Building Briefs - June 28th

Plaques unveiled at Caol Joint Campus official opening

The official opening of Highland Council’s Caol Joint Campus comprising Caol Primary School, St. Columba’s Primary School and Caol Community Centre took place on Friday 23 June 2017.

Bishop Brian McGee, Bishop of Argyll and the Isles, and Duncan Shearer, former pupil of Caol Primary School and former professional footballer unveiled a commemorative opening plaque after both gave inspiring speeches to the pupils and guests.

The Caol Joint Campus opened its doors to pupils on Thursday 29 September 2016.

The current pupil roll at St Columba’s Roman Catholic Primary School is 100 Primary and 11 Nursery pupils.

The current pupil roll at Caol Primary School is 234 Primary and 71 Nursery pupils.

The schools are located in the village of Caol and replace the previous two schools, which enable children to be educated in a facility fit to meet the demands of teaching in the 21st Century.

Chair of Lochaber Committee, Cllr Andrew Baxter said: “This is the culmination of a major investment programme for new schools in the Fort William area. Schools are often the focal point for a local community. With two primary schools, a library and community facilities all on one site the Caol Campus is already proving to be the focal point for this community. It’s fantastic to hear how it is already being so well used by everyone in the local area.”

Sean O’Callaghan, area operations director for Kier Construction Scotland said: “Kier has a strong track record of delivering quality schools throughout Scotland and Caol Campus offers a fantastic facility to nursery and primary students and the wider community - all powered by an energy centre which provides sustainable and efficient heating. Throughout the build, we have worked with local suppliers and SMEs to ensure that the project boosts the local economy of Fort William - creating 6 apprenticeships, 2 work placements and 2 graduated traineeships. This has given local young people valuable experience working on a state-of-the-art building and a unique insight into the diverse range of roles available in this thriving industry.”

A plaque unveiling also took place in the new Caol Community Centre with invited guests in attendance.

Aiken Group secures onshore work worth £1m

Accommodation specialist Aiken Group has won onshore work worth in the region of £1 million.

The Aberdeen-based company, which is well known for its offshore expertise in accommodation provision, has recently made significant inroads into key onshore sectors, particularly onshore construction and this latest announcement underlines its growth within this emerging marketplace.

The new work comprises a series of temporary buildings for the education and aviation markets in the South East of England, and a £500,000 project in London as part of the Thames Tideway Tunnel Project which commenced last year.

The latter involves Aiken Group providing site-based accommodation such as offices, meeting rooms and welfare facilities, initially on the underpass of London’s Blackfriars Bridge.

Additionally, Aiken Group has been selected as a contractor by Fusion 21 as part of a £225m national education framework for the provision of modular buildings.

The framework is due to commence this month and will cover a four-year period with a one-year extension. It offers a flexible procurement solution to all education providers and local authorities who require temporary or permanent quality modular buildings to meet the latest building control standards.

Commenting on the Blackfriars project, Aiken Group operations director Richard Lamb said: “This project presented unique challenges due to access restrictions and two of our modular buildings had to be delivered by river barge in a ‘flat-pack’ format. Tidal restrictions on working hours then needed to be factored in but all issues were overcome and the modules were delivered safely and within project timescales.

“A further two buildings will be located on top of the bridge and are sited on a bespoke grillage platform due to weight restrictions and the sensitivities of nearby infrastructure.

“The Fusion 21 award adds strength to our intentions in becoming a key supplier of land-based modular accommodation and comes directly on the back of a number of high profile awards already under construction across the UK.”

He added: “Aiken Group’s continuing diversification into new sectors such as construction enables us to take skills developed in the offshore environment and successfully apply them to onshore situations. We are confident that this strategy is important in broadening our corporate horizons and underpinning our ‘one-stop shop’ ethos.”

Taylor Wimpey supports East Renfrewshire ‘Developing the Young Workforce’ initiative

Taylor Wimpey West Scotland has thrown its support behind East Renfrewshire Council’s ‘Developing the Young Workforce’ strategy by hosting a site visit to one of its developments of new homes for 15 students aged 15/16 from Woodfarm High School in Thornliebank.

The visit to the Castle Gardens development gave the students an insight into the housebuilding industry, and the team at Taylor Wimpey had the opportunity to highlight the choice of careers as well as the diverse range of routes that are available to get into this exciting industry sector.

During their visit to the site in Crookston the students had the opportunity to see the various stages of construction of a new home, visit the sales information centre and showhomes, as well as the chance to get invaluable career advice from the team.

David McClure, senior site manager for Taylor Wimpey West Scotland enjoyed meeting the students and being part of the experience as he explains: “I hope that our on-site session has helped the students to develop their understanding of the housebuilding industry and how they can play a future role in it.

“We’re always looking for fresh talent to join our industry and sessions like this give us the opportunity to remind students of the wealth of possibilities that are available if you consider a career in the housebuilding sector.

“We arranged for the students to hear from one of our young apprentice site managers, and he took the opportunity to outline his route into the industry – making the point that today more than ever there are so many different ways you can take the next step towards your career ambitions.

“Whether students choose to go straight to college or university, opt for a Modern Day Apprenticeship or perhaps the opportunity to work and learn at the same time through day-release college courses there’s lots of ways to make the step towards getting your first job.”

Francesca Vannini, principal teacher of curriculum support at Woodfarm High School adds: “We were delighted that the team from Taylor Wimpey West Scotland was able to facilitate this opportunity for our students to learn more about the various roles and career opportunities that exist in the housebuilding industry.

“Our visit to the working construction site, sales office and the showhomes created very informative sessions that our students found engaging and interesting.

“The visit was a great opportunity for our students to consider how the world of work really works and it has played a key role in bringing real colour to the delivery of our ‘Developing the Young Workforce’ strategy that’s so important to future-proof the successful transition of our students into the next phase of their personal development, and I’d like to thank the team from Taylor Wimpey West Scotland for their input.”

Photography is attached and captioned as: Pupils from Woodfarm High School with teacher Francesca Vannini, David McClure (Senior Site Manager for Taylor Wimpey West Scotland) and internal shot shows pupils with Alison McPhee (Sales Manager) in one of the showhomes at the development.

Milltimber temporary road closures leading to bridge opening

Upcoming road closures on the A93 and B979 at Milltimber are expected to result in the North Deeside Road Bridge opening permanently to road users in July, as part of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie to Tipperty project.

Opening the new North Deeside Road Bridge to road users will allow the contractor to excavate the temporary road and remove any superfluous earthworks in this area.

From 8pm on Friday 30 June until 6am on Monday 3 July, the B979 at Milltimber Brae will be closed for utility works. The A93 will be open as normal.

Diversions will be sign-posted.

A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “As announced last year, various side roads and structures along the AWPR/B-T route are opening in advance of the new trunk road and those who use the A93 will be amongst the first to benefit from the project.

“The contractor is aiming to open the new bridge on North Deeside Road as soon as possible after these significant works are complete. He is targeting late July but achieving this will be largely dependent on weather conditions.

“Once the new bridge opens, we would like to encourage road users to exercise more caution than usual in this area until they become accustomed to the changes in road layout.

“We would also like to remind all road users that works are continuing in this area and therefore some traffic management measures are still in place to enhance the safety of the local community, road workers and road users and should be obeyed.”