Building Briefs - October 31st

Following on from the successful completion of previous phases of work, Maxi Construction has been awarded the design and build contract from Episo Boxes GP Ltd for Phase 4 of the redevelopment of St Catherine’s Retail Park in Perth.

The project involves the demolition of an existing unit and the construction of 5 new retail units providing over 4,500m2 of space within the operational retail park.

Works include new services connections, piling, concrete floor slab, structural steel frame, masonry cavity walls, metal composite panel wall and roof cladding, curtain walling, automatic sliding doors and internal division walls.

Maxi Construction’s managing director John Aitchison said: “We are delighted to continue our association with the Client and project team at St Catherine’s Retail Park and look forward to delivering this fourth phase of the redevelopment works.”

The project team includes Currie & Brown as Employer’s Agent, Principal Designer & Quantity Surveyor, 3DReid as Architect, ACIES as Structural Engineer and KJ Tait as Building Services Engineers.

£2.5m grant for Citizens Theatre upgrade

Glasgow City Council is to provide £2.5 million to the project to revamp of the city’s renowned Citizens Theatre.

The grant will go towards the £20.8m cost of the refurbishment of the threatre in Gorbals.

The money comes from the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF), which is used to deliver “large-scale improvements to deprived areas”.

Plans for the category B listed building include improved accessibility across the entire building, stabilising its Victorian features, a new bar and cafe, a reworked stage, and new rehearsal space.

Green light for new Aberdeen Lidl store at former garage site

Planners in Aberdeen has backed a proposal from supermarket chain Lidl to build a new supermarket on the site of a former garage.

Lidl lodged plans last year with Aberdeen City Council to demolish its Torry store and build a bigger place near its current site on Wellington Road.

Car dealership Peter Vardy has vacated its Land Rover site on Greenwell Road, East Tullos, to make way for the construction of the new “Lidl of the Future” store.

In a decision notice, planners said the proposal to erect a new supermarket would “partially meet the demand” for the provision of a new retail facility to the south of Aberdeen.

They also added the proposal would “not have a sufficiently detrimental impact” on the vitality and viability of existing shopping centres in the area and added the site was well served by transport links.

The report said: “This application was the subject of a very low level of objection, and was actually the subject of 30 letters of support.

“However, one late letter of representation was received on behalf of Tesco, who had concerns the proposal significantly underestimated the turnover of the store, and therefore the potential impact on existing designated centres may therefore be far greater, and therefore in conflict with the retail policies contained within the Local Development Plan.”

Up to 25 jobs will be created at the new store which will include wider aisles, longer tills and toilet and baby facilities.

The proposed replacement store would be one of the first of Lidl’s new specification stores to be created in the UK.

Tenders being considered for demolition of ‘Eyesore’ Dundee flats

Blocks of flats in Dundee which have been labelled an “eyesore” are set to be demolished next month.

The former residential flats in Murrayfield Drive and Whitfield Avenue in the Whitfield area of the city were vacated last year.

Anne Rendall, depute convener of Dundee City Council’s neighbourhood services, said tenders for the pending demolition are being considered.

She said: “Tenders for the demolition of these particular properties are due to be considered by the neighbourhood services committee.”

Residents welcomed the news that the flats, which has been targeted for fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour are to be knocked down, the local Evening Telegraph newspaper said.

https://youtu.be/N9Hy_wqAqSg

PG Paper announces two year lease extension at Greenock’s Custom House

Following a period of negotiation between landlord Riverside Inverclyde (ri) and PG Paper Company Ltd, a global exporter of paper, a two year extension of the company’s existing lease at Greenock’s Custom House has been agreed.

PG Paper Company currently leases 3,896 sq ft at the Georgian architectural masterpiece, and has been a tenant of ri’s since phase three of the restoration of the building was completed in September 2015.

Created and driven by CEO Poonam Gupta OBE in 2003, PG Paper has grown rapidly, and is now one of Scotland’s biggest exporters with a presence in 55 countries across five continents. It exports over 95% of sales to the Indian subcontinent and South East Asia, primarily from its Greenock headquarters.

Mrs Gupta said: “We are delighted to have been able to agree an extension with ri to stay in this wonderful building. We had considered many other options but our desire to grow in Inverclyde and continue our development has enabled us to extend our lease. Our relationship with ri was a key factor in our decision to stay and ri’s desire to keep us has been clear from the outset.”