Building Briefs – November 16th

• Dundee development to house UK’s first BOHO hotel

Structured House Group has revealed more details about its plans to convert the former Robertson’s Furniture Store in Dundee into a new £20 million hotel and restaurant.

The project on Barrack Street will create a six-storey hotel – with 115 beds – which will be set back from the retained tiled facade.

There will also be a separate six-storey hotel building to the west with another 100 beds.

The premises will operate as a BOHO hotel – the first of its kind in the UK.

BOHO is the property management arm of the company, which retains ownership of its buildings and manages them in-house.

Work is set to start early next year.

• Design unveiled for Inverness swing bridges control tower

The design of a key building on the Caledonian Canal at Inverness has been unveiled in plans lodged with Highland Council.

The new bridge control tower for Tomnahurich swing bridge and the new swing bridge proposed as part of Inverness West Link Phase 2 has been designed to harmonise with the traditional buildings found along the banks of the canal, with a white dash render and black trim.

The council’s in-house architects have created the design, in conjunction with consulting engineers Fairhurst.

The control room will be located on the upper floor of the two storey, flat- roofed building, which will be largely glazed to allow uninterrupted views of the canal.

The ground floor will house office space and a plant room.

• Dundee approves two new housing developments

Councillors have given the green light to 60 new homes across two sites across Dundee.

Members of Dundee City Council’s planning committee granted full consent for 40 new homes proposed for a brownfield area on Haddington Avenue in the Whitfield area.

A total of 13 houses were approved in phase one of the development while another 27 were approved in phase two of the plans by Glasgow-based developer John Jack.

A report before the committee, which recommended approval, said phase one would create three two-bedroom homes and 10 three -bedroom properties to the north of The Crescent community centre.

The second phase would help meet the need for affordable housing in the area with plans for a mix of social housing for rent.

The grassy area off Haddington Crescent is the proposed site for the homes.

Elsewhere Strathmore Homes has been granted planning permission to build 20 three-bedroom houses on brownfield land to the east of Foggyley Gardens, near Lochee.

It represents the second of a possible three stages of redevelopment on the Foggyley estate, which was home to a number of multi-storey blocks until a decade ago.

Work is already under way to build 14 semi-detached and seven detached homes on land to the north of the street, off Harefield Road, after permission was granted in 2016.

• Resurfacing work to close section of M898

As part of Transport Scotland’s strategic trunk road maintenance programme, Scotland TranServ will resurface 1.2kilometres of the M898 Southbound between the Erskine Bridge and the M8.

In order for the £400k project to be carried out as quickly and safely as possible, it will be necessary to close this section of the southbound carriageway of the M898 for the duration of the weekend beginning 8pm Friday 30th November until 6am Monday 3rd December.

• Robertson completes work on new water mains

Robertson has completed civil engineering works for a significant water mains project across two sites.

Worth almost £650,000, the 11-week project saw Robertson partner with Scottish Water Horizons for the first time to install two new water mains – one in Stewarton and another in Newton Mearns.

The new water mains will service around 400 new build homes at Dunlop Road in Stewarton and 1,100 homes at Maidenhill in Newton Mearns.

The new water mains are being delivered under Scottish Water Horizons, a commercial subsidiary owned by Scottish Water, which is helping to enable new residential and community developments throughout Scotland.

• Major work needed on Perth bridges

Substantial work is required on two of Perth’s road bridges, a report has stated.

Perth and Kinross Council has confirmed work will be needed on both Perth Bridge and Queen’s Bridge over the next few years.

And the local authority has also said various measures will be introduced in a bid to prevent cars mounting pavements on both structures.

• Council approves funding for Sutherland housing improvements

A two-year Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme has been agreed that will see over £2 million invested into improving council homes in the Sutherland area over the next two years.

The decision by the Highland Council’s Sutherland County Committee will also see a further £134,000 spent specifically on providing aids and adaptations to assist tenants requiring extra support.

The council is responsible for maintaining 386 residential properties across North, West and Central Sutherland and 520 in East Sutherland and Edderton. During 2019/20 £979,133 will be used to carry out upgrade works, including: replacing kitchens, bathrooms, windows and doors as well as structural work to roofs, chimneys and the external fabric of properties. Money will also be used to carry out heating and energy efficiency work in line with the Scottish Government’s Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing. For the period 2020/21 the investment will rise to £1,028,045.

This is part of the wider Highland Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme which will see a total of over £29m invested over the next two years to improve housing stock across the Highlands.

• Warning issued against unauthorised developments in Moray

Moray Council has issued a no tolerance notice towards unauthorised development in the region after councillors were forced to take enforcement action against homeowners in Cullen and Forres conservation areas.

The residents ignored planning regulations by replacing timber-framed windows with uPVC windows without seeking advice or permission.

The regulations are in place to safeguard the heritage and integrity of listed buildings and conservation areas.

Moray Council’s chair of planning & regulatory services committee, Cllr David Bremner, said there was no excuse for homeowners or other developers to ignore or flout the regulations.