Insight

Landscape architects HarrisonStevens has recently completed a project to sensitively integrate the new headquarters building of the St Andrews Links Trust with its established landscape surroundings.

Ramboll's Stefanie O’Gorman, who sits on the Scottish Government's Climate Emergency Response Group (CERG), provides her analysis of the group’s 12 immediate actions for the new government to accelerate its response to the climate emergency. Working with the CERG group on our recent

Kevin Reid, chief executive of the Cruden Group, gives a commentary on the Housing and Climate Emergency theme of Scottish Housing Day. In the 2018-2019 financial year more new homes were built in Scotland than at any time since the crash of 2008. Covid put the brakes on activity levels and alt

Euan Pirie, partner in the specialist construction and engineering contracts advisory team at Harper Macleod LLP, looks at a solution to price uncertainty for construction materials when tendering big contracts. Prices for construction materials have gone haywire in a perfect storm of conditions whi

Eilidh Dobson and Iain Drummond comment on legal aspects of the ongoing materials shortage. It will be news to few that the construction industry is experiencing a serious shortage of key materials. The Construction Leadership Council first warned of shortages (in timber, steel, pitched roofing, pla

Engineer Alex Lenia looks at how 3d scanning technology is already used widely in the US, and the advantages it brings to construction sites and teams. Technology has greatly accelerated the pace of our professional and personal lives over the past 20 years. The development of smaller, faster comput

One year on from the devastating explosion which rocked Beirut, Arcadis engineer Joe Bilan is still trying to process what happened and his experiences in the city. On 4 August 2020, 2700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded in Beirut, causing the deaths of over 200 people, injuring over 6000 an

The University of Strathclyde commissioned a new Learning and Teaching Building at the heart of their City Centre Campus in Glasgow. The 20,000sqm project strips out and refurbishes two existing buildings, the Colville Building and the B-listed Architecture Building, and also creates a new-build hub

Mike Harrison of HarrisonStevens outlines the changes happening to repurpose brownfield sites, canal towpaths and overgrown and unloved scrubland as more people are being encouraged to ditch the car and enjoy the benefits of active travel. The canal towpaths and redundant railway lines that pass thr

Advocate and former Labour MP Mark Lazarowicz examines the new SNP-Green deal and assess how radical an impact its commitments could have on the natural environment in Scotland. The ‘co-operation agreement’ between the SNP Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party includes, as one

Filip Stefanovic, head of engineering at Ecocoast, discusses the construction industry's obligation to protect the water in the area of construction, and how this can be done.  As with all industries, the construction sector is responsible for its fair share of greenhouse gas emissions, ac

Nick Waugh, commercial director at Buccleuch Property, which is jointly developing Shawfair, argues that new towns are best placed to adapt to residents' changing needs.

In the fifth in the Scottish Land Commission's ‘Land &’ blog series, senior policy officer David Stewart explores why land for housing matters for much more than homes – it has an impact on the economy, the environment, and the wellbeing of everyone in Scotland. Land for housin

Having previously identified the high risk of financial crime in the construction sector, solicitor Ramsay Hall is now joined by colleague Paul Marshall to provide an update on recent developments. In previous updates, we identified the high risk of financial crime in the construction

Construction legal expert Chris Horsley provides an insight into the measures suggested by the Scottish Government which contracting authorities may take in order to try to mitigate the current market pressures on resources. The ongoing squeeze on construction material supplies has been he