Building Briefs – March 21st

There were congratulations all round when Jamie Hepburn, minister for employability and training, visited Forster Group in Brechin to present certificates to the first six apprentices to complete the new qualification, Roof Tiling in New Build SVQL2.

The innovative programme was developed by Neil McIvor, Forster’s construction director, through collaboration with industry, the National Federation of Roofing Contractors and the Construction Industry Training Board, as the company, that currently roofs one in five new build homes in Scotland, realised that the traditional apprenticeship model no longer met the needs of the industry.

Two two-year pilots are currently underway, one at South Lanarkshire College and one at Forster in Brechin, with 24 apprentices coming from all over Scotland.

The programme will be augmented when the Construction Learning Centre at nearby Brechin Community Campus opens in September 2017. It will deliver a range of learning opportunities to school pupils and learners in the local construction and engineering community. Embedding the learning hub within the community campus will provide opportunities for integration, resource and knowledge-sharing.

Robertson hits key milestone on £19m student development

Work on a £19 million student accommodation project in Glasgow’s Collegelands has reached a key milestone with the steel structure now erected.

The building, which upon completion will be home to 458 new build student residences, is being constructed by Robertson on behalf of developer Vastint Hospitality.

The design and build project commenced in October of last year, with Robertson expected to finish work on the building in the summer of 2018.

The S-shaped building will be set over six storeys, with a private courtyard to the south and a semi-public courtyard to the north. The accommodation will feature a mix of standard, cluster and accessible rooms.

The development will join other Robertson Central projects in the Glasgow area including Huntershill Community Sports Hub in Bishopbriggs for East Dunbartonshire Council and Ward Refurbishments for NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde at Stobhill and Gartnavel Hospitals.

Robertson Central also recently completed work on the ‘Heart of the Campus’ project for Glasgow Caledonian University – with students likely to benefit from the student accommodation currently under construction.

Argyll hotel plans major upgrade

An Argyll hotel is to embark on a major upgrade that will boost its star rating and create new jobs.

Loch Melfort Hotel, situated between Oban and Kilmartin, has secured £101,000 investment towards the £290,000 project from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

It will involve increasing the number of rooms from 25 to 30, upgrading star rating from three to four, and boosting turnover by around 30%.

The changes will enable the hotel to target high end domestic and international tour operators, which will increase their international sales by around 50%.

Loch Melfort Hotel is next to the National Trust for Scotland’s Arduaine Garden and overlooks the sound of Kerrera. It was taken over by the current owners, Calum and Rachel Ross, in 2008.

Balfour Beatty welcomes unemployed trainees to Perth Transport Futures project

International infrastructure group Balfour Beatty last week welcomed 10 unemployed people to Phase 1 of the Perth Transport Futures project and Almondbank scheme, to receive six weeks of on-site and off-site training.

As part of the programme, trainees will be will be given an induction, a Plant and People interface briefing, a guided walk and a safety presentation to highlight potential on-site risks and dangers. In addition, trainees will be paired with a Balfour Beatty operative and mentor to provide them with the opportunity to learn and develop their skills on the job.

Having been awarded both projects by Perth & Kinross Council through the Scape National Civil Engineering and Infrastructure framework, Balfour Beatty is committed to providing added value to communities through local job and apprenticeship creation.

Balfour Beatty will be offering those participating in the programme the opportunity to apply for a full-time role within the company depending on their performance over the six weeks.

Travelodge unveils Scottish investment plans

Travelodge has confirmed details of its latest £125 million expansion programme with 15 new hotels planned across the UK this year, three of which will be in Scotland.

The sites in Inverness, Peterhead and Stirling will be developed by third party investors.

Travelodge has a list of approved main contractors which also includes Barnes Construction, Boss (D&B), Marshall, Bowmer & Kirkland, John Sisk, Carter Lauren, HJ Martin and Speller Metcalfe.

Wills Bros begins building new Inverness rugby clubhouse

Wills Bros has started work to build a new rugby club house in Inverness.

The scheme is part of the £22.5 million Inverness West Link road project.

Demolition work is now underway to level the old rugby club house at Canal Park, while upgrading and regrading/layouts of the existing grass pitches will also take place.

In addition, a new 4G synthetic rugby pitch will be built to International Rugby standards.

As work takes place, the council has revealed the existing Canal Parks Car Park will be closed until the end of August to allow construction works to progress.

Once completed in December, the West Link road will ease traffic congestion in Inverness, linking a network of roads including the A96, A9 and A82 trunk routes.

Council agrees to begin £4.95m Auchinairn Place Project

East Dunbartonshire Council has agreed to begin building a new £4.95 million community facility in Auchinairn.

The Auchinairn Place Project will see a new Community Facility and early years centre developed in the area.

The scheme’s design phase was completed earlier this year and planning permission was granted last month.

£23.8m Clydebank Leisure Centre opens to public on March 31

The brand new £23.8million Clydebank Leisure Centre will open to the public on Friday, March 31.

With the finishing touches currently being put to the new facility, members of the public will soon be able to experience all it has to offer. The new leisure centre – which will be operated by West Dunbartonshire Leisure Trust – includes three swimming pools, changing facilities, a café, multi-purpose sports hall with badminton, netball, basketball, and five-a-side football courts and retractable seating, fitness suite, and group exercise studio. It also plays host to Scotland’s first interactive flume ride.

The entire first floor of the centre is made up of a unique interactive activity zone and fitness area for children. It provides state-of-the-art adaptable facilities for young people to encourage active lifestyles. The very latest technology, including wall and floor projectors, is used to create two large activity areas and two large party rooms.

The centre sits alongside West College Scotland and West Dunbartonshire Council’s Aurora House offices in what was once the heart of Clydebank’s shipbuilding industry on the town’s historic Queen’s Quay.

Over 12,000 potholes repaired last year in Dundee

A new report has revealed over 12,000 potholes were repaired in Dundee between 2015 and 2016.

The document, which is set to go before councillors next week, shows a total of 12,326 potholes were filled in, with 5,088 of these repaired with a first time permanent fix.

In 2013/14, the number of potholes on Dundee’s roads peaked at 26,638. This latest performance report reveals pothole numbers were down 46% compared to the peak set 24 months before.

The city’s roads are maintained via a joint partnership between Dundee City Council and Tayside Contracts as the Roads Maintenance Partnership.

The collaboration was renewed for another three years in 2015 and is due for renewal in March 2018.

Joinery apprentices test their skills at Motherwell Campus

Apprentices at New College Lanarkshire have put their skills to the test as part of Scottish Apprenticeship Week.

First-year Joinery and Carpentry apprentices and third-year Electronic Fire & Security Systems apprentices participated in competitions held at the Motherwell Campus.

The apprentices of Joinery and Carpentry took part in the CITB (Construction Industry Training Board) First-Year Apprentice Competition.

The 16 competitors were tasked with making a rectangular frame comprising haunched mortise and tenon joints during the day-long competition.

The under-25 winner was Reece Ormond of A&E Construction in Falkirk who received a set of Irwin Marples chisels, while under-25 runner-up was Ryan Lawrie of PDS Construction in Carluke who received a £25 voucher for Pearson’s hardware store in Bellshill.

The adult winner was Alan Patrick of Rosewood Homes & Properties in Livingston who received a £50 voucher to spend on equipment at Pearson’s.

The adult and under-25 winners will be put forward to represent the College at the Scottish Building Apprenticeship & Training Council (SBATC) skills competition to be held later in the year.