Building Briefs – May 29th

Hardies Property & Construction Consultants has helped Midlothian Council win Community Development Project of the Year at the Scottish Property Awards 2018 for The Loanhead Centre in Midlothian.

The first project to be developed in partnership with Scottish Futures Trust, Midlothian and NHS Lothian through the Integrated Joint Board, the new facility incorporates a primary school, after school/wrap around care, library, leisure centre, medical centre, early years’ provision and external work.

Hardies provided project management, quantity surveying and principal designer services to the £14 million project.

The Scottish Property Award category was conceived to recognise a new, community-driven project which has been delivered in partnership and, at the award presentation, the judges stated that the winning Loanhead Centre brought the spirit of the community together towards a greener future with this multi-purpose development.

Murray Warner, Partner at Hardies, said: “We are delighted to help Midlothian Council win this recognition for a facility that provides a range of services to the benefit of the local community.”

Councillors approve Tarbert Harbour investment

A plan to improve facilities at Tarbert Harbour and attract more visitors to the village has been approved by councillors.

Argyll and Bute Council’s policy and resources committee gave the green light for the improvements, which will be delivered in four stages at a cost of just over £700,000.

The regeneration work will see new toilet, shower and laundry facilities built and an existing building converted into a new harbour office, reception and chandlery. Also, a new waste disposal area will be developed and Jakes Quay will be converted to a fuelling and pump out berth, improving on the facilities currently available at the Fish Quay on the opposite side of the harbour.

Work is already underway on stage one of the work, which will see the new toilet, shower and laundry facilities completed this year. Stage two, which includes the harbour office, reception and chandlery, is due to be ready in the first part of next year, while the waste disposal area is planned for completion by summer 2019. A timetable for the fourth and final stage, the work at Jakes Quay, will be confirmed in due course.

The council will contribute £125,000 to the project as part of the Tarbert and Lochgilphead Regeneration Fund, with the Coastal Communities Fund contributing £300,000 and a further £267,000 coming from the Tarbert Harbour Authority, who will continue to operate the harbour.

Chris Stewart Group brings Tattu to Edinburgh

Property investor, developer and operator, Chris Stewart Group (CSG) has secured the award-winning, contemporary Chinese restaurant, Tattu, as the newest tenant for its £85m regeneration project in Edinburgh’s city centre.

Tattu has agreed a 20 year lease for space (4,680 sq ft) across the ground and basement levels of The Mint Building, which makes up one half of The Registers, a mixed-use development on the south-east corner of St Andrew Square.

With plans to open in late spring 2019, this will be Tattu’s first restaurant in Scotland and fourth site in total. It also operates in Manchester and Leeds and will open a third restaurant in Birmingham later this year.

Stephen Denham, for CSG, said: “Edinburgh has nothing like Tattu and so we are delighted to have attracted the restaurant to The Registers. Its premium Chinese cuisine and approach to interior design, using beautiful natural materials and different art forms to celebrate eastern culture, makes this restaurant unique and a great fit for the style and quality we want to achieve for the development.”

First grants announced as part of Jedburgh regeneration scheme

A total of £60,000 of grant funding has been awarded to carry out traditional repair works to four town centre properties as part of the Jedburgh Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS).

The four successful projects to receive funding are at: 22 High Street; Crown Lane House; 1 Abbey Place; 1 Market Place.

The £1 million Jedburgh CARS programme, a partnership between Historic Environment Scotland and Scottish Borders Council, will enable a targeted approach for conservation-based building repairs within the town centre as well as providing opportunities for a wide range of traditional skills training and community heritage education activities.

Next month a popular two day course will run in conjunction with the Scottish Lime Centre Trust for local contractors and building professionals, providing an introduction to the conservation and repair of traditional masonry structures and buildings using traditional lime-based mortars.

Dundee to consider district heating strategy

Pioneering technology applied to a tried and tested principle introduced in Dundee almost a century ago is set to take the city into a low carbon future.

A decade long vision that will start to deliver small scale, local heating schemes, similar to one developed in the Logie area in 1919 will be discussed by councillors next week.

Dundee City Council has already secured £3m of LCITP funding to develop a low carbon district energy hub at the Regional Performance Centre for Sport in Caird Park which will combine ground source heat pumps, a combined heat and power unit, solar thermal panels and other technologies.

The council’s strategy, which will be considered by the policy and resources committee on Monday (June 4), envisages the various projects being delivered as combined heat and power energy centres, which will reduce reliance on electricity and gas generated using carbon fuels.

It identifies potential initial opportunities for such systems in Lochee, Linlathen and the Dighty Corridor which would pay back the investment made in them within eight to ten years.

In line with Scottish Government policy, the council’s proposed plan would task officers to consider the options for creating an Energy Services Company (ESCo) to provide longer term local heat and power schemes.

Consideration of a Dundee ESCo would be influenced by current Scottish Government plans to develop a similar body for the whole of Scotland.

The Logie estate is thought to be one the first public housing schemes built in Scotland after the First World War and one of the first in Europe to have a district heating scheme, supplied by a boiler house that also provided a public wash-house for the surrounding area.

Meanwhile over £800,000 is to be spent on the latest phase of the external wall insulation (EWI) programme in Dundee which will provide warmer, more energy efficient homes for another 72 properties, the neighbourhood services committee will hear on Monday.

Over £40 million has been spent across the city to ensure homes are easier to heat and more energy efficient.

The latest round of external wall insulation could benefit properties in Polepark.

The project, if approved, will receive funding from Dundee City Council, Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Home Energy Efficiency Programme Scotland – Area Based Schemes (HEEPS – ABS) funding.

SSE is managing the work on behalf of the council, with work due to be completed by April 2019.

Scottish Borders confirms £3.1m investment in play areas and outdoor community spaces

Scottish Borders Council has confirmed its commitment to spend £3.1 million over the next four years in new play parks, skate park and pump tracks, and other outdoor community facilities.

A report will be presented to councillors this week setting out how the investment should be spent over the next four years and a Members Reference Group will be established to oversee the projects.

If councillors agree to the report, new facilities are anticipated at Harestanes, Kelso, Coldstream, Hawick, Peebles, Jedburgh, Eyemouth and Earlston and in a number of other villages throughout the region.

The new Rowan Boland play park complements the recent investment in larger play parks which have taken place in Hawick, Selkirk and Lauder.