Iain Riddell

Farming hemp could be the building block for decarbonising construction in Scotland

By Iain Riddell, principal consultant at SAC Consulting, part of SRUC INDUSTRIAL hemp is cultivated globally – around 35,000 hectares in the EU alone –...

The robots are coming – but people are still key to our future

By Rohan Bush, head of public partnerships and future workforce, Construction Scotland Innovation Centre With so many headlines, films and social media conversations shouting, “The...
Mandy Watson

Scotland’s data centre debate needs more facts and less fear

By Mandy Watson, a partner at Ryden WHEN most people think about data centres, they picture vast industrial buildings consuming huge amounts of energy and...
Stewart Dalgarno

Data gathering shows value of smart construction

Stewart Dalgarno, director of product development at Stewart Milne Timber Systems, believes that Advanced Industrialised Methods for the Construction of Homes (AIMCH) has the...
more-rigorous-approach-to-building-control

Safety needs a strong lead

Two years on from the Grenfell Tower tragedy, Lesley McLeod, chief executive of The Association for Project Safety, tells Project Scotland why a more...

Training efforts are helping mould leaders of the future

Statistics suggest the construction industry needs to employ another 400,000 people per year. Gordon Cunningham, managing director of Clark Contracts, believes the sector needs...

Let’s put community engagement at the heart of procurement

After being awarded the GO Best Service Award (contractors working with the Scottish public sector) at the recent GO Excellence in Public Procurement Awards...

Why guarantees are important in roofing

Mark Parsons, technical director at pitched roof tile manufacturer Russell Roof Tiles, explains why a solid guarantee is essential WE’RE experiencing an overwhelming change in...

Why we must reform the way we procure our infrastructure

I’d like to see procurement that is not based solely on price, but rather on many factors that will allow us to maximise the economic impact of our projects.

Adding colour to facades could be a bright idea

Colour is in vogue in lieu of recent research into colour psychology. Ben Warren, managing director at Baumit, provides five points to illustrate how...

The benefits of getting back into the office

Alan Gordon, senior partner of DM Hall based in the Glasgow North office. RUMOURS of the death of the office as we know it may be...

Why getting cladding right must not cause property blight

By Eric Curran, managing partner of DM Hall chartered surveyors, based in the firm's Glasgow north office THE Grenfell Tower tragedy horrified Britain, and our...

Secure your pipeline

By Claire Sheerin, director of Hays Construction & Property in Scotland IT’S a question many skilled construction workers will be asking themselves: if my skills...
Ross Taylor, Gillespie Macandrew

Understanding the importance of Pay Less Notices in construction contracts

By Ross Taylor, partner, dispute resolution, Gillespie Macandrew IF a payer under a construction contract is looking to pay less than the 'notified sum', they...

New geotechnical solutions help tackle affordable housing shortfall

There is no silver bullet to the shortage of affordable housing across the UK. Debate over the barriers to meeting targets is complex; not...

Training for today and tomorrow

With a more buoyant construction market, it is those firms continuing to invest in training that are best placed to help housing providers bring their homes up to modern standards. Billy Baird, Projects Director at roofing and cladding services provider Marley Contract Services, looks at how the company has managed to maintain its skills base. THE skills shortage is particularly acute in the construction industry and encompasses a wide range of disciplines from bricklaying through to plumbing. A lack of...

Learning from listening to communities

By Mike Harrison, creative director and co-founder of HarrisonStevens, landscape architects and urban designers What if…?/Scotland is an exhibition that frames hopes and dreams for...

Six ways to reduce embodied carbon in construction

Ewan Duffin, Harley Haddow associate director Embodied carbon is something we should all be talking about in the race to net zero and push to...

Women in construction: helping to rebuild the sector

By Lorraine Macphail, Head of Property & Construction for Grant Thornton in Scotland DESPITE being one of the hardest hit industries during the recent downturn,...

UK’s most efficient form of lead recycling becomes specifiable

By Steve Reynolds, national specification manager at Envirolead LEAD’S heritage as a product at the heart of UK construction is beyond doubt and its place...