Riach Partnership

The scaffolding was fully dropped last week which, for the first time, afforded a full appreciation of the marriage of old and new: the old stone elevation repaired with new stone and infilled with new windows; the new roof and the new extension.

Clad in slate and zinc, the new building replaces the previous, smaller building which had fallen badly into a state of disrepair.

It was an exciting day on site yesterday as we got to see the new rear elevation for the first time now that the scaffolding has been dropped. The entire top floor has been rebuilt using a mixture of salvaged and new stone and with the wallhead, gutter and roof now also completed, the B Listed structure has been transformed.

All money saved on Christmas cards and postage will be donated to studioDELTA, a charitable organisation set up by Riach employee Marianne Keating, with the ambition of building a community centre in one of the poorest areas of Bangladesh. For more information please visit www.studiodelta.co.uk

Top floor space within Townhouse 3 with the conservation rooflights fitted. Now that the roof is closed in, one is afforded a true sense of the new volume created.

The roof slates have been completed to Townhouses 2 and 3 with much of the associated lead works also complete. The entire roof (slate, lead, zinc and single ply membrane) is being inslatted by D Harkin & Co.

New stone finials delivered to site and ready to be installed.

We would like to welcome Marianne Keating and Ewan Ross who have joined the office on a short term basis. Marianne returns to Riach having spent a year with us during her RIBA Part 1 Year Out in 2008.

Both Marianne and Ewan will be working on our overcladding projects with Clyde Valley Housing Association in Airdrie, Hamilton, Motherwell and Lesmahagow as well as assisting on a number of other projects within the office during what is a busy time for Riach Partnership.

Works at our residential development on Cathcart Road for Govanhill Housing Association continue to progress with the full building form now evident through the near completion of the steel frame. With only the stair tower element to be installed, this phase of the programme will be completed early next week, with the pouring of the concrete floor slabs following shortly thereafter.

The first sections of the steel frame are now in place at Cathcart Road as the new building form starts to take shape. The entire steel skeleton is programmed to be completed by the end of October with the floor decking and slab pour to follow shortly thereafter.

The primary steel for the roof is now fully installed and, with the decking at second floor level now in place, one is afforded a full sense of the character and proportion of these new spaces within the roof volume.

With the purlins in place, the Contractor has commenced work on sheeting the sloping surfaces of the roof with the plywood substrate ready for the installation of the slate roof covering.

In the coming days, the conservation rooflights will be installed and the metal sheet decking to the flat portion sof the roof will complete the envelope.

Elsewhere, the stone pediments to the front elevation are being erected with a mixture of new stone and stone from the fire damaged building.

Our project for 35 Elderly Amenity units on the corner of Butterbiggins Road and Cathcart Road starts on site today, August 1st 2011. The 60 week contract with CCG Limited for Govanhill Housing Association brings the realisation of a project that has been in our office for a few years. Due to cost implications and a prolonged planning process the project site start has been delayed on more than one occasion.

We are delighted to see all the hardwork by the team pay off and look forward to bringing regular updates on site progress in the coming months.

As the Shell and Core contract continues on site, our attention has, in recent weeks, turned to the production of fit out drawings for the Second Phase of the project. The main areas to tackle include the common entrance areas and corridors, internal stairs, doors, mezzanines and balustrading, internal features and window surrounds.

Our initial package of information will be discussed with the client next week and the specification will be determined.

Elsewhere on site, the second floor steelwork is now in place and the stone for the high level window surrounds has been ordered. We are now more than half way through the contract and the next phase of work should see the roof steelwork installed and the stone repairs concluded.