Building Briefs – September 2nd

Aberdeen City Council has broken ground on a £13.5 million housing development at Manor Walk.

The former playing fields in the Middlefield area will be home to 80 new council properties and will feature a mixture of flats and houses.

The development marks another key milestone in the delivery of a major new housing programme and will offer next-generation, affordable council housing to residents.

Work is also underway on the nearby Smithfield site which will see the first of 99 council homes delivered in 2017.

Both developments feed into wider ambitious plans to build thousands of new properties with mid-market rent and low-cost ownership opportunities in the next five years through a public-private partnership – the first of its kind in Scotland.

The properties at Manor Walk, which will be built by Bancon Construction, are bright, spacious and cater for families of all sizes and needs.

They will also be joined up to Aberdeen City Council’s Combined Heat and Power Scheme which recycles energy from waste, providing low cost energy options for tenants and takes almost 50 per cent off their fuel bills

Aberdeen’s CHP scheme has proven immensely successful in tackling fuel poverty in Aberdeen and reducing carbon emissions.

A part of the wider housing programme, Aberdeen City Council has also been working with private developers and social registered landlords in the city to free up land for social housing through the use of grant funding.

Work to start on £15,000 Greenock dock revamp

Work is set to begin to remove a steel structure from an historic Greenock dock.

Urban regeneration firm Riverside Inverclyde is to remove the beams blocking entrance to the former Scott’s Dry Dock to make the area look more attractive.

An agreement to press ahead with the £15,000 project has now been reached with Marine Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, the harbourmaster, Peel Land & Property, Peel Ports, and the Crown Estates - all of which have vested interests in the Cartsburn site.

The work will start on Monday September 19 and will be carried out by Port Glasgow company Union Projects.

Fife artefacts to be housed in £2.6m archive

A storage unit to house artefacts from across Fife is being created at the council’s Bankhead depot in Glenrothes.

The purpose-built £2.6 million archive — the size of eight tennis courts — will bring together more than 100,000 objects, documents, photographs and works of art into one secure and environmentally-controlled facility.

It will enable schools, researchers, organisations and the public to view items currently not on display.

Due to be completed next spring, the unit will also house Fife Council’s historic archive and staff who manage the school library service.

Fairmont St Andrews reveals renovation project

Fairmont St Andrews welcomed guests to a showcase of its newly refurbished interiors last night as part of the five-star resort’s ongoing renovations.

The public area renovations, managed by designers RPW, include a complete redesign of the hotel’s atrium, incorporating a bespoke 60m long ceiling sculpture by award winning artist George Singer, a new restaurant and the Kittock’s Bar.

A focal point of the renovation is George Singer’s artwork ‘Zephyr’, an organic, swirling ceiling sculpture sweeping through the atrium, imitating the movement of the water in the North Sea.

The renovation has been influenced by the history and landscapes of St Andrews, with upholstery and fabrics selected from revered Scottish companies such as Andrew Muirhead and Bute Fabrics.

As well as a revised layout, Kittock’s Bar has drawn on nautical elements found in the nearby River Tay estuaries and surrounding fishing villages, to create a comforting atmosphere for drinking and dining.

Aldi eyes Montrose store start

German supermarket Aldi has reported that construction of its Montrose store should commence by December.

The supermarket chain bought the former Co-operative store on Basin View last year.

The Co-op shut its doors in August 2015, along with the Peacocks clothing store that operated within the building, after five years of business in the town. The move resulted in the loss of almost 40 jobs,

The new store is expected to create more than 30 full-time positions.

The unoccupied car park is currently being used as an overflow for the train station and at this stage it is not clear whether car parking will be restricted to just customers of the new store.

ACS appoints new general manager

Physical risk management specialists ACS Group has welcomed Emma Willey to its team as general manager.

ACS first welcomed Emma when she arrived for work experience at the age of fifteen helping the admin department. She started working in the asbestos department in 1992 and worked as an asbestos site technician for some years.

Following her graduation from St Andrews University, having studied Mathematics and Management, Emma spent one year travelling alone in Australia working in the marketing departments of various Australian companies including stock brokers Ord Minnet and also the Financial Review newspaper and magazine.

Upon her return to Scotland in 1998, Emma progressed through the ranks of asbestos technician, surveyor, training manager, quality manager and finance manager at ACS.

Wood pellet producer Land Energy Girvan to expand site

A producer of wood pellets for the renewable energy market is to invest £6.4 million in expanding its site in South Ayrshire.

The move by Land Energy Girvan Ltd includes increasing the capacity of its combined heat and power plant and upgrading its pellet line in Girvan.

The company said at least 10 new full-time jobs would be created.

The drive to increase capacity and boost productivity has been backed by a £250,000 Scottish Enterprise grant.

The business plans to increase its output of premium grade wood pellets from 60,000 tonnes to 90,000 tonnes per year.

New team members and promotions at Hardies Dunfermline

Having experienced a period of sustained business growth, Hardies Property & Construction Consultants in Dunfermline has taken on two new members of staff, as well as promoting two existing surveyors into more senior roles.

Former associate building surveyor Stewart Arbuckle, who has been with Hardies for 13 years, has been promoted to senior associate building surveyor, whilst Graham Rolfe, a senior quantity surveyor for the past 12 years, is now associate quantity surveyor.

The two new appointments see Phil Walker join Hardies as a quantity surveyor and Gordon Howie, from Edinburgh, appointed principal designer and health & safety advisor.

Phil, from Dunfermline, has extensive experience on the contracting side, having worked with JB Bennett Construction and Morrison Construction. His experience and insight brings new skills to the Hardies quantity surveying team.

In the earlier stages of his career as an architect, Gordon worked with AMCA Architects before choosing to focus his career on construction health & safety, when he then went on to work for CMist.

Road resurfacing project to begin in South Lanarkshire

Work is to begin on a road resurfacing project in South Lanarkshire.

Sections of the A72 will be closed from A71 Garrion Bridge to the A73 Steel’s Cross from 7am on Tuesday, 06 September.

The first phase of the project will take place from 06 – 09 September through Crossford village. Phase two will begin between 12 – 16 September from the junction of B7018 (Dillarburn Rd) to Nicholson’s Plastic factory. Diversions will be in place.

M9 Junction 1A roadworks

Essential roadworks are to start on the M9 near Newbridge on September 5 for a period of approximately eight weeks.

Road users are being given advance warning of potentially disruptive works on the M9 between the Almond river bridge and Junction 1A, approximately half a mile north of Newbridge roundabout.

Scotland TranServ to begin West Dunbartonshire road maintenance scheme

Scotland TranServ is to begin a £100,000 road maintenance scheme in West Dunbartonshire.

The company will begin the project on the A82 at Stoneymollan Roundabout on Monday, 05 September.

Works include resurfacing the northbound carriageway to improve skid resistance as well as replacing nine joints on Howgate Bridge, near Renton.

In order to complete the project safely, a full road closure will be in place between 8pm - 6am from 05 – 10 September, as well as 12 – 14 September.

JPS Restoration completes refurb project in Stirling

JPS Restoration has completed a landmark refurbishment project in Stirling.

The Alloa-based company have restored the Black Boy Fountain in the Allan Park area of the city.

The fountain was removed from its site for six weeks and works included stripping and repainting. Stone work repairs were also carried out.