Building Briefs – September 11th

Sleeperz Hotels completed a 43-room expansion of its Cityroomz Edinburgh hotel with a new wing accessible via Princes Street.

The budget hotel operator has converted Princes House, a former three storey office block, into a deluxe wing made up of superior double, family and cabin rooms; as well as ten suites with kitchenettes and lounges.

The suite bathrooms feature flooring printed with a city street map of Edinburgh, showing landmarks and locations including Shandwick Place.

The expansion increases bed-stock to 115 rooms at Cityroomz Edinburgh, which is located on Shandwick Place between Waverley and Haymarket stations and close to Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

The development comes before Sleeperz Hotel open a new 120 room hotel above Dundee Railway Station, opposite the new V&A Museum, in 2018. The new hotel is part of a £1bn programme to regenerate Dundee Waterfront.

Glasgow architects Maith Design was appointed to transform the disused office block into stylish and affordable living spaces.

The expansion was delivered in partnership with property and investment company Town Centre Securities PLC.

Link completes new affordable development in Edinburgh

Link Group Ltd has officially opened a development of 15 homes for mid market rent at Annandale Street in Edinburgh.

The £1.749 million construction commenced in July 2015 using £426,150 funding from the Scottish Government.

Built by Westpoint Construction, the final phase of Annandale Street includes a mix of two studio flats, and one and two-bedroom flats. The properties have been built to 2010 Building Standards, with high levels of insulation and energy efficient boilers.

Scottish construction trainees to pit skills against UK’s best

A dozen construction apprentices representing colleges throughout Scotland have secured their place at the UK National Final of the UK’s longest running construction skills competition, SkillBuild.

Organised by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), SkillBuild has been showcasing the talents of apprentices for over 40 years. The competition brings together construction trainees from all over the UK to compete in their chosen skills, including bricklaying, carpentry, joinery, wall and floor tiling and painting and decorating.

Following their success at the Scottish SkillBuild Regional Qualifiers at South Lanarkshire College and Edinburgh College in May, the following apprentices have progressed to the UK National Final at the Birmingham NEC from November 16-18.

Ayrshire College

City of Glasgow College

Dundee and Angus College

Edinburgh College

Forth Valley College

South Lanarkshire College

The 12 trainees and apprentices from Scotland will go head to head with trainees from across the UK, all with the aim of winning SkillBuild 2017 and a possible place as part of ‘Squad UK’ for the international competition WorldSkills Kazan 2019.

Green light for Millport regeneration scheme

An innovative scheme which aims to help regenerate historic buildings in Millport is up and running.

Over the next four years, Millport will see more than £1.5 million invested in shopfront improvements and repairs to the town’s most notable buildings, thanks to the Millport Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS), funded by North Ayrshire Council and Historic Environment Scotland.

And applications are being invited now for the first tranche of grant money which will be distributed later this year.

CARS provides funding to deliver a range of initiatives, including grant schemes to help property owners and tenants repair and reinstate historic buildings, including traditional shopfronts.

The CARS team is in place with Andrew McNair appointed as the Council’s new Project Officer responsible for the day-to-day running of the scheme. Supporting Andrew is Peter Drummond, a conservation architect who has extensive experience working in the built heritage sector.

Grant application deadlines are now set for year 2017/2018, the first round of CARS. These deadlines are:

For details on how to contact Andrew and Peter, visit www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/MillportCARS, which also has more information on CARS and how to apply for a grant.

Millar & Bryce enhances team with new appointments

Land and property search organisation Millar & Bryce has strengthened its team with two senior appointments.

Sandra Genese and Katie McKenna have both joined as business development managers, and will work alongside the business development team to spearhead customer relations and grow brand awareness.

Genese previously worked at Royal Bank of Scotland Business Insurance in a similar capacity, and will work across both commercial and residential property clients.

A qualified Solicitor, McKenna joins from Digby Brown where she coordinated the Compensate Personal Injury Network. McKenna is active within the Scottish legal community as a member of both the Law Society Practising Certificate Sub-Committee and the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow.

Communities to have say in the design of their area

Communities across Scotland can bid to take part in a new £325,000 scheme to regenerate their neighbourhood.

The Making Places Initiative will help bring communities together to agree improvements for their area based on local need and priorities.

The expanded scheme has grown from the success of a previous Charette programme which teamed local people with design professionals to look at what would improve their places and communities.

This new initiative will continue to offer support for events of this type alongside more comprehensive support to deliver on these ideas.

Cyclists get in gear to help transform Black Isle sports facilities

As the prestigious Vuelta a España cycling road race draws to a close, law firm Ledingham Chalmers hosts its own 51-mile cycle round the Black Isle this week to help develop world-class sports facilities for the local community.

While the Spanish-themed Vuelta de Isla Negra — translated as ‘cycle round the Black Isle’ — does not yet feature on the list of grand tours, it does see around 20 riders from the north and north east of Scotland business communities come together to raise funds for the first phase in the £300,000 re-development of Avoch Amenities Association’s (AAA) existing facilities.

Four representatives from Ledingham Chalmers, which has offices in Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Stirling, will also take part in the social ride: partner John Smart and personal assistant Adele MacIver from the Inverness office; with partner David Scott and senior associate Veli-Matti Raikkonen from the Aberdeen team.

The fundraising efforts are especially poignant, as the re-development was the brainchild of AAA chair George Jack, who tragically died following a road accident at New Year.

The three-phase project, estimated to cost round £300,000, will see the construction of first-rate facilities on the existing site in the harbour village, with the £150,000 first phase due for completion in spring 2018.

This comprises the development of a new tennis court and multi-use sports facilities for activities such as football, basketball and hockey.

Grant applications are underway, and £17,000 has already been raised.

The event starts at the pavilion at Avoch at 9am for a 9.30am start and details of the route can be found at www.strava.com/routes/9262597.

Donate through www.justgiving.com/avochamenitiesassociation.