Building Briefs – September 21st

Silverline Care has marked the official reopening of its Springhill Care Home in Kilmarnock following an extensive refurbishment by contractors akp.

East Ayrshire’s Provost Councillor Jim Todd performed a ribbon-cutting ceremony this week joined by Eileen Welch, Springhill’s home manager, and several of the home’s 60 residents who enjoyed the celebrations.

Springhill Care Home is a Georgian B listed building which was built as a family home (Springhill House) in 1830 by Archibald Finnie, one of the main employers in Kilmarnock during one of Ayrshire’s golden ages of commerce.

The reopening marks the first stage of a £200,000 investment in the building by new owners Silverline Care, who took over the management of the care home in July 2017. The refurbishment included mechanical and electrical upgrades, structural repairs, re-roofing works, stone repairs and alterations, installation of beautiful new sash windows throughout and a full redecoration.

Alongside the refurbishment, akp offered community benefits to the Springhill residents, such as an organised Therapets visit for them to enjoy the company of a dog for the morning, using recycled wood to build a planter in the residents garden, up-cycling construction waste to help furnish the new Cook School and Hair Salon and hosting a Q & A to allow the residents to talk to the akp site team.

Keyline appoints Chris Metcalf as business development manager for geotechnics

In a move that further deepens the company’s bench of experts, civils & drainage solutions supplier Keyline has appointed Chris Metcalf as business development manager for geotechnics in Scotland and the North.

Chris will work with Keyline’s business development director, Emma Ward, to increase the company’s productivity and growth, and empower its staff to make a difference across the industry.

Chris has over 24 years’ experience in sales and management, and is considered an expert in the field of geotechnics. Most recently, he was a business distribution partner for Tensar, managing accounts for three UK distributors, including Keyline. Having worked on numerous projects and with many of the company’s key account managers for several years, Chris made the decision to change teams.

Alongside Emma Ward, Chris will source opportunities guaranteed to add value to the wider Keyline team, supplying consumers with the best solutions to their problems whilst ensuring sustainability is an integral part of every project he oversees.

Completion of Callander primary school refurbishments delayed

The completion of £1.86 million worth of refurbishment works at Strathyre Primary School in Callander have been delayed.

The project is expected to be completed in late October/early November, in time for the school community to move in for the week commencing December 17.

Temporary arrangements to accommodate pupils at McLaren High School during the works were due to end for the start of the 2018/19 academic year.

However, severe winter weather and construction issues saw the planned entry date moved back until the October holidays.

TRAC Engineering begins work on Stromeferry rock face

TRAC Engineering has begun essential work on the A890 at Stromeferry.

The work will take place on the rock face to the west of the avalanche shelter.

A traffic management plan will be in place for up to 12 weeks to allow the work to take place.

Highland Council is advising all road users that the road to rail bypass is now in operation.

The traffic management and works are expected to be complete and the road fully re-opened by 24 November.

Ellon’s Riverside Path successfully upgraded

An improvement project has been completed on Ellon’s Riverside Path along the banks of the Ythan in Aberdeenshire.

The path was widened to provide pedestrians and cyclists a safe route to the town centre and Ellon Academy community campus.

The three-metre-wide ‘shared-use’ path runs from Modley Avenue, where it links with the Formartine and Buchan way, along the riverside to the town centre, where it links into the existing path leading up to Ellon Academy.

The project forms part of Aberdeenshire Council’s upcoming Integrated Travel Town (ITT) project – which will see investment in walking and cycling provision in five of the area’s main towns. It also seeks to increase active travel levels and decrease the number of short journeys being made by car.

£500,000 to be invested in Aberdeen playpark upgrades

A total of £500,000 is to be invested to upgrade a number of playparks around Aberdeen.

The project involves refurbishing 14 parks around the city as part of a rolling revamp programme.

The sites that are earmarked for development for 2018/19 have been split into two different phases - phase one sites are small scale projects that are generally replacing play equipment on a ‘like for like’ basis, and phase two sites are larger projects.

The city council will hold some local consultations into the potential designs.

The equipment for the phase one sites has been ordered and all sites are due to be complete before the end of the year, depending on weather conditions.

The phase one playparks include Seaton Gardens South (as part of the Seaton Backies project), Seaton Avenue South (as part of the Seaton Backies project), Balgownie Drive, Ashwood Park, Broaddykes Drive, Wellside Wynd, and at Ferryhill Community Centre.

The phase two sites are larger projects and include Regent Walk, Gallowgate, Middle Brae, Cruikshank Crescent, Eric Hendrie Park, Rosemount Square, and Powis Crescent.