RAAC to ruin: sector must learn lesson that cheap material comes at a cost
Following the news that hundreds of residents in Aberdeen’s Balnagask area are to be relocated after RAAC panels were found in around 500 homes,...
Bringing life to the desert with biophilic design
By Bruce Kennedy, an architect director at BDP Glasgow
WHEN visitors cross the threshold of Heriot Watt’s new university campus in Dubai, they leave behind...
Advances in Scottish timber can support net zero efforts
By Sam Hart, innovation manager, Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC)
IN the tale of the Three Little Pigs, only the house made of bricks survived...
Incentives are making hydro FiT the grid
Feed-in tariffs (FiTs) are financial incentives for electricity generated from small-scale renewable and low-carbon sources.
FiTs are guaranteed payments to small-scale generators, which are...
A call for clarity over UK retrofit delivery models
By Sara Edmonds, co-director of the National Retrofit Hub
AS Scotland’s building industry reckons with the formidable challenge of scaling up retrofit initiatives and decarbonising...
Partnership is key to asset management
By Andrew Kilpatrick, director of assets, Caledonia Housing Association
As we embrace post-pandemic life, social landlords as well as focusing on building new homes are...
On the RAAC: commercial lease considerations on discovering concrete issues
By Dentons’ Philip Knight, Fiona MacGregor and Scott Buchanan
REINFORCED autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) is a lightweight concrete that was widely used in the construction...
Better insulation vital to slowing global warming
By Paddy Leighton, UK director, Icynene
THE uptake of energy efficiency measures such as loft and wall insulation must be accelerated for domestic housing if...
When lawyers get to play a part in history
By Stuart Macfarlane, partner in the property and construction team at Weightmans (Scotland) LLP
IN terms of the law, the property and construction lawyers’ role...
Commercial solar photovoltaic: transitioning from the carrot to the stick
By Dr James Crosby-Wrigley, head of sustainability for commercial and industrial energy supply and usage at Advantage Utilities
Scotland has committed to becoming a more...
Architects and designers must embrace the circular economy
By Alasdair Rankin, managing director, Aitken Turnbull Architects
Recently, I read an article about how academic innovation was helping to spearhead a transition to reduce waste...
New communities need more than lip service from developers
By Nick Waugh, director, Shawfair LLP
THIS year has taught us many things – most of them character-forming as my mother was fond of saying...
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 gender balanced leadership matters
By Hazel Davies, sales and marketing director for Cruden and Female Leaders in Construction (FLIC) advisory board member
AS a mother of two school-aged daughters,...
Gap in the market for medium-sized firms
THE recent demise of Muirfield Contracts felt like a throwback to the darkest days of the recession when reports of contractors going out of...
The urgent need to revive Scotland’s SME housebuilding sector
By Jane Wood, chief executive of Homes for Scotland
Last week, Homes for Scotland (HFS) published a report revealing a concerning decline in the small...
Big decisions lie ahead for property and land owners
By Amanda Cameron, a partner in the Dunfermline office of DM Hall Chartered Surveyors
Scotland’s General Register of Sasines is the oldest national land register...
The circular economy is taking shape within the construction industry
By Scott Brewster, MD of Brewster Brothers
Is the circular economy just a fashion with too many people jumping on the bandwagon without any real...
Future-proofing office design
Genghis Akay, director at Planet Partitioning, explores the demands of designing a modern workplace
IF you look at the typical office space today, what has...
Managing workplace safety – an update following 100 days in lockdown
By partner Jon Cooper and managing associate Ashley Borthwick, from law firm Womble Bond Dickinson
THE construction industry has been hit hard by Covid-19, with large...
