Cheshire-based building envelope contractor FK Group saw its turnover and profits both leap by more than 50% last year. Above: FK worked on the expansion of Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium’s South Stand for Laing O’Rourke FK Group reported turnover of £70.5m for the year to 31st March 2016. This is
The winners of the 2015 RIBA President’s Medals and RIBA President’s Awards for Research were announced at a ceremony at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in central London this evening (2 December 2015). First awarded in 1836, the RIBA Presidents Medals are the RIBA’s oldest prizes and reward
Britain reacts to the summer chill Published: 12 September, 2016 A surprising number of Britons rush to put the heating on at the slightest sign of a chill, according to research by home heating oil specialists, