

Road works scheduled in Livingston

West Lothian Council has announced road works are scheduled to take place in the centre of Livingston.

Alderstone Road will be closed for a period of eight weeks from 29 June to allow necessary refurbishment of bridges and underpasses to be carried out. The road over the structures will also be resurfaced.

The works will be carried out in two phases. The first phase involves the closure of Alderstone Road from its junction with Almondvale Stadium to the Braehead Junction to allow works to the roads bridge and underpass.

In the second phase the road will be closed from its junction with Peel Roundabout to its junction with Howden Road West. This closure will allow the refurbishment and resurfacing of the Hospital Interchange Bridge.

Elgin monument to be refurbished

Moray Council has announced a monument in Elgin is to be refurbished.

The Muckle Cross landmark will be restored after the go-ahead was given by a council committee.

The work is estimated to cost £55,000.

The council will provide £20,000 while the Elgin Common Good Fund will give £15,000.

Up to 50 per cent of the funding will be provided from the Elgin Conservation and Regeneration Scheme.

The council’s policy and resource committee was informed the monument showed signs of deterioration and that a refurbishment was necessary.