Building Briefs – September 27th

McLaughlin & Harvey has reached the highest point on the £30 million refurbishment of Aberdeen Art Gallery.

Designed by Hoskins Architects, the project aims to increase the number of art galleries from 11 to 21 as well as establishing a new exhibition space. In addition, two new education spaces will be built for learners of all ages, while a new rooftop gallery will be created with roof terraces.

City council leaders and Provost Geroge Adam visited the site last week to mark the construction milestone and view progress on the development, which has been part funded by a £10m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

Work is due to be completed by the end of 2017.

Council sells former Glasgow school site for new homes

Glasgow City Council has approved the sale of the former Golfhill Primary School site for new housing in Dennistoun.

Spectrum Properties (Scotland) Limited will purchase the former school buildings, janitor’s house and adjacent ground at Firpark Street for £550,000.

Depending on planning and other consents, the sale will see the building of 145 two-bedroom flats and a two-bedroom house, and will allow the safeguarding of a B Listed building façade and the development of an adjacent brownfield site.

The council said the property was in extremely poor condition, and it was considered that the optimal solution for the site was the retention of the school’s southern façade as it has the greatest architectural merit, along with part of the east and west façades, with a new-build flatted development in the internal areas of the former school.

The sale follows a marketing exercise carried out by City Property, who considered the sale to Spectrum Properties (Scotland) Limited the best offer for the site.

Contractors to begin £30,000 Steall Gorge path repairs project

Specialist contractors are to begin a £30,000 repairs project on the Steall Gorge path in the Highlands.

After a major rockfall occurred on the route on 13-14 September, the John Muir Trust revealed the path will be closed for a least a month while repairs are carried out.

Works include removing debris from the path, including loose and unstable boulders from the area above the path, and stabilising damaged trees.

The Trust also called for further donations to be made to its Wild Ways Path Fund so it can afford to maintain/repair paths in its care.

Randolph Hill to build £6m home

Residential care firm Randolph Hill Nursing Homes Group is to invest £6 million in developing part of the former Livingston Development Corporation site into a high-specification 60-bedroom care home.

The company has been granted planning permission for the facility, which will employ approximately 80 staff.

While there is no fixed timetable for completing the project, Randolph Hill said it hopes to begin initial building work within 24 months.

Randolph Hill owns and operates six nursing homes across central and east Scotland.

Housing minister opens new affordable homes for Strathblane

Rural Stirling Housing Association has celebrated the completion of 14 new affordable homes for rent in Strathblane – the first ones built in the village for over 40 years.

Scottish Government minister for local government and housing, Kevin Stewart MSP, formally opened the new development at Campsie Road and Braidgate.

Margaret Vass, RSHA chairperson, welcomed the minister and commended the recent increase in grant funding that will enable the Association to continue to be able to develop new homes.

She stressed the importance of the planning requirement that 50 per cent of the homes on the site had to be affordable. Also the Local Lettings Initiative operated by RSHA through which priority for the first lets was given to people in housing need who live in or have a need to move to Strathblane.

The development comprises two bungalows, eight cottage flats and four houses and were constructed by CALA Homes to the Association’s specification. All the homes have been designed to be highly energy efficient and meet the Scottish Government’s Housing for Varying Needs standard for lifetime homes.

Work begins on £24m North Ayrshire water supply upgrade project

Work is underway on a £24 million water infrastructure upgrade project in North Ayrshire.

The project will see a new 7.3 mile-long water main installed south of Drybridge near Dreghorn to benefit customers in Irvine, Kilwinning, Stevenston, Dreghorn, Drybridge and parts of Saltcoats. Overall, the scheme will provide around 85,000 people with an improved water supply security.

An existing concrete main will be replaced with a more robust plastic structure to reduce the risk of bursts. In addition, the new main will be installed via a new route to improve accessibility for Scottish Water to undertake maintenance/repair work.

The year-long scheme is part of a £120m investment in Ayrshire’s and part of East Renfrewshire’s water supply. Work is currently underway on the installation of around 30 miles of new mains on a 13 mile-long stretch from near Newton Mearns to the Fenwick/Waterside area.

Demolition day at Forfar social housing development

The old made way for the new in Forfar yesterday as work began on a new social housing development at Viewmount.

Over the next few weeks a total of 34 unattractive, low demand flats will be demolished to make way for new affordable, social housing by Angus Council.

The doomed properties have proved unpopular with people seeking social housing in recent years and were felt to impact negatively on the surrounding area, including Reid and Steele parks.

