Building Briefs – October 22nd

• Louise Dier appointed non-executive director at TClarke

Louise will also join the audit, remuneration and nomination committees of the company.

Until recently Louise was managing director of London-based David Chipperfield Architects having joined them in 2013. Whilst undertaking the role of managing director, Louise also project managed significant assignments, such as the redevelopment of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Louise studied law at Cambridge University and was called to the bar, however quickly moved into management, spending nearly eight years at International Management Group, the US based sports management group, the last two years as head of HR for IMG Europe.

• Workers braved the elements to complete Glasgow School of Art west gable

Workers braved the elements last weekend, including working for hours in the pouring rain on Saturday, to complete the stabilisation of the Mackintosh Building west gable.

The team from Reigart Construction, SGB and Mabey Total Solutions pulled out all the stops to make up time lost due to the previous week’s high winds, and have now finished the work on the west gable.

This work has included completing the installation of the retention scaffolding on the north-west corner of the building and also on a specially-designed restraint system over the library tower on the south west corner.

Work has also been completed on a protective passageway on the west side of Scott Street which the GSA has created as an additional level of protection for the fire exit from the CCA.

• First Minister opens £54m GSK building in Montrose

GSK’s £54 million new state-of-the-art production building in Montrose has been opened by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for use in GSK’s Ellipta respiratory inhalers will be produced in the building which is the second multi-million investment in the Montrose site over the last two years.

The First Minister opened GSK’s other Montrose facility last year.

• Further A9 dualling ground investigations to start next week

The most northerly section of the A9 Dualling programme is to be the location for further ground investigations starting next Monday.

The work will take place on the stretch between Tomatin and Moy and is expected to last around 18 weeks. The works will stop for two weeks over Christmas and the New Year.

Some traffic management measures will be required when necessary to allow work beside the carriageway to be carried out safely. This will include alternate single file traffic sections controlled by temporary traffic signals.

The contractor will continue to monitor traffic volumes and take steps when necessary to ensure that any delays are kept to a minimum.

• Cockburnspath holiday park expansion plan withdrawn

Proposals to expand a holiday park in south east Scotland have been withdrawn after planning officials raised concerns about its landscape impact.

It had been estimated the scheme at Pease Bay near Cockburnspath could generate an extra £500,000 for the local economy.

However, planners said they were not clear the project could be carried out in a “visually sensitive manner”.

• Dundee to approve electric vehicle charging hub

The second phase of a successful Dundee electric vehicle charging cluster could be just around the corner.

Councillors will be asked to green light £75,000 worth of work to install facilities at Balgay Street in Lochee.

If councillors approve the bid for the work by Swarco it is expected to start in November and take around a month to complete.

The city development committee meets on Monday October 29.

A total of three hubs are planned for the Lochee ward.

• Fife awarded funding for repairs and improvements to historic town

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has awarded initial development funding to Fife Council to help progress its plans for repairs and improvements to the town’s historic streetscape and buildings.

It is understood that following the initial development, more detailed proposals will be submitted to apply for a full National Lottery grant of up to £1.2 million early next year.

Made possible by National Lottery players, the funding, which is distributed through HLF’s Townscape Heritage (TH) programme, could form part of a £3 million investment in the Town.

A complementary bid will be made to Historic Environment Scotland for a Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) in Inverkeithing.

If both bids are successful, this would be combined with Fife Council money and other funding contributions, to deliver a five year heritage-led regeneration programme, starting in June 2019.