Building Briefs – March 15th

A planning application was submitted today for the addition of a permanent safety structure on Union Bridge in Aberdeen.

Temporary fencing has been in place in front of the bridge parapet on Union Street as a deterrent.

The application was submitted by LDA Design, which was commissioned by Aberdeen City Council to draw up the plans.

The proposed barrier would be made from steel and powder coated in a copper colour, and would be a lighter structure to complement the existing parapet.

The application states that the design aims to respect the heritage value of the bridge while blending with proposals to revitalise Union Terrace Gardens (UTG), which were also produced by LDA Design.

If approved, the work – which would include the upgrading of the north pavement on Union Bridge – would as previously agreed by Council be delivered as part of Phase 1 of the UTG project.

The planning application can be found here.

Link and Paragon complete new development for social rent in Alva

A new housing development for Link Group Ltd and Paragon Housing Association at Queen Street, Alva has been opened officially opened by the minister for local government and housing, Kevin Stewart.

The £5.3 million construction of 48 homes for social rent began in February 2016, and was supported by a grant of £3,076,916 from the Scottish Government’s Greener Homes Initiative scheme.

Queen Street is Scotland’s first volumetric off-site manufactured housing development built to the Gold Standard of Sustainability and is an innovative addition to Link and Paragon’s development programmes. Volumetric Construction is a type of off-site manufacturing which increases build quality, while providing the opportunity to reduce construction costs, time and waste.

Developed by Tigh Grian Ltd, on behalf of Link and Paragon, the development was built by Marshall Construction Ltd and comprises a mix of one-bedroom cottage flats, and two and three-bedroom homes. Following completion, 14 units were transferred to Paragon, while Link retained ownership of the remaining 34 units.

As this is the first development of its kind in Scotland, Link and Paragon are working with Construction Scotland Innovation Centre, who have provided project support to enable them to work with Edinburgh Napier University to carry out an occupancy study of these new properties to measure temperature, sound and energy use over the first 12 months of tenants living in their new homes.

Strong final quarter boosts 2017 returns across Scotland’s commercial property market

Data for Scottish commercial real estate released by property consultant CBRE reveals that the annual total return for 2017 in Scotland was 6.8%, comparing favourably with the UK as a whole where the total return was 10.2% as measured by the IPD Quarterly Index.

Over the fourth quarter, the all property total return was 2.1%, up from 1.7% in Q3 2017. This increase is attributed to improved capital growth, with average capital values up by 0.6%. This represented the bulk of capital appreciation during the year, given the total uplift in 2017 was just 0.9% over the calendar year.

Industrials have been the key differentiating factor in the UK’s relative outperformance against Scotland, with the pace of rental growth in the London and South East industrial markets notably outperforming rental growth in any other commercial real estate sector. However, for some other sectors, the performance gap between the UK and Scotland has narrowed, notably high-street shops and offices.

Office sector total returns for Q4 rose to 2.2%, an increase from 1.6% in Q3, representing the largest quarterly uplift in returns for any of the three principal sectors in Scotland. It was also the highest total return for the Scottish office sector since the final quarter of 2015. This led to an annual total return of 5.9% in 2017, in contrast to -0.2% in 2016. Despite capital value growth throughout the second half, it was not quite enough to reverse the loss incurred in the first half, a continued legacy of the results of the 2016 EU Referendum.

Total returns in retail saw a slight increase from 1.4% in Q3 to 1.5% in Q4, while the UK-wide figure saw a marginal slip. The annual total return for retail in 2017 was 5.8%, a marked improvement on the 1.0% return achieved in 2016. Over the course of the past twelve months, capital growth for Scottish retail has been virtually flat, despite average rental growth on 0.5% over the year.

Once again, industrials were the best performing of the three main sector groups in 2017, producing a total return of 7.9% during the year compared to 4.3% achieved in 2016. Industrials were the only sector to experience substantive capital growth in 2017, with values increasing by 5.5% on average, and rental value up by 1.0% over the same period. Like other sectors, growth rates improved during the course of the year. Capital values were up 2.0% alone in Q4, leading a quarterly total return of 2.5%.

Nairn roads maintenance programme approved

Members of the Highland Council’s Nairn committee have approved the council’s 2018/19 roads maintenance programme for the area.

Included in the approved road maintenance schedule are surface dressing works planned for A939 Nairn to Grantown-on-Spey Road at Cairn Duhie and Ferness; Impact patching at various locations; and Overlay Works at Fornighty, Manse Road and Cawdor Road in Auldearn and Blairfield Road in Tradespark.

The Nairn roads maintenance programme has been approved by local councillors pending confirmation of the council’s community services committee budget allocations for the area.

Based on 2017-18 budgets, the Capital budget for Nairn was £292,300 and the Revenue budget for Nairn was £378,600 which includes £107,900 for winter maintenance.

The indicative programme is based on current engineering and safety priories and may alter if significant events impact priorities and resources.

Scottish Borders Housing Association commences new family homes for Galashiels

Work has started this week on a new housing development at Rose Court in Langlee, Galashiels.

The £1.8 million project by Scottish Borders Housing Association will see the creation of 10 brand-new three bed family homes.

The new homes will benefit from dedicated parking spaces and front and back gardens, and will have solar panels, allowing Tenants to heat them more affordably. They will replace a block of 24 maisonettes which was knocked down in 2015.

Building work is being carried out by Hart Builders. The development has an approximate 40 week build time, meaning that the new homes should be completed in December 2018.

Construction’s finest prepare to be honoured at National Site Awards

The very best performing construction sites registered with the Considerate Constructors Scheme are getting ready for the prestigious 2018 National Site Awards in April.

The National Site Awards recognise those registered sites that have shown the highest levels of consideration towards the public, the workforce and the environment.

Out of over 6500 eligible sites, 816 have been selected to win Bronze, Silver or Gold Awards, within each of the following project value bands: Band 1: Under £500k; Band 2: £500k to <£1m; Band 3: £1m to <£5m; Band 4: £5m to <£10m; Band 5: £10m to <£50m; and Band 6: £50m and over. One Gold Award winner per value band will also be given the prestigious title of ‘Most Considerate Site 2018’, with all shortlisted sites for this accolade receiving Runner-up Awards.

More than 3000 guests from construction sites of all different sizes will be attending award ceremonies taking place between 9 - 27 April in Edinburgh, London and Manchester.

Plans for new homes in Dundee

Dundee firm G.L. Residential is to build a mixture of two and three-bedroom properties at the former Seaview House in the city’s Victoria Road, if the plans are accepted by the local authority.

The building, described as “falling into disrepair”, sits adjacent to the new Seaview Primary School, which was completed in 2009. The firm said one of its priorities is to restore the existing listed building, which will be turned into seven properties.

These will consist of two two-bedroom apartments, and five two-bedroom townhouses.

A further three buildings will be built in the grounds of the site, two of which will have nine flats in them and one of which will contain six, all of which will have either two or three bedrooms.

The main building, built in 1860 by architect James MacLaren, became a listed building in 1989. Following its sale, two detached houses were built to the south of the main building in 2015.

Planning permission was previously approved in December 2013 for the conversion of the main school building to a single dwelling along with four new detached houses within the grounds, but the condition of the main school deteriorated badly after water leaked into the roof, after the theft of lead.

Associated works at the site will include the felling of trees, associated groundworks, and the construction of car parking and a grassy communal area. The development will be accessed via the main existing entrance from Hill Street and the additional entrance from Victoria Street.