Lothian House Frontage Project
News

Weekend work - 30th November

Following the cancellation of the scaffold work last Sunday, the planned work has now been approved by the council and has been re-arranged for Saturday, 30 November. To ensure that the most hazardous work completes prior to a significant footfall on Lothian Road, this work has been approved from 5:00am.
“As discussed due to the pedestrian loadings we would normally instruct this work to take place on a weekend. Taking into account the issues you have faced with the noise team already I will avoid the Sunday to comply with their request but Saturday at 5am will be the most suitable solution to this. Any issues with this I am happy to discuss further with anyone who needs to. Regards, Lewis Innes (Road Engineer CEDC).”

Out of hours working - 25th November

The last section of the scaffold for the Frontage Project is currently being installed and the sections on the south end of Lothian House are being removed. To ensure the safety of pedestrians, shop and office staff and shoppers some of this work will be done outside normal working hours. This weekend preparatory work may start at 6:00am on Sunday 25th November and construction will proceed for the day. The project team thank you for your continued patience and apologise for any disturbance that this work may cause. This work will allow the programme to proceed onto Morrison Street. Our main contractor, Go-Wright will have staff on-site.

Evening work

On 14th November, the project team were requested to give permission for work to continue after the normal end of day to allow the scaffolders to dismantle the southern end of the scaffold. Once this work had started, the only safe option was for it to be completed in a single phase, so this work was approved, protecting both residents and street traffic. Notices were placed in Lothian House to warn residents that the work needed to proceed.

November 2024 - Newsletter update

All residents of Lothian House will know that there has been significant movement in the scaffolding on the building in the last couple of weeks, regrettably some of that work happening overnight. Complaints have been passed to the main contractor, to the scaffolders and to the city council about the work that occurred over the night of 22-23 October. Scaffolding issues have been the major cause of delays to the project over the last few months and the scaffolders said that the overnight work was to reduce any further delays in the project. This work was not approved by the steering group for the project or by Go-Wright, who are our main contractor. They were also contacted by the city council who stressed the allowable working hours for noisy work. For clarity, the council's rules are 7:00am until 7:00pm (see https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/noise/commercial-construction-noise), and we have an overarching agreement with Go-Wright that 8:00am is the start time for this contract, unless agreed otherwise.
However, the good news is that there is now another section of the frontage which has been revealed from behind the scaffold and more will appear in the next few weeks, when the tower at Philpotts will be the start of the new scaffold position. Also, the glass panels over the Odeon cinema have been removed by our contractors and the scaffold will soon be completed around the north corner to the end of the frontage, allowing the remaining sections to be repaired. For non-resident owners photographs are included below, showing the restored section of the Lothian Road frontage and the Odeon without its canopy.

The Lothian House frontage – 1st November 2024

The Odeon, without its canopy

Project end date change

As many will be aware, the original end date for the programme was scheduled as 17 November 2024 and this date is not going to be met. However, there was a hope that the programme would be completed in 2024, and that the building would be cleared of scaffolding before the Christmas / New Year break. However, because of the continuing scaffolding delays, this will not happen and the project end date from the Go-Wright four-weekly report is now 31 January 2025. This 9-week delay is extremely disappointing and is not due to weather, work or materials shortages. It is solely scaffolding related. None of this is attributed to Lothian House or our professional advisors (LDN, Morham & Brotchie or Elliots) but to our main contractors’ sub-contractors. However, there is minimal additional cost because of this delay, and the previous savings already intimated by Jenny still stand, and our overall budget has not gone near the contingency we included.

Project Progress Update - 10th August 2024

Since the last update on the Frontage Project, there have been changes to the personnel on the project and some unrelated issues with a sub-contractor on the project, and these have impacted the rate of progress of the scaffold round the building. However, residents and passers-by will have seen the first sections of the Pilkington Jackson panels being properly revealed to the public for the first time in many years.
Additionally, there have been comments and feedback which have been made on the current budget and schedule. The current project budget is very healthy and there are currently no additional items in the budget, however the rate of spend is below the original plans, largely due to unavoidable amendments to the work timetable. There will be a substantial increase in the spend rate between now and completion, as the work escalates.
Please read the updates below for more information on these headlines.

Personnel Changes

Our main contractor, Go-Wright have appointed a new Site Manager, Rob Tait, who is a highly qualified and pro-active manager and additionally has many years’ experience as a stonemason, making him ideally suited for the project at Lothian House. Rob is a local man and is very approachable and will happily discuss any problems or assistance he can provide regarding the project.

Sub-contractor issues

Owners will have noted that the progress of the scaffold around the building has been sporadic and, in many instances, not as scheduled in the published plans. All the project team apologise for these delays, but a series of unforeseen circumstances impacted the main sub-contractor to Go-Wright and this has resulted in the scaffolding delays on site. These issues are now fully resolved and progress on the removal and re-siting of the scaffold should happen imminently. A new schedule is attached at the end of this report, and this will be updated as appropriate.

