Building Briefs – May 31st

A major project to restore Edinburgh’s iconic Mercat Cross has been completed by the City of Edinburgh Council.

The Lord Lyon King of Arms and Lord Provost of Edinburgh led a re-dedication ceremony yesterday, celebrating the monument’s return to use after three months of conservation work.

With the support of Historic Environment Scotland, Graciela Ainsworth Sculpture Conservation and Historic Buildings Restoration Ltd, the project has seen heraldic decorations restored and repainted and the asphalt roof replaced, as well as stonework repointed by local apprentices with a traditional lime based mortar.

Marking the re-dedication, the Royal Regiment of Scotland formed a guard of honour beneath the Cross before a proclamation was made by the Lord Lyon and prayers offered by the Minister of St Giles, Calum MacLeod. The ceremony was brought to a close with a fanfare sounded by HM State Trumpeters and the singing of the National Anthem.

Edinburgh’s Mercat Cross is topped with a carved unicorn, Scotland’s national animal. The plinth the unicorn sits on is thought to date to the 15th Century but the Mercat Cross in its present form, wasn’t built until 1866, as a replacement to the original which was demolished in 1756.

In 1885, a new octagonal base with a raised platform was built underneath the cross, paid for by MP William Gladstone whose family hailed from Edinburgh.

Ryden joins campaign to support Aberdeen Music Hall transformation

Ryden is now part of the new corporate sponsorship campaign supporting the transformation of Aberdeen’s Music Hall.

Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA), the charitable trust behind the refurbishment of the iconic building, have named the new sponsorship initiative The 1822 Club, as a nod to the first year it opened.

Aberdeen’s category ‘A’ listed Music Hall closed in spring 2016 to undergo a two-year transformation.

Once completed, the Music Hall is expected to generate more business, attract more visitors, improve the built environment and help make Aberdeen a great place to live, work and visit.

Ken Shaw, Ryden’s investment partner in Aberdeen, said: “We are very proud to make a donation to this remarkable scheme to improve the Music Hall which has been at the heart of cultural and community life in Aberdeen for nearly two centuries. Ryden has been present in the city since 1980, providing advice to clients on a wide range of property matters and therefore it seemed fitting for us to give something back to support the restoration of one of the iconic buildings at the heart of the local community.”

The transformation project aims to retain the original period features, revealing the classic beauty of the hall and making it a contemporary space, accessible to all. In February, it saw the successful completion of major structural and civil engineering works. The most ambitious phase of the project has been excavating below ground to expand the basement to make room for new public toilets, in turn freeing up space on the upper floors, which will house a new creative learning studio, café and bar, relocated box office and a new, intimate performance space.

Plans revealed to build new Inverness primary school

Plans have been revealed to build a new primary school to the south of Inverness.

Members of the Highland Council’s care, learning and housing committee have agreed to recommend to the council the establishment of a new school, as well as creating a new catchment area, to serve the Ness Castle and Ness-side housing developments.

The local authority will meet to discuss the recommendations on 28 June.

Gunn fired up for new role at Kestrel

Kestrel’s John Gunn has shot up the ranks of the UPVC fascia and cladding brand to become regional sales director for Ireland, Scotland and the North of England.

John, who joined Kestrel will be working with a team of business development managers across his area.

Having managed Scotland and Ireland for a number of years, John is now fired up to take on his new role.

“It’s an exciting time to be taking on this role,” John said. “We have a strong business development team in the three areas who are working to reinforce Kestrel’s presence and maintain the excellent standards of service our customers expect.”

Before his appointment John was the business development manager for Scotland and Ireland. His replacement is Graeme Appleton who joins Kestrel from a fenestration company.

Wave Energy Scotland to be partner in €8m EU Ocean Energy project

Scotland’s wave energy body Wave Energy Scotland (WES) has become a partner in the €8 million, EU-funded project, DTOcean+.

This new project will create advanced open source software to optimise the efficiency and effectiveness of wave and tidal energy systems.

WES will lead the Stage Gate Design section of the project, providing valuable insight from its technology development programme. This programme has awarded 77 projects a total of £28.2m since 2014.

The output of DTOcean+ will be a user-friendly and freely available software package, which can support technology companies in testing their concepts at an early stage. It will help improve the reliability, performance and endurance of ocean energy systems, making the sector more attractive for private investment.

By reducing the technical and financial risks, wave and tidal energy devices will then become cost-competitive with other energy sectors.

WES is already working with US partners Sandia National Laboratories and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on developing common metrics for evaluating wave energy devices.

The DTOcean+ partnership started in May this year and will run until April 2021. It is managed by Tecnalia in Spain and brings together 15 partners from eight different countries (UK, Spain, France, Italy, Sweden, Portugal, US and Denmark).

Work to start on £90,000 Fife road maintenance programme

Work is to begin next month on a £90,000 road improvement project in St Andrews.

Fife Council will start carrying out carriageway resurfacing on City Road, Pilmuir Links and North Street, St Andrews for one week from Sunday, 03 June.

The works schedule is as follows:

Work to start on A76 road resurfacing project

Work is to begin on a £237,000 road resurfacing project on the A76 road in Dumfries and Galloway.

Scotland TranServ will start repairing around 1km of the route at Crockroy near Kirkconnell from Friday, 08 June.

Work will take place from 7pm on 06 June to 6am on Monday, 11 June. An additional two overnight closures will be in place from 7pm to 6am on 11 – 12 June.

Due to the depth of resurfacing and narrow width of the A76 in sections, Scotland TranServ said it will be necessary to implement a road closure in order to protect the health and safety of workers and the travelling public. There are also limited diversion options for larger vehicles.

Roadworks to begin on A90 southbound at Charleston

Roadworks are to be carried out on the A90 southbound carriageway at Charleston.

The scheme, which is part of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie to Tipperty (AWPR/B-T) project, involves undertaking road surfacing and kerbing works.

Work will be carried out from around 10pm on Friday, 01 June until 6am on Monday, 04 June. Diversions will be in place, while the new Charleston Bridge will be closed for use.