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Work gets underway on £1m cancer retreat

September 1 2015

Work gets underway on £1m cancer retreat
Cancer charity It’s Good 2 Give has begun construction of a £1m three bedroom holiday home for the families of children with the disease.

Designed on a pro bono basis by Kettle Collective the Ripple Retreat will take shape on the banks of Loch Venacher, offering short breaks for up to 40 families each year.

Finished in zinc, oak and glass the designer home from home is situated just 10 minutes’ drive from Callander on the eastern edge of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.

Lynne McNicoll, chair and founder of It’s Good 2 Give, said: “It’s an incredibly happy day today to see the Ripple Retreat underway. This is my dream ambition for our charity and a tremendous victory. I can’t thank everyone enough for donating to our campaign.”

Completion is expected by March 2016.
To date the charity has raised £1.2m of the £1.5m required
To date the charity has raised £1.2m of the £1.5m required

6 Comments

A Local Pleb
#1 Posted by A Local Pleb on 1 Sep 2015 at 13:24 PM
It's great that work has started on the construction of this project however the estimated cost of £1.5m is way in excess of what was reported (£675k) on this site in July last year. The design does not appear to have changed much so begs the question about how accurate the original cost estimates were! A charity is sold a vision it really aspires to but must be gutted that the professionals advising them (even on a pro-bono basis) cannot get the costs close. So needless to say the charity has had to increase its fundraising drive! Sounds as if the architects/QS's sold something they could not guarantee delivering. I am absolutely certain there must have been contractors and suppliers at the time telling them their expectations were misplaced (financially). No doubt it will be a great piece of architecture but was some of the advice at the outset?
Auntie Nairn
#2 Posted by Auntie Nairn on 1 Sep 2015 at 13:48 PM
Looks very nice, but £1.5m for a three bedroom house! Also, seems to be a bit in excess of the 25% wall area as glazing that the building regs recommend.
Midge City
#3 Posted by Midge City on 1 Sep 2015 at 14:21 PM
Last years article said the project was £650K.
The headline here says £1m.
The first sentence then says £1.5m.
Which is correct Urban Realm?
Urban Realm
#4 Posted by Urban Realm on 1 Sep 2015 at 14:58 PM
The estimated build cost back in May of last year was £650k. The £1m figure today relates to the design and build of the home (including fit out and fittings).

A further £500k is being sought to cover running costs.
Gobsmacked of Glasgow
#5 Posted by Gobsmacked of Glasgow on 2 Sep 2015 at 12:23 PM
I might be missing something but just can't understand why enough people have thought it appropriate to spend so much on just one house. I know there presumably are adaptations for disabled, perhaps some things are more expensive to make for easier maintenance in the future seeing as it's a holiday home and I get that everyone wants it be really nice for the families who get to go there but surely more than one could be delivered for that amount of cash and then more families could benefit.
justathought
#6 Posted by justathought on 6 Sep 2015 at 08:29 AM
This rips ma knitting. Holiday home? Looks more like a art gallery or exhibition space. Heating and maintenance costs will be unnecessarily excessive for a start.
No wonder architects are in decline when you have snakeoil salesmen like these telling clients they know better. They should take a long hard look in the mirror!

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