Ogilvie Construction News
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Ogilvie Construction has reached another milestone in the project to build new high quality student accommodation facility in Haymarket Yards in Edinburgh with the completion of the top story and roof deck.

Members of the construction and design team celebrated the achievement with a “topping out” ceremony along with representatives from client, Who Hup Group/Aurum UK, on the roof of the new building.

The project remains on track for completion next summer and will provide 156 high quality studio apartments, along with many amenities including study spaces, a gym, cinema and private dining facility, as well as a roof terrace and shared gardens. The building is a zero-parking development but will provide parking for 150 bicycles.

The seven storey building is constructed with a mix of primary structural steel, light gauge steel frame and composite concrete slab panels, with the external walls of the structure finished with brick and curtain walling.

Donald MacDonald, Managing Director, Ogilvie Construction, said:

“We are delighted to mark this significant point in the project and look forward to handing over a first class building next year. This will be the fourteenth student accommodation facility that we have delivered in recent years using our extensive experience in the sector.”

Phil Johnson, Director of Woh Hup’s Aurum UK business, added:

“The team at Ogilvie has worked closely with us throughout the project and it was a pleasure to mark the topping out with them. When complete, the students living here will benefit from high quality facilities at the heart of Edinburgh’s transport hub.”

Ogilvie Construction is part of the Ogilvie Group, one of Scotland’s most consistently successful family-owned businesses.  The company is over 65 years old and employs 600 people across its various business operations in the UK.

Ogilvie Construction has continued an 11 year run of health and safety excellence with another RoSPA President’s Award, which is only given to companies who achieve more than 10 consecutive annual RoSPA Gold awards.

The unique accolade is recognition for Ogilvie’s dedication to ensuring that its staff get home safely at the end of every working day.

The esteemed RoSPA Awards program now celebrates its 68^th year as the UK’s largest and most impactful health and safety programme. With almost 2,000 entries annually from over 50 countries, impacting over seven million employees, they offer a platform to spotlight an unwavering commitment to continuous improvement and excellence in health and safety.

Whether entrants seek non-competitive excellence recognition or vie for competitive awards across 32 industry sectors, the RoSPA Awards provide an unparalleled opportunity to stand among leaders shaping safer, healthier workplaces.

As of this year, the RoSPA award entry process can be used as reflective practise to contribute to continuing professional development (CPD).

Donald MacDonald, Managing Director, Ogilvie Construction, said: “We are incredibly proud to have been recognised with this award for the last eleven consecutive years and it is testament to our unwavering commitment to safety across all of our operations. We continue to invest in in health and safety so that everyone at Ogilvie recognises and embraces their responsibility to keep each other safe.”

Julia Small, RoSPA’s Achievements Director, said: "Workplace accidents don't just pose financial risks and operational disruptions; they significantly impact the quality of life for individuals. This is why acknowledging and rewarding excellent safety performance is vital.

“We congratulate Ogilvie Construction for winning a prestigious RoSPA Award and showing an unwavering commitment to keeping employees, clients and customers safe from accidental harm and injury.”

Ogilvie Construction is part of the Ogilvie Group, one of Scotland’s most consistently successful family-owned businesses.  The company is over 65 years old and employs more than 600 people across its various business operations in the UK.

The project to build new high quality student accommodation in Haymarket Yards in Edinburgh passed a major milestone as Ogilvie Construction recently completed the structural steel framework of the building.

The steel framework creates an undercroft area that provides striking glass curtain wall front entrance of the building and open space for meeting space. It is the platform upon which the remaining six stories will be built.

The first two levels of the building are constructed with a hybrid mix of primary structural steel and light gauge steel frame.  The remaining five levels will be built using light gauge steel frame and composite concrete slab panels with the external walls of the structure finished with brick and curtain walling.

Ogilvie is building the new facility for Aurum UK and when completed next summer it will provide 156 high quality studio apartments, along with many amenities including study spaces, a gym, cinema and private dining facility, as well as a roof terrace and shared gardens. The building is a zero-parking development but will provide parking for 150 bicycles.

Grier Edmead, Operations Director, Ogilvie Construction, said:

“The onsite team have made excellent progress in achieving this key milestone in the build programme and we look forward to maintaining that momentum through the remainder of the project to hand over a first class facility next year.”

Phil Johnson, Director of Woh Hup’s Aurum UK business, added:

“It’s really satisfying to see the building take shape and we are pleased that the programme is on schedule so that we can welcome our first students to Haymarket Yards next summer.”

Ogilvie Construction is part of the Ogilvie Group, one of Scotland’s most consistently successful family-owned businesses.  The company is over 65 years old and employs 600 people across its various business operations in the UK.

S Harrison appoints contractor and work starts on new Edinburgh hotel

Construction work has started on an impressive new 157-bedroom hotel in the Haymarket area of Edinburgh after property development company, S Harrison, appointed Ogilvie Construction as the principal contractor on the project.

The development will see a 1970s office building, which is currently known as Osborne House, transformed into a new hotel, complete with a residents’ bar, restaurant and lounge area on the ground floor and an outdoor seating terrace. Following part demolition of the existing building, two new accommodation wings will be built to the rear, together with a new storey above the existing building.

Work is underway to build a 40-bedroom care complex and 46 extra care flats alongside a day-care unit in Bonnyrigg.

Ogilvie Construction is building the development, which will be constructed to Passivhaus green-energy standards, on behalf of Midlothian Health and Social Care Partnership and Midlothian Council. It sits at the former St Mary’s primary school site bounded by Polton Street, Moorfoot View and Moorfoot Place. 

