Successful ‘hub’ programme has built £1.3bn of community projects
Latest dashboard figures show £1.3bn delivered and a further £1.3bn under construction or in development
The value of recently completed community-based buildings such as schools and health centres delivered by the Scotland-wide hub programme on behalf of Scotland’s public sector has topped £1bn.
Managed by the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), the hub programme is an innovative approach to develop and deliver best-value community facilities that provides public bodies with a quick and efficient way of getting their projects into construction and services delivered in to communities.
Since becoming fully operational in 2012, the five hub companies have handed over 142 projects valued at £1.3bn. A further 67, valued at £1.3bn are either under construction or in the final stages of development which is supporting some 6,100 jobs.
David MacDonald, hub programme director at SFT, explained: “Improved value, speed of delivery, increased community benefits and expert project management are just some of the reasons Scotland’s public sector are specifying hub to plan, construct and in many cases, manage their new buildings.”
Completed hub projects include Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries designed by Richard Murphy Architects for Fife Council, which was crowned ‘Best Building in Scotland’ by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) in November 2017.
Another award-winning hub project is the Health and Care Centre in Eastwood, East Renfrewshire. During 2017, it received a number of design and healthcare awards, notably from the RIAS and European Healthcare Design.
The ‘reference designed’ health centre brought together the services of East Renfrewshire Council and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde into one, unique, community-focussed building. This joint occupancy allows the community to access multiple services in one location in a central setting with easy access to GP practices, integrated health and social care services, a community hub facility and a cafe that serves as a focal point for both the community and professionals alike.
The reference design was developed and promoted by SFT as an approach to improve future health centres across Scotland.
John Donnelly, project and development manager with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde said of the hub-delivered health centre: “The Health and Care Centre in Eastwood now provides a single base for lots of professionals such as Health Visitors, Social Workers and District Nurses who deliver services to the community to be located side by side, which allows us to provide a much-improved service.”
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hub Programme
The Scotland-wide hub programme is based on a partnership between the public and private sectors to deliver new community facilities. Operating across five geographical areas, public sector bodies have formed a joint venture partner with a private sector developer partner to form a company, known as a hubCo.
Each of the hubCos takes a long-term planning approach to identify the buildings it needs to support the delivery of improved community services. Collectively, the hubCos are developing and delivering a diverse pipeline of best-value, award-winning community infrastructure, currently valued at more than £2.6bn which is anticipated to grow to over £3bn in the coming years.
This value of construction work is supporting many thousands of full-time jobs as well as creating many graduate and apprenticeship appointments and training positions.
A link to the £2.6bn hub pipeline document is here - hub pipeline - December 2017.
