SCOTTISH Labour leader, Kecia Dugdale, launched the final phase of one of the most talked-about demonstration homes at the award-winning BRE Innovation Park @ Ravenscraig.
Miss Dugdale met with students from New College Lanarkshire who are actively involved with the Curriculum House, which is recognised as the first ‘live’ higher level educational project of its kind in the UK.
She will assist the team in attaching cladding to the building which offers a fresh, unique and youthful take on how homes for the future should look, feel and perform for the benefit of people, the environment and the economy.
Designed by New College Lanarkshire’s brightest and best architectural students, the college’s construction students are now entering the final building phase of the Curriculum House, which forms part of BRE’s mini-demonstration community of homes and buildings on the former steel works site.
Designed as a family home, the Curriculum House aims to achieve Gold Level compliance with Section 7 of the Scottish Building Standards and is comprised of a thermally efficient closed panel timber frame build system called Val-U-Therm (manufactured by Scottish company Scotframe) which minimises the energy needs of the home and generates minimum waste.
With an adaptable internal structure conducive to meeting the changing needs of a family over time, the low carbon house also features the latest in renewable technology.
Other key features include TETRiS, an eco-friendly, super strong and highly-insulated structural flooring alternative to beam and block floors.
Commenting during her visit to BRE Innovation Park, Miss Dugdale noted: “Education is at the heart of everything I do as Scottish Labour leader.
“There’s no future for Scotland as a low wage, low skill economy, and we need to find new ways to help our people develop the skills they need to compete for the jobs of tomorrow – this project looks like exactly the sort of course we need to develop so that more young people have access to jobs and opportunities.”
Dr David Kelly, group director, BRE Innovation Park Networks, added: “At BRE, 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.
“This project will have a significant impact in terms of making our buildings better but also in helping us progress the skills of our young people so they can develop careers fit for the global workplace; therefore, we are delighted that Miss Dugdale has taken time to find about more about the Park in general and the Curriculum House in particular.”
BRE Scotland director, Rufus Logan, also said: “Overall, we are greatly encouraged by the growing level of interest being shown by both innovators and senior politicians into the work carried out by BRE.
“The innovative buildings, products, and technologies on the Park demonstrate future solutions to many of the housing issues we face today. We very much hope that the insight gained, particularly by our political leaders as a result of their visits, will ultimately play a part in influencing thinking around future policy.”
In recent times, the BRE Innovation Park has played host to a number of politicians including Deputy First Minister John Swinney, Scottish Government Minister Angela Constance, Scottish Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Communities Ken Macintosh MSP, Marion Fellowes MP and Phil Boswell MP, the Westminster representatives for the people of Motherwell and Wishaw and Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill respectively.
Picture, left to right: LeeAnne McMillan and Dr David Kelly from BRE, with Kezia Dugdale.
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