Building Briefs – March 23rd

The Lanarkshire Beatson, Scotland’s newest radiotherapy centre, is now up and running following a redevelopment.

Located at Monklands Hospital in Airdrie, the new treatment centre provides much needed additional treatment facilities for Lanarkshire and the surrounding area in West Central and South West Scotland, the centre contains three new linear accelerator treatment rooms, equipped with the most advanced technology, to provide patients with world-class treatment closer to home.

Designed by Keppie architects, the public and private waiting facilities are arranged around a central courtyard garden, allowing natural daylight and ventilation to enter the building, creating a relaxed environment for patients, their relatives and staff alike.

Peter Moran, Keppie’s managing director, said: “We’re delighted to see the Centre open and treating patients. It was an extremely rewarding project for us to have worked on and its very gratifying to see how well-received the Centre has been by those requiring treatment, their families and the staff who work there.”

Fife’s Affordable Housing Programme reaches halfway milestone

The completion of a housing development in Thornton has signalled the halfway stage in Fife Council’s Affordable Housing Programme.

The milestone means that 1,350 of the planned 2,700 new affordable homes are now built and occupied.

The 31 new homes for rent at Orebank Terrace are a mix of bungalows, cottage flats and two storey houses, ranging from one bedroom to five and include wheelchair and amenity housing.

The development in Thornton, which was supported by £155,000 of Scottish Government grant funding, was built in house by the council beyond industry standard with sprinkler systems and have good insulation which can help to tackle fuel poverty.

Over 50 homes planned for Edinburgh riverfront

Dunbar Homes has submitted proposals for 53 houses in Edinburgh.

Designed by Yeoman McAllister Architects, the development is situated on the site of a former paper mill in Currie by the Water of Leith.

The project takes the form of five separate blocks varying in height from three to four storeys.

£1.4m investment work starts at Dumbarton Municipal Buildings

Work has now started on the £1.4 million overhaul of Dumbarton’s historic Municipal Buildings.

The essential repair work to the roof will ensure the B-listed building is fit for purpose and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The upgrades will be carried out in two phases to allow the building to remain open throughout.

As well as external improvements being made to the building, new office space and meeting rooms will also be created and the Council Chambers will undergo an upgrade.

This additional work is being done to support the £19m project to move staff into modern, fit for purpose office space across the area and reduce the amount of buildings currently used by West Dunbartonshire Council.

Next phase of A90 Laurencekirk junction design work to start this year

Transport Scotland is to step up the design work on a new grade-separated junction at Laurencekirk on the A90 in Aberdeenshire this year.

The organisation will now seek to appoint consultants to take forward the next phases of design for the junction upgrade including route option assessment and the development of preferred junction option, leading to the preparation of draft road Orders.

A meeting of the Partnership Group comprising Aberdeenshire and Angus Councils, Nestrans along with Transport Scotland is to be held shortly to discuss the programme for the design work and to consider issues such as developer contributions for the scheme.

Hearts take next step in bid to build new stand

Hearts have moved a step closer to the construction of a new main stand at Tynecastle Stadium after submitting a pre-application notice to the City of Edinburgh Council.

With the planned work deemed “Major” by the authorities due to its scale, the capital club must now enter into an eight-week consultation process.

Hearts owner Ann Budge has confirmed that, should planning permission be granted, preparatory work on the land should begin in autumn and the project is estimated to be completed early in the 2017-18 season.

The new stand, which will replace the current 101-year-old structure, will boast around 7000 seats and raise the capacity of the stadium to more than 20,000.

Speirs Gumley gives pupils a taste of a career in property trades

Glasgow property management, residential letting and surveying company Speirs Gumley delivered an innovative career event yesterday which gave hundreds of 4th and 5th year pupils from Rosshall Academy in Crookston a taste of a trades careers in the property industry.

The event aimed to help more young people find a job by sharing insights on employment opportunities in the property sector.

The company organised the Speirs Gumley Trades Day after signing up to the Glasgow Schools & Business Partnership programme, which was established by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and Glasgow City Council.

The initiative encourages employers to partner up with a secondary school, actively participate in developing young people at the school, and help teachers to better understand the needs of different occupations and industry sectors. The aim is to increase employability by improving school leavers’ readiness for the world of work.

On Trades Day, Speirs Gumley brought together around 20 tradespeople from across the industry, including electricians, plumbers, builders, gas and lift engineers. They visited the school and met with pupils, offering valuable insight into their particular trade and answered a range of questions about how to get into the industry.

Land use strategy for Scotland published

The Scottish Government has set out how to meet its potential for “effective, economic and environmentally sustainable” land use. The revised Land Use Strategy sets out policies and proposals for the next five years and beyond.

Getting the best from our land is Scotland’s second land use strategy and comes at a time when focus on the way we use land is stronger than ever.

The recently passed Land Reform (Scotland) Bill and Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 have paved the way for this revised strategy, which sets out the importance of:

BAM graduates rally CRASH support

Three graduates from BAM Construction put their entrepreneurial talents to the test by taking part in a company challenge and at the same time raising money for charity.

Each year BAM’s graduates undertake either a fundraising or educational challenge. This year the trio were tasked with turning £100 into £1,000 in just two days in aid of CRASH, the construction industry’s charity of which BAM is a Patron.

Ross Gunning, a trainee site manager, Jennifer Breaden, an assistant planner and Ryan Wilson an assistant project surveyor, spent a day volunteering at YPeople where they decorated an area of its Glasgow office. YPeople helps vulnerable 17-25 year olds who have been affected by homelessness by providing accommodation and counselling support.

On the second day of their challenge, the graduate team took to the streets of Edinburgh to spend a day walking a mile in the shoes of a homeless person and understanding the challenges and problems homeless people encounter on a daily basis.

In just two days they smashed their fundraising target, thanks to the support of colleagues, supply chain and family and friends, and have raised £1,400.

Business plan aims to develop Perth golf course

A six-year business plan for Perth’s North Inch Golf Course, aimed at protecting and developing the facility for the future, will be considered by Perth and Kinross Council today.

The plan follows on from decisions taken by the council in 2014 to reduce maintenance pressures, invest £25,000 per year for two years and to appoint a Golf Course Officer to take forward marketing and development of the course.

This was with a view to growing the course membership, increasing use by visiting golfers and consequently improve the income from the facility.

Stewart Milne Group’s ‘bike4forty’ riders to tackle 9-day charity challenge

A team of amateur cyclists from the Stewart Milne Group is set to clock up more than 730 gruelling miles raising money for three healthcare charities as they visit 20 of the Group’s homes developments across north west England and Scotland.

The “bike4forty” challenge, part of the company’s 40th anniversary celebrations, will see the eight members of staff travel 738 miles over nine days to raise funds for the Archie Foundation, Beatson Cancer Charity and the Christie Cancer Charity based in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Manchester respectively.

Starting in Manchester on 7 April, the team, none of whom has more than a few years’ cycling experience, will take in every Stewart Milne Homes development in the country before finishing at the Group headquarters at Westhill, near Aberdeen, on 15 April.

The cyclists, who aim to raise £40,000 for the charities, are Aileen Beverly and Joe Morris from Aberdeen; Gary Milne and Alan Sneddon from Edinburgh; Niall Campbell, Patrick Gardiner and Stuart Henderson from Glasgow; and Manchester-based Stephen Daintith.