All posts by Neil Fordyce

Sharkey taking care to deliver

The much-appreciated decision by Mansfield Care Group Ltd to appoint Sharkey to construct a state-of-the-art care home in Loanhead, provides further evidence of the continuing diversity of our project portfolio.

Hawthorn House involves the construction of a 50-bed facility, purpose-built to best serve the needs of the residents and sympathetically designed to reflect the scale of the surrounding properties in a residential area of Loanhead. The 50 en-suite bedrooms are provided with a wide range of support accommodation for residents and staff.

The 29,000sqft project has a 3-storey steel frame structure, clad in a combination of natural stone and render, with a natural slate roof. Extensive site works are also involved, including an entirely new services and public utility infrastructure.

Due for completion early-2027, the project will be delivered by our vastly experienced management team. Working together with our skilled and trusted supply chain, their expertise in managing the particular challenges of a development of this nature will be invaluable in ensuring successful delivery of this exciting project.

Sharkey continues to circle the Square

Queensway’s appointment of Sharkey to convert a 1960s Category A-listed building provides an interesting counterpoint to the growing list of projects we have delivered successfully in iconic St Andrew Square, which includes another A-listed hotel conversion of a building dating back to 1775.

The £20m project involves the conversion of an existing office block and ground floor retail unit to create a 206-bed hotel, branded as Point A. Works will include a wholesale internal strip-out, renewal of all M&E services and structural alterations. External fabric work will also be undertaken, with elements being repaired or replaced on a like-for-like basis.

Whilst the project’s location, in an exceptionally busy part of the city centre, will pose some challenges, particularly in relation to logistics and site management, our team’s extensive experience of delivering projects successfully in similar settings will prove invaluable in meeting these and the achieving the business goals of our valued new client.

Sharkey delivers perfect blend of old and new

Constructing a stunning 3-storey, new-build distillery and visitor centre around 5 listed Victorian stone arches on a sloping corner site, posed some unique challenges for the Sharkey team. Prime among these was protecting the integrity of the existing historic retaining structures, particularly during the complex piling works, during which adverse weather and restricted access provided further logistical constraints.

The £11.5m project, in a prominent location in Edinburgh’s Market Street, was delivered on a design and build basis. The success of the project is attributable in no small part to the team’s positive, collaborative approach that dealt with project challenges in a structured and pragmatic way that ensured successful delivery of a facility, whose setting will provide the perfect visitor experience, superbly enhanced by our client’s magnificent copper stills at its centre.

Energy efficiency is Sharkey’s primary aim

Sharkey is extremely pleased to have been appointed by the City of Edinburgh Council to construct a two-storey annex to Dean Park Primary School in Balerno. Designed to exacting energy efficiency standards, the £5m project will draw on our delivery team’s expertise in dealing with a range of challenges. These include balancing the strict application and control of specialist construction methodology with the need to maintain business as usual operations for the existing school.

To ensure the project is fully compliant and achieves appropriate accreditation, our team will include a Passivhaus Champion and an Air Tightness Champion, who together, will ensure Passivhaus principles are embedded throughout the delivery phase, working pro-actively and collaboratively with the design team to deliver an exemplar Passivhaus project for our client.

Sharkey to deliver new accommodation experience for UoE students

The University of Edinburgh’s decision to appoint Sharkey to undertake the extensive upgrade of one of their largest accommodation blocks provides us with an excellent opportunity to apply our experience and expertise in this sector to help further enhance our client’s residential portfolio.

The £6.9m project, which will involve refurbishment of all bedrooms, showers and corridors, together with the replacement of two passenger lifts, provides us with a welcome opportunity to work again with the University’s design team, with whom we collaborated successfully on a recent project of a similar scale and scope.