They will be replaced by a mix of two and three-bedroomed properties, built to Scottish Building Standards’ silver sustainability standard, which measures the energy efficiency of new homes.

Also included in the plans are four adapted properties for people with disabilities.

A £650,000 grant subsidy from the Scottish Government has been secured to supplement our own funding for this much-needed affordable housing and we anticipate the construction of the 11 new-build houses will take place between January 2017 and March 2018.

Open day to be held for Dundee’s new £31m Harris Academy

An open day will be held next month to showcase a new £31 million school in Dundee.

The new Harris Academy was developed by hub East Central Scotland in partnership with the city council, Scottish Futures Trust and contractors Robertson Tayside.

Work on the development began in 2014 following the demolition of the previous 1931 building. Features include a swimming pool, recording studio, a games hall with four badminton courts and a science hub.

In addition, original features such as the clock tower and the stone entrance portico have been retained and reused prominently in the new building.

The open day will give pupils and the wider public a chance to see inside the new building. The exhibition will be held between 10am – 2pm on Saturday, 01 October.

Number of Scottish households jumps 11 per cent in 16 years as PRS grows threefold

The total number of households in Scotland now stands at 2.43 million and the private rented sector now accounts for 14 per cent of all tenures, the latest Scottish Household Survey has revealed.

Published today, the 2015 Scottish Household Survey is a continuous poll based on a sample of the general population in private residences in Scotland. The wide-ranging survey has been designed to provide reliable and up-to-date information on the composition, characteristics, attitudes and behaviour of Scottish households and individuals since 1999.

It found that the total number of households in Scotland increased by 11 per cent from 2.19m in 1999 to 2.43m in 2015.

The percentage of households in owner occupation grew from 61 per cent in 1999 to 66 per cent in 2005, but then declined between 2009 and 2014 to 60 per cent, and in 2015 was around the same level at 61 per cent.

The proportion of households in the private rented sector grew steadily from 5 per cent in 1999 to 14 per cent in 2015, an almost threefold increase in the number of households.

The percentage of households in the social rented sector declined from 32 per cent in 1999 to 23 per cent in 2007, and has remained at around 23 per cent of all households since.

Other key findings from the report show that most people participated in sport and exercise and engaged in some type of cultural activity in 2015, whilst around a quarter volunteered. Around a half of households were positive about their finances.

Council to begin £80,000 resurfacing project in Hamilton

South Lanarkshire Council is to begin an £80,000 road maintenance project in Hamilton.

Workers will start resurfacing the south-bound carriageway of Blackswell Lane on Saturday, 01 October.

The scheme will be carried out between 6pm – 8pm until Sunday, 02 October.

Beatson Cancer Charity builds on unique partnership with Westpoint Homes

One of the country’s leading cancer charities is benefitting from one of Scotland’s most highly regarded home builders, Westpoint Homes, in a move that will see the kind-hearted organisation make a donation of at least £100 from each house sale to Beatson Cancer Charity with the aim of raising around £20,000.

The Charity of the Year partnership will also involve the keen staff at Westpoint Homes taking part in a whole host of fundraising activities each month - from Beatson Bake Offs to ‘Wear it Yellow’ days to represent the charity’s trademark colours. Showhomes will also be lightly decorated to highlight the partnership by using Beatson Cancer Charity branded mugs and merchandise.

Beatson Cancer Charity was chosen because it is a cause close to the hearts of Westpoint Homes’ staff members across the company and it touches the lives of so many people at some stage.

Buccleuch Property Challenge celebrates 10th year with record team entries

Property professionals from across the UK recently travelled to Dumfriesshire in Scotland to compete in the 10th Buccleuch Property Challenge.

Over 70 teams, made up of more than 200 industry professionals, took part in the annual outdoor endurance race at the Duke of Buccleuch’s Drumlanrig Castle and Queensberry Estate.

Competitors – who enter in teams of three – endured a marathon test of mental and physical challenges, including running, problem solving, orienteering, archery, mountain biking and rowing.

The winning single category team, who completed the race in an impressive 4 hours 41 minutes, were Pol Macdonald, Ian Logan and Steven Wheatley from Optimised Environments Ltd. In the mixed team category, John Houston, Tom Fernie and Mhairi Polson from Thomas & Adamson were first over the finish line, with a time of 5 hours 23 minutes.

As part of the Challenge’s 10th anniversary, the company selected Childline as its charity partner, with the aim of raising £10k to help the vital service support more children and young people in need.