Building Briefs – November 7th

Malcolm Hollis appoints architectural technologist in Glasgow

Independent commercial building surveying firm Malcolm Hollis LLP has expanded its team in Glasgow with the appointment of Andrea Gunner.

Andrea joins Malcolm Hollis as architectural technologist, responsible for producing existing and proposed architectural designs for planning and building regulation approval.

Urban Union to deliver Perth housing regeneration project

Regeneration development expert Urban Union is to begin work on a project to develop the Muirton area of Perth in partnership with Caledonia Housing Association and Fairfield Housing Co-operative.

The development of 203 new houses - the first for the developer in Perth - will include 102 affordable homes and 101 for private sale next to the original St Johnstone F.C. home ground.

The multi-million pound project was granted planning approval by Perth & Kinross Council in July 2016.

Urban Union Ltd was appointed by Caledonia Housing Association to deliver the new homes and will begin work imminently. Completion of the affordable and private homes is scheduled for the end of 2018.

The development will offer a wide range of accommodation types with one, two, three and four bedroom properties available. Each property comes with either private or shared gardens alongside attractive outdoor space and car parking facilities.

The new homes will form an important part of the regeneration of the site at Muirton and will follow extensive community engagement in the development of the master plans.

£1.4m green homes boost for Renfrewshire residents

More than 170 properties in Renfrewshire are set to benefit from a near-£1.4 million boost to help residents save money on heating bills and reduce carbon emissions.

The money has been earmarked to fund the final phases of an existing programme to deliver external wall insulation in Paisley’s Gallowhill area – meaning it will eventually have covered its 1,000th home.

It will also be spent on new external wall insulation projects for homes in Johnstone, Kilbarchan, Renfrew and Bridge of Weir.

The latest funding boost sees more than £760,000 provided through the Scottish Government’s Home Energy Efficiency Programme for Scotland: Area-Based Scheme (HEEPS:ABS), to be topped up by £481,000 of Renfrewshire Council money and £125,000 of external funding.

The work which has been carried out to date in Gallowhill was funded by previous allocations from the same source.

Members of the council’s Housing and Community Safety Policy Board will this week be asked to agree to the plans.

They will also hear Renfrewshire has applied for nearly £1.4m of capital stimulus funding from the Scottish Government.

TFT Edinburgh makes first promotion to partner on first anniversary

Neil Wotherspoon from TFT’s Edinburgh office has been promoted to technical partner.

TFT Edinburgh was launched 12 months ago by Neil who joined TFT from AECOM. Since that time, the team has grown fourfold serving clients in Edinburgh and across Scotland and the North East of England including Screwfix, Tesco, Royal Bank of Scotland and Aviva Investors.

Refurbishment works complete at Edinburgh industrial estate

Ryden has announced the completion of the refurbishment of Units 3 and 10 within Bankhead Industrial Estate in West Edinburgh, on behalf of Standard Life Investments.

The refurbishment work on the two vacant units will ensure that future occupiers continue to have the benefit of quality industrial / trade accommodation. Other tenants on the estate include Screwfix, Howdens, Dingbro, Wet Rooms, SafeStore and The Edinburgh Beer Factory.

New chairman for Warmworks Scotland board

Warmworks Scotland has announced the appointment of David Green OBE as independent chairman of its board of directors.

David is the former chief executive of the Clean Energy Council in Australia and co-founder of fuel poverty charity National Energy Action, and will bring extensive international board-level experience in successfully delivering sustainable and clean energy initiatives both in the public and private sector.

As a £224 million joint venture between the Energy Saving Trust, Everwarm and Changeworks, Warmworks Scotland has appointed Green at a pivotal time in the delivery of the Scottish Government’s Warmer Homes Scotland programme.

Launched in 2015, Warmworks Scotland has already helped more than 4,000 vulnerable households across Scotland by installing a range of new energy-saving measures, with an average running cost saving per completed household of £312 per year and customer satisfaction feedback of 98 per cent.

Taking up the role immediately, Green’s tenure will primarily be focused on enhancing the performance and delivery of the Warmer Homes Scotland programme, which is a key part of the Scottish Government’s drive to tackle fuel poverty.

Healthy Working Lives Award for Clark Contracts

The Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives has awarded its Bronze Award to Clark Contracts.

The programme supports employers and employees to develop health promotion in the workplace. The first step is achieving the ‘Bronze Award’ and to do so, organisations must raise awareness of occupational health, safety and wellbeing topics identified by employees. This includes staging a series of health, safety and wellbeing campaigns and activities and a mental health awareness activity.

Clark Contracts joined the scheme in November 2015 and its initiatives include the provision of free fresh fruit in both its Paisley and Edinburgh Offices, the formation of a running and cycling club, a series of nutrition workshops and arranging for a local deli to visit its Head Office to sell healthy produce during lunchtime.

The Paisley based construction company also worked in collaboration with Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership (RHSCP) to deliver Mental Health Awareness seminars in July. The seminars were delivered by Audrey Hall and Margaret Toal of RHSCP, who led discussions on the definition of mental health, along with the associated problems, whilst highlighting mental health issues can affect everyone and are not necessarily negative.

Clark Contracts is now looking towards achieving the Silver Award, with a target of achieving this in Summer 2017.