Morgan Sindall Construction’s Scotland team has been awarded a contract worth £2.86m to reconstruct the prominent Poundland building, located at 161-163 High Street, in the heart of Elgin, north Scotland.

Work has already started on the Category B listed building and is taking place across three storeys, with the store situated on the ground floor and four apartments across the remaining two levels.

Poundland is currently trading from a temporary shop located at Thunderton Place in Elgin and will move into its new home once the development is finished in early 2024.

Construction works include the removal of a sandstone partition wall built against the adjacent building, parts of which date back to the Georgian period. The stones will be removed manually one at a time with the consolidation of the remaining wall being undertaken in conjunction with the down taking.

As part of Morgan Sindall’s Intelligent Solutions approach, a method of work was devised to significantly reduce its carbon footprint. As a result of this, 14 tonnes of CO2 has already been saved within the first ten weeks of the 80 week-long project, the equivalent of heating five homes.

The contractor achieved this by employing an early grid connection, resulting in only one full week of generator use, re-used and recycled waste materials and efficient transportation methods.

As part of its commitment to communities and creating a positive presence, the on-site team is also partaking in a blood drive for Give Blood and has so far donated a total of 11 pints of the vital liquid.

Stuart Parker, managing director for Morgan Sindall Construction’s Scotland team, said: “We are proud to play a part in construction projects like this which are at the cornerstone of communities.

It is essential local shops are accessible and create opportunities for social interaction and conversation which is crucial to wellbeing.

This aligns with our own approach to construction, where people are at the heart of the design, and we carefully consider how the buildings will be used to their optimum.

He added: “Our on-site team continue to work incredibly hard to deliver this project, all whilst taking part in a blood drive for Give Blood and it’s gestures like this which highlight the positive impact our workforce has on communities which extends out of construction.

We’re also pleased to shine a light on our consistent success within the ten-tonne challenge, it’s always a cause for celebration when we exceed expectation and we’ve achieved 14 tonnes on this project to date, with plans to enhance this in the future.”