Budget

I need to assure all our proprietors that the finances of the project are being very carefully monitored and controlled. We are very fortunate to have a first-rate team of professional advisors, LDN as architects, Morham & Brotchie as quantity surveyors and Elliots as engineers, and they monitor the work of the main contractor Go-Wright and their sub-contractors constantly. Edinburgh World Heritage are also monitoring budget expenditure, so there is a high level of contractor and financial scrutiny.
The project team meet four-weekly to review the work that has been completed and inspected by the architects, engineers and quantity surveyors and the invoices are prepared from the reports produced by our team. These costs are taken from the tender documents provided by Go-Wright at the start of the project, and they detail the agreed charges for all the work. At the last public briefing in the Leisure Suite, I showed some of the detail in the tender document which was submitted by our main contractor, a spreadsheet of greater than 1500 lines. To date, both the initial setup costs and the monthly invoices have been substantially below the planned costs and in the most recent report we are currently 6% below the spend planned. We have also saved a little over £58,000 from the budget due to careful spending and re-inspection of stone replacement. As I said at that meeting, currently the underspend has been reserved as further contingency, as there may be additional requirements in the later project where that money is needed.
We have been making savings wherever possible through very careful spending, but also the contractor has been able to make some economic improvements to the way in which they are dealing with the stone replacement, now they are able to assess and re-evaluate this onsite. Of course, there may be additional requirements later in the project which could reverse current savings, so until the project is completed we cannot rely upon any surplus, but there are very positive indicators that we should not need to exceed the budget.
As an indication of the spend rate now, the latest four-week invoice from Go-Wright was for £77,406.00 and subsequent invoices will be significantly higher as the costly work intensifies.
The graph on the below shows the total project budget before VAT and professional charges, at £993,972, the cumulative spend to date in orange, reaching £295,070 in June and the lower blue band shows the individual monthly payments.

Rainwater Pipes

One of the most important, but largely hidden repairs that have been necessary is to the rainwater pipes which take the rain from the balconies and the front of the building into the street and these pipes are hidden behind the frontage of Lothian House. Very positive progress has been made in replacing / repairing these pipes and the main outstanding work is outside the building, under the scaffolding where pipes join the main sewer network. This has delayed the work in the gymnasium, the LHPA office and outside Superdrug. Internal work is required in the Odeon and a final design is being agreed with the owners and tenants.
The project team would like to thank all the owners and tenants who have allowed work to be completed in their flats, meaning the pipes should no longer cause damage to their properties. I have included an image of one of the pipes removed, to show the condition of the pipe and absolute need for repair. Although this may look as if it was damaged on removal, this shows the condition of the pipe when it was removed!

Please imagine if this pipe were behind your walls, with rainwater passing through it!

Scaffold plans

The scaffolding currently in Fountainbridge and at the south end of Lothian Road will be moved, in its entirety, over the next two weeks. This scaffold will then be transferred, moving north from the current section on Lothian Road, covering as much of the building as possible. This will allow work to proceed on a wider front, with additional staff and six day working, which will allow the programme to catch up on some of the lost time.

Go-Wright are working on the final programme plan and will issue that at the next progress meeting, timetabled for 29th August.

Summary

In summary, although the project is not moving entirely to plan, projects of this size and complexity seldom do. There have been no unforeseen costs to date, the work is progressing well and relationships between us, our professional team and the main contractor are good. In particular, when issues arise, they are dealt with calmly and with the appropriate care and understanding.

Project Progress Update – 30th May 2024

The General Meeting of the LHPA today received an update on the current progress of the Frontage Project and this is a summary of the detail.
The first and second phases are progressing well, although the transfer of the scaffold to the third phase has been delayed by two factors, a delay in the delivery of the first major stone replacement by our stonemasons and the continuing poor weather, which has impacted the ability to complete the pointing and rendering of the frontage. The current plan will see the scaffold moved on 10th June.
Phase 2 (Fountainbridge) is progressing well and the rainwater pipe runs have been identified and the stone repair and replacement surveys have been completed, as planned. The replacement stone has been ordered and the work will proceed as described in the detailed plans from the tender. No increased work is currently anticipated.
Phase 3 (Lothian Road) will commence once the scaffolding has been installed, but a significant part of that work has already been completed at the balcony level to seal the surface and reduce the penetration of rainwater into shops.
Additionally, Phase 4 (Morrison Street) work is already proceeding and the repair of the rainwater pipes which run through Lothian House and the Odeon has been started. Survey work has also been started on the cast iron pipes in the remainder of Phase 3 and Phase 4.
The current plan provided by our main contractor remains on track both financially and by time and the finances of the project are positive, and no delay has been reported to the end dates. However, the project team of LDN, Morham & Brotchie and Elliots are extremely conscious of the need to monitor the progress and the budget closely. However, the team are disappointed that there have been completely erroneous report of surveys, budget overruns and time delays to the project without any facts. At the meeting, Alan Dickson refuted these reports and provided details on the plans, contingency status, and budget.
At the briefing he took LHPA members through the construction method of the building, with the canal basin lined by concrete, the cast iron frame being built, then the plumbers adding the cast iron rainwater pipes. Only then was the brickwork and masonry added. This structurural layering is the main issue with the rainwater system. He then showed slides of the damaged pipes in one of the flats and in to Odeon.
The second item he then covered was the stonework replacement, showing the process and status of the stone replacement, highlighting one of the lintol sections at the top of the building above Poundland. The replacement highlighted the method of fixing stone to the cast iron frame, and the positive state of these iron girders. A video of the slides is available below.