The Intermediate Care facility is for up to 40 short term residents and will provide assessment, rehabilitation, interim and respite care. 

Ogilvie Construction’s Aberdeen team joined Sanctuary staff and Aberdeen City Councillors in a celebration to mark the completion of 118 new affordable homes on the site of the former Aberdeen fire station on North Anderson Drive.

Construction work on the £23 million project started in 2022 for and now provides a mix of apartments and house comprising one, two and three-bedroom homes built to a high modern designs and high standards of energy efficiency and comfort.

Donald MacDonald, Managing Director, Ogilvie Construction, said:

“We are extremely proud to have successfully delivered this project for Sanctuary and City of Aberdeen Council. Their tenants can look forward to bespoke designed living spaces in modern homes built from high quality sustainable materials.”

Ogilvie Construction has been awarded a place on the Scottish Procurement Alliance panel for the £100 million RM3 framework for the provision of a range of repair, maintenance and refurbishment services to public sector and social housing properties across Scotland.

The framework will run for four years with option to extend for a further year and is designed to help the public sector improve their homes and buildings while ensuring that an environmental focus is at the heart of every step.

Donald MacDonald, Managing Director, Ogilvie Construction, said:

“We are delighted to have been appointed to this framework and look forward to a building on our successful track record with the public sector in Scotland.

“Our total focus on maintaining the highest standards of quality and service are at the core of our success, which is borne out by a wide range of projects we continue to deliver across many sectors.”

Ogilvie Construction is part of the Ogilvie Group, one of Scotland’s most consistently successful family-owned businesses.  The company is over 65 years old and employs 600 people across its various business operations in the UK.

The £24.038m project will see 90 Passivhaus homes built on the site of the old Newbattle High School in Easthouses.

Contractor Ogilvie Construction is building a mixture of flats, houses and bungalows on behalf of the council.

The 90 properties will be among 207 council homes across Midlothian, all designed to the demanding Passivhaus Standard. The buildings retain heat from the sun and require very little additional heating or cooling.

Midlothian Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Stuart McKenzie said: “It’s really exciting to reach this key milestone.

“The homes will help tackle fuel poverty – our tenants will have life-long low heating bills – while helping us towards our net zero ambitions and we’re really proud of that.

“We’re looking forward to working with Ogilvie on this project, which will not only provide much needed affordable homes for our tenants, but will also bring wider community benefits during the construction phase.”

Grier Edmead, Operations Director, Ogilvie Construction, said: “We look forward to working with the team at Midlothian Council over the next two years to deliver modern high-quality energy efficient homes that will serve the community for many years to come. We will liaise with the community throughout the build programme, communicating regularly and keeping disruption to a minimum."

The work is expected to finish in 2025. 

Just short of 2,000 council homes have been built or are on site since the council launched its ambitious affordable home programme in 2006.

More than £352 million has been invested in building affordable, high-quality, sustainable, and energy-efficient council homes with a further £77.6 million committed.

As part of the 2024/25-2028/29 Strategic Housing Improvement Plan (SHIP), the council is committed to building a further 832 homes within the SHIP’s timeframe.

Pictured, left to right: Grier Edmead, Operations Director, Ogilvie Construction and Midlothian Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Stuart McKenzie.

Ogilvie Construction has started site operations to build a new student accommodation facility at Haymarket Yards in Edinburgh for Aurum UK.

When complete, the new facility will provide 156 high quality studio apartments. It will also include extensive internal and external amenities including study spaces, a gym, cinema and private dining facility, as well as a roof terrace and shared gardens.

Haymarket Yards is a zero-parking development with cycle parking for over 150 bikes. The building is well situated for easy access to public transport with Haymarket station and tram and bus stops nearby.

Donald MacDonald, Managing Director, Ogilvie Construction, said: “We are delighted to have started construction of this high-quality project for Aurum UK in the heart of the city. Our team has extensive experience in the student sector having successfully delivered 13 student accommodation facilities in Scotland over the last 7 years.”

Commenting on the project, Phil Johnson, Director of Who Hup’s Arum UK business said: “We are delighted to be working with Ogilvie on the delivery of Haymarket Yards. This is our first project in Scotland and adds to our growing pipeline of 1100 beds currently in development across the UK. We continue to look for opportunities to expand our footprint in the purpose-built student accommodation/living sectors.”

Ogilvie Construction has broken ground on a project to build a new residential home for children with learning disabilities and complex needs for Camphill School Aberdeen on its Murtle Estate.

The north east charity, which is based across three campuses in the West of Aberdeen, has been providing day and residential support for children and young people with complex additional support needs and learning disabilities in the region for more than 80 years. It currently supports over 100 students and is aiming to raise £10 million over 10 years to expand its capacity by 60%.

The new state of the art sustainable home will have 11 bedrooms and is expected to be completed by Autumn 2024. Alex Busch, Executive Director at Camphill School Aberdeen, said: “Many of the children and young people who come to us have struggled to thrive in mainstream education or have faced having to move to residential care hundreds of miles away from their families. In addition, we have seen a huge increase in demand for our services in recent years, so we urgently need to increase our capacity both for day and residential pupils.

Donald MacDonald, Managing Director, Ogilvie Construction, added: “We are delighted to get site operations under way on such a valuable asset to the community. We look forward to handing over a high-quality sustainable facility next year that will meet the needs of residents for many years to come.”