Building Briefs – October 27th

Edinburgh’s new James Gillespie’s High School officially opened

The new James Gillespie’s High School was officially opened at a special ceremony by Deputy First Minister and cabinet secretary for education and skills John Swinney yesterday.

The high school rebuild was part of the £42.8m James Gillespie’s Campus Project, one of the most unique in Scotland, which began in 2012. New buildings were constructed across all aspects of the campus which serves pupils aged from 3 to 18 years in nursery, primary and high schools all on the same site.

The final phase of works was completed in August this year with the opening of the new sports and performance buildings. In addition, the A-listed Bruntsfield House at the centre of the campus also underwent a major refurbishment.

The first phase, opened in August 2013, saw the completion of the new nursery; two new classrooms and a gym at James Gillespie’s Primary School and the delivery of a new synthetic pitch at Thirlestane Road for the high school.

The second phase, the construction of the Malala Building which is the main teaching block for the high school, was completed in April 2015 and consists of 57 classroom spaces with full-height glazing to maximise daylight and views; four collaboration spaces along the central spine to the building linked by external courtyards and bespoke dining and social spaces which can also be used for learning and teaching.

The high school replacement project has received significant Scottish Government funding through the ‘Scotland’s Schools for the Future’ programme which is managed by the Scottish Futures Trust. The project is being delivered by Hub South East Scotland with Morrison Construction being the contractors.

Mr Swinney was joined by Councillor Paul Godzik, education convener for the City of Edinburgh Council; vice convener Cllr Cathy Fullerton, head teacher Donald J Macdonald and Paul McGirk, chief executive of Hub South East Scotland, the council’s development partner.

Special guest of honour was Sue Caton, niece of Olympic athlete Eric Liddell, with the new sports building being named after the famous Scottish sporting hero. The new performance block has been named the Spark Building after novelist and former pupil Muriel Spark.

Stirling properties evacuated following gas leak

A gas leak caused by demolition work in Stirling has led to road closures and properties being evacuated.

Stirling Council said it believed the leak in Springkerse happened after a gas pipe was cut in an empty building in Kerse Road.

Part of Kerse Road and Whitehouse Road were closed, with diversions in place.

The council said the gas leak posed no danger to the public and that Scottish Gas Networks and the emergency services were attending the scene.

St Andrew’s Hospice refurbishment gets go-ahead

St Andrew’s Hospice in Airdrie is to forge ahead with its planned £9 million upgrade.

The £9 million project will increase the number of rooms and improve facilities.

The charity has been raising money for the refurbishment for some time.

Patients will be moved to Wester Moffat Hospital until the work is complete.

CCG to begin boiler upgrade project for Blackwood

CCG is to begin upgrading 65 homes in Edinburgh for housing provider Blackwood.

The contractor’s Asset Management (AM) division will install new boilers at properties in Charlotte Hill.

The boilers are being installed as part of Blackwood’s bespoke care system, ‘CleverClogs’, which allows tenants to benefit from enhanced integration in the area of technical and support services.

The project, which is set to begin later this month, marks the second contract being undertaken by CCG for Blackwood. The company is also delivering 23 mixed-tenure homes, including a single block of six flats, in Dundee.

Average price of a Scottish home increases 0.6 per cent

The average price of a residential property in Scotland has shown an increase of 0.6 per cent during the second quarter of financial year 2016/17 compared with the same period in the previous year, with the highest rise of 9.7 per cent being reported in East Renfrewshire.

The area also showed the highest average price of £246,120.

The highest percentage fall was recorded in Aberdeen, which reported a decrease of 7.5 per cent in average price compared to the same quarter the previous year to £200,790.

Statistics published by Registers of Scotland (RoS) show that the average property price in the quarter July to September was £170,309.