Construction companies across Scotland are set to benefit from a new Construction Scotland Innovation Centre facility about to open its doors at Hamilton International Technology Park in Lanarkshire.

The refurbishment and fit out of this new collaborative environment got under way this month and will deliver 30,000 sq ft of workshop space, housing state of the art construction and manufacturing equipment, complete with a five tonne overhead gantry crane for heavy lifting.

This should allow construction businesses of all sizes to prototype and develop new products, processes, systems and solutions, as well as provide training to attract fresh talent and build new skills using the latest virtual reality technology and advanced robotics.

Financed by CSIC, the Scottish Funding Council and Scottish Enterprise, the industry led facility is regarded as a major step forward for the Scottish construction sector, which employs 170,000 people – around 10 per cent of Scottish jobs – across 31,000 businesses.

One of the original people behind the drive to establish such a forward looking facility, linking industry and academia, is Bill McBride, managing director of Rutherglen based Westcrowns CS, who will be providing expert comment in an afternoon session at the RICS conference.

This panel debate on sustainable development will also have contributions from BRE director Leanne McMillan.