Building Briefs – March 30th

The Fife community of Guardbridge is celebrating more good news with the completion by Kingdom Housing Association of its latest new housing development delivering 66 new homes to the village.

Tenants are now moving in to the final phase of the £8.1 million development at Toll Road and David Finlay VC Place.

The project was built for Kingdom by Fife based Campion Homes Ltd and grant assistance of £4.1m was provided by the Scottish Government and Fife Council.

The development includes 56 new homes for social rent and 10 for mid market rent. In addition to family housing the project provides some ground floor accommodation specifically designed to meet the needs of elderly or less-abled people. The homes have been built to Kingdom’s high quality design criteria and include renewable technologies to reduce energy bills and meet Building Controls Silver Standard of Sustainability.

As part of the development proposals Kingdom made a £15,000 contribution towards the local Motray Park play facilities and provided funding assistance towards the upgrading of the area’s Scottish Water infrastructure.

Aberdeen youngsters help cut sod on new £2.66m community hub

Work has officially started on a new £2.66 million community hub in the Middlefield area of Aberdeen.

The Lord Provost Henry E Rae Community Centre is having a complete refurbishment and extension which will provide purpose-built accommodation for community groups and charities.

Pupils from Manor Park Primary along with nursery pupils and members of the community from the centre were at the sod-cutting along with Aberdeen City Council Communities, Housing and Infrastructure vice convener Councillor Gordon Graham.

The main contractor for the project is CHAP Construction.

Work begins on joint Catholic and Jewish school campus in Glasgow

Work on a joint Catholic and Jewish primary school campus in Glasgow is to begin this week.

The £18.2 million campus will replace the existing Jewish school, Calderwood Lodge, and host an additional primary for the Catholic community.

The Newton Mearns campus will bring together two purpose-built denominational primary schools with provision for a nursery.

Both schools will have separate entrances, teaching wings and head teachers.

However, a shared central space will revolve around an amphitheatre, which is designed to be a flexible meeting place for children from both primaries that is neither an assembly hall or a classroom.

The school will include an innovative interactive space at the centre of the building with first-class ICT facilities, full wi-fi coverage and a range of small and larger group learning zones.

The new campus is to be built on a site opposite Mearns Castle High and should open for its first pupils in August 2017.

There will be a nursery class to serve the area and the playground will be shared, as will other facilities, such as sport, art, science and music/drama.

Kosher catering and dining facilities will be provided for Calderwood Lodge.

Cairnhill wins £400,000 order for new hospital ‘skeleton’

Cairnhill Structures, the Coatbridge based heavy engineering and steel fabrication specialists, has won a £400,000 contract for a fast track framing system which will form the skeleton of the new Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary.

Cairnhill’s in-house design team will draw up the plans for the new structure, which also offers the company’s Cairnframe system, with work due to start in May and last for five months.

Once the concrete framework of the building is erected it will go between the floor and ceiling to form steel framed wall panels, creating window openings and allowing the external cladding to be added and supported.

The order comes hard on the heels of £1.4 million worth of similar work for the NHS including framework for three new health centres at Wishaw, East Kilbride and Kilsyth, and the Monklands Beatson Clinic in Lanarkshire and an Intensive Care Psychiatric Unit at Stratheden Hospital in Fife.

Over Christmas and New Year Cairnhill and Watson Towers provided the steel plates to repair cracked truss ends on the Forth Road Bridge, and steel pillars to help get the main West Coast rail line running over the flood-damaged Lamington Viaduct.

Lews Castle refurbishment running over budget

The £19 million rescue of a castle is running over budget with the funding problem set to hit some important finishing touches of the project.

Redevelopment of the derelict Lews Castle in Stornoway into a plush hotel and museum is in its final stages.

But extra costs means there is not enough cash to completely restore the morning room and dining room decoration as well as the interpretation of the castle including display of paintings in the dining room.

Demolition marks first step in Dunfermline estate’s renewal

The multi-million-pound regeneration of a key Fife industrial estate has taken a step forward with the demolition of old and derelict buildings in Dunfermline.

This is seen as a catalyst to creating opportunities for further regeneration at Hillend and Donibristle industrial estate, and boosting economic development in the area.

The former Maxwell Buildings, situated at the estate’s entrance, were derelict for many years.

Work to transform derelict steel works into Tayport community hub begins

Work has started which will pave the way for the transformation of a derelict steel works in Tayport into a community hub.

Fife Council is to improve ground conditions at the old Abertay works in Shanwell Road, ahead of Tayport Community Trust’s revitalisation of the land.

Remediation works over the next two weeks will involve excavation and removal of soil around the existing buildings.

The trust welcomed the progress and said it hopes to begin its regeneration of the waterfront site next year.

The trust is to undertake a phased development, first demolishing the derelict factory building before creating a modern multipurpose hall, café with soft play area and meeting rooms.

The site will also be developed to form play areas and allotments, while later phases will involve the creation of a campsite and hostel.

As part of the land transfer, the council agreed to upgrade the area using cash from the Scottish Government’s vacant and derelict land fund.

Global accountancy body joins Glasgow’s CONNECT110NS

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is to lease new offices at BAM Properties’ CONNECT110NS development at 110 Queen Street, Glasgow.

The world’s leading body for professional accountants will occupy the entire first, second and third floors of the building, a total of 55,750 sq ft of space. ACCA will relocate from its current office at Central Quay in late 2016.

Existing occupiers feature a number of leading professional service organisations including Brodies LLP, Deloitte LLP, Grant Thornton UK LLP, DWF LLP and WSP/Parsons Brinkerhoff.

Armani was the first retail tenant on board, opening a flagship store earlier this year fronting onto Ingram Street.

Cruden Homes’ site manager’s African goal

East Lothian kids’ football club Tranent Colts FC is set to be involved in an extremely exciting and rewarding experience in June 2016 with a delegation from the club, in conjunction with East Lothian Council and the Scottish Football Association, planning to visit a number of schools and communities in Rwanda in East Africa.

Cruden Homes’ site manager at the company’s Kinnear Road development in Edinburgh’s Inverleith area, Phil Purves, is also chairman at the club, a position he has held for the last nine years having been involved with the club since 2001.

Phil said: “Our ‘goal’ is to assist in many community projects while also deliver football sessions to people who will really benefit from this opportunity. We believe this can make a real difference to young Rwandans’ lives who can use football as a catalyst for change.

“This is not just about football but also assisting in the regeneration of communities within Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, by also participating in community projects such as Street Kids Rescue, Building and Housing and Agriculture projects.

“Our team will help first hand with these projects to get kids off the street, build and repair housing and assist in the building of farming projects within the communities.

“East Lothian already has pre-existing links with Rwanda, which were further strengthened when they hosted representatives from the Rwandan Commonwealth Games team in 2014. The ongoing legacy is a continuing association which aims to provide better outcomes for people from both countries and our club is really looking forward to developing this exciting partnership.”

Phil added: “If any organisation would like to be a partner with us in this venture, we would of course be delighted to hear from them. Naturally, there are significant costs involved in this initiative and we would appreciate any level of support.”

For individuals and organisations who might be willing to support Tranent Colts FC’s forthcoming mission to Rwanda, please contact Phil Purves on 07980 373758 or Wendy McFadden (Fundraising Officer) on 07800 879662.