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| January 2012 |
We can tell that 2012 is going to be an exciting year for us here at WRD. We are already a month into the year and from the outset it has been hectic, with our Director Chris Milne being called out to deal with emergency jobs to help our clients, by advising on several wind damaged buildings as a result of the storm force winds that battered Scotland on 3rd January. We are well used to dealing with unplanned or emergency situations and have extensive experience in assisting in both the immediate aftermath, and a more planned remediation of the damage.
After the euphoria of the opening of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Queen Street, Edinburgh, a must visit building, we are looking forward to working on various new projects. The new James Gillespie’s High School campus has been confirmed as moving on to the next stage. This looks like being a fantastic school for the staff and the pupils in the future, and this will no doubt keep us very busy through 2012. On top of this we continue to build on our housing commission portfolio with new commissions at the Fort and West Pilton in Edinburgh, where we are working with Malcolm Fraser Architects, and at Greendykes with Smith Scott Mullan Architects. In addition to this we are assisting EMA and Smith Scott Mullan at the currently undeveloped site at Lochend, to help unlock the significant potential of this area. Also Hart Builders are looking to continue the work completed at Westfield by completing the fourth block, again using our services and those of 7n Architects.
Our work with the Christ Stewart Group continues apace at the Market Street/Advocates Close sites in Edinburgh. This is a fantastic location for the hotels being constructed in the historic heart of Edinburgh. We also have commissions to look at hotels in Aberdeen, Highburgh Road in Glasgow, and Shandwick Place in Edinburgh.
In our 30th Anniversary year we are continuing to provide the same consistently high standard of service to our clients, and the more eagle eyed of you will notice “Not Just Engineering” is appearing on some of our documentation. We believe this does truly represent the service that we give. If we have not been part of your teams before, feel free to contact Gus Roxburgh in Edinburgh, Brian Walker in Glasgow, or indeed any of the management team, to explain how we can make a positive difference to your project.
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| November 2011 |
Will Rudd Davidson are pleased to continue their sponsorship of North Merchiston Under 15s football team pictured click here , who under the auspices of their new UEFA Grade B licensed coach are moving up the Division 2 table in the south east region leagues. Click here to see an article on the coach from the Evening News.
The Players recently took part in a selection match to represent Scotland Under 15s. We are pleased to advise that one of the players made it to the next selection stage
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| September 2011 - WRD Annual Corporate Challenge |
Our Annual Corporate Challenge took place at Dunkeld and Birnam again this year, we are all surprised they had us back after last year! This year the challenges dreamt up by Glasgow MD Brian Walker were based around the theme of Community Service with the options being busking, litter picking or car window washing. A team of intrepid Elvis lookalikes, comprising Gill Cooke, Stephen Rudd, James Montgomery and Alan Lamb took the Dunkeld High St by storm with a selection of Elvis hits. After the community service event we took part in a “project the feather the furthest” competition. Entries had to be constructed on the day and all elements of the apparatus purchased in a specific supermarket. Some great inventive solutions were put forward on the day, but the team that came out on top was Marie Mackenzie, Chris Milne, Craig Johnston and James Hunter with a Chinese lantern solution winning the day at 37m. The final part of the day was a sports day with further charity money available for winning each race, a particularly spectacular show was made in the drag race...where instead of a relay baton being handed over a ladies long dress, shirt, gloves, and boots were exchanged.
All in all a grand total of £225 was raised for the winning team’s chosen charity of Marie Curie Cancer Care. We look forward to next year’s fun and games.
Well done all at WRD Glasgow and Edinburgh for this excellent effort.
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| May 2011 |
We are delighted that the Usher Hall Phase II Refurbishment alterations and extension have resulted in the building picking up the top award in the Leisure/Culture Building 2011 category at this year’s Scottish Design Awards. As Civil and Structural engineers, with LDN as Architects, our role included the design of significant below ground works, as well as all the visible new extension structure, together with the internal remodelling of the back and front of house areas, within the existing Grade A listed music hall. We will be uploading some more pictures soon but meanwhile information on this project can be found under our portfolio section.
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| March 2011 |
We are delighted that one of our most prestigious commissions is now on site. "The Den" at Stewarts Melville College is now out of the ground and making good progress towards completion. The design was run as a competition for Primary 7 children a few years ago with each subsequent year taking the project a bit further forward. The current Primary 7 pupils are on site and, as can be seen by the pictures,
(click here) a very professional job is being done. The finished building will be an open sided hut with bridge access for use at playtime. We think it's brilliant that young people are getting involved in construction at such an early age and this ties in nicely with Craig Milne's (AKA Robbie Milne's Dad as noted
here ) work with the ICE schools outreach programme, which aims to introduce Civil Engineering to children at an early age.
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| Welcome to 2011 |
Will Rudd Davidson are looking forward to another busy year. We have an exciting stream of work which we are looking forward to progressing in 2011. The new James Gillespie High School is now being taken through RIBA stage C and the early plans look fantastic! Sugarhouse Close is a new student development for Watkin Jones and Son. This follows on from our previous work with them at Grove Street and other sites in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Sugarhouse Close is located in the historic old town, just off the Royal Mile. The site is partially new build and partially refurbishing existing buildings. There's a bit of everything on this site and we are rising to the challenge. We are also delighted that the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at Easter Bush has obtained practical completion.
We have recruited another engineer, this time back to the fold, and we extend a warm welcome to Craig Kempsell, who further strengthens our team. It seems there's no place quite like WRD!
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| Merry Christmas |
Everyone at WRD would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
All the best for 2011!
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| November 2010 |
We are pleased to have received a ten year award for maintaining our Investors in People recognition.
We have found the process and assistance to be invaluable and we remain committed to keeping and improving our Investors in People status.
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| October 2010 |
Following WRD's in involvement in the Civil, Structural and CDMC aspects of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at Easter Bush, we were pleased to be able to assist in providing background advice on maintaining the existing surface water regime for the new community garden. It was a pleasure getting the chance to meet the cast and crew of the BBC's Beechgrove Garden, who also had an interest in this two-and-a-half acre plot within the Vet School’s grounds, which has been transformed into a peaceful space for clients, staff and students to enjoy. A photo of Chris Milne rubbing shoulders with celebrities can be found here
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| July 2010 |
We are pleased to have our name in print this month in an article published in the July edition of the American Society of Civil Engineers journal on the Phase 2 Refurbishment recently completed at the Usher Hall, Lothian Road, Edinburgh. You can read the full article here. For more information about the Usher Hall and our other refurbishment projects check out our portfolio.
Another couple of our projects have also been in the news this month, a new library and “community hub” facility in Drumbrae, due for completion in 2011, has been reported in the Edinburgh Evening News. For the full article click here.
Also the new James Gillespie Senior School has had a mention as a new "School of the Future". For a link to the full article from the Edinburgh Evening News click here
We are delighted to be working on both these projects for the City of Edinburgh Council.
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| June 2010 |
This month has been a hectic one at WRD as the summer season approaches and the hot weather makes us pleased to be doing site visits!
On an unseasonably hot day at the end of May, WRD runners completed the Hairy Haggis relay for the second year, running in aid of the Sick Kids Foundation, and we are pleased to announce that we have so far raised £410! Thanks to all and well done to the runners!
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