Use full screen and pause the video if you wish to read all of the text.

Phase 1 progress and Phase 2 plans - 15th April 2024

The last few weeks have seen very positive progress with the first phase of the frontage project.
Edinburgh World Heritage have completed their first inspection of the work to date and they are very pleased with the progress to date and have agreed to release the first part of their grant to the project. They have provided a banner for the scaffold showing their support which will be displayed in the next few weeks.
That inspection means that the next scaffolding sections will proceed over the next two weekends, on Sunday 21st April 2024 and Sunday 28th April 2024. Stone repair and pointing work will progress on two fronts at the same time, with installation of the Fountainbridge scaffold starting on 21st April, and installation should complete during that week. On 28th April, the Lothian Road scaffold will continue north reaching approximately the Greggs entrance. In Phase 1, some of our owners have opted to have their glazing replaced and after extensive discussions, four flats behind the current scaffolding are having the work completed in the next two weeks.
Following completion of the scaffold installation, some of the Phase 1 scaffolding will be removed, and the new masonry, pointing and restored panels will be seen for the first time.
The dates for the end of Phase 2 have not been set yet, so the plan below shows "TBC". As soon as further information is available, these dates will be published. Our latest newsletter is available here.

Painting part of one of the Fountainbridge relief panels - 1st March 2024

Working from a mobile platform, Go-Wright have painted a sample panel. The first panel has been painted following our architect's design, allowing us to emphasis the detail of Charles d'Orville Pilkington Jackson's sculptural skill (link), creating a stunning facade which will continue on Lothian Road.

The first stone delivery and the colour of lime pointing agreed - 5 Feb 2024.

Go-Wright have taken delivery of the first sections of replacement stone for the frontage and the removal of damaged stone has started.

Three colour samples of lime pointing have been tested and the best match agreed with the contractors.

Listed Building consent granted - 3 Jan 2024

New Year has brought the great news that our application for Listed Building Consent to redecorate the original cast iron window frames and spandrel panels has been approved by the City of Edinburgh Council planners. All of the Frontage project team look forward to seeing the newly restored panels as they emerge from behind the scaffolding. If you haven't seen the planned restoration, a reduced image from part of the planning application is below.

The first view of the Pilkington Jackson Panels - 1 Dec 2023

The first phase of the scaffold is going up and the work schedule is now being created. We've been able to get onto the scaffold to see the condition of the stonework and of the decorative panels above street level. More images will be provided, but for the moment, some images of the panels are given below.

Commencement Date: Sunday 19 November 2023

It is excellent to finally be able to share the news that over the next twelve months Lothian House will be reinstated as a wind and watertight building, with no external drainage leaks and safe stonework! Further to the various briefings and meetings which have been held about this essential project, the noticeboard in the Lothian Road front entrance will be used as a public forum to keep everyone updated about progress and details. There is also a dedicated website which contains technical information, along with general details. News updates will be posted on the website from time to time. Please bear with us whilst the tweaking process is refined, which should be finished early next week. If you want to make suggestions about helpful additional content after that, please feel free to email LHPA124@hotmail.com At the moment, only preliminary information is available, but as soon as the project timeline is confirmed, hopefully next week, we will include more details in order to keep you well informed with the facts and information about how this may affect occupants of the properties.
Meanwhile, erection of the scaffolding is commencing THIS SUNDAY, early in the morning. The Council grants a permit for this and requires the unloading process to be done during less busy times, hence the Sunday working. This will not be an ongoing problem throughout the project, usual working hours will be weekdays, between 7am-5pm approximately. The project will be in four phases, more details will be shared next week, but this first phase starting this coming Sunday will involve the flats directly above Superdrug (diagonal corner and Lothian Road frontages – but not Fountainbridge yet) and above the Poundland shop premises. Work on this phase is expected to be completed by April 2024. Dilapidation and asbestos surveys will need to be conducted which will require access into some flats and shops (those with concealed rainwater drain pipes running through their properties), but advance notice will be given of access requirements.