KEN Macintosh MSP, Scottish Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Communities, has visited the BRE Ravenscraig Innovation Park to view a number of new homes which could influence the future of Scottish housebuilding.
Mr Macintosh’s visit is the latest in a series of fact finding tours undertaken by Scottish MPs and MSPs. Last year, Deputy First Minister John Swinney visited the park to unveil the Retrofit App. Tours were also arranged for Marion Fellowes MP and Phil Boswell MP, the Westminster representatives for the people of Motherwell and Wishaw and Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill respectively.
During his tour of the facility, which was conducted by Dr David Kelly, Group Director BRE Innovation Park Networks, Mr Macintosh visited the Curriculum House, which has been designed and built by architectural and construction students from New College Lanarkshire and is the first ‘live’ higher level educational project of its kind in the UK.
He also enjoyed a guided tour of the Energy Efficient Home, specifically designed for the affordable sector of the market by Scottish firm AppleGreen. This home has attracted international attention from organisations and governments across the globe who are seeking to address their own housebuilding industries, by improving skills, creating jobs and ultimately building large volumes of quality, affordable, energy efficient homes.
Mr McIntosh also saw first-hand the Refurbished House, a recreation of the “four in a block” home – a house type of which there are over 250,000 in Scotland. The model at Ravenscraig, which has been delivered by BRE Scotland, Edinburgh Napier University and Historic Scotland and was constructed by local builders Cruden, demonstrates a range of “retrofit solutions” for this house type.
BRE’s Dr Kelly said, “We greatly enjoy welcoming visitors to the Innovation Park so it was with particular pleasure that we welcomed Mr Macintosh in his capacity as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Communities as opportunities like this allow us to share first hand our vision and ambitions for future solutions to many of the issues we face today. At BRE Ravenscraig Innovation Park, we aim to blend science and technology with innovation and entrepreneurship to find solutions for existing and future buildings not only in Scotland but in the UK, in Europe and around the world.”
Guided tours of BRE Innovation Park are available to all and can be arranged by contacting the Park direct on 01698 262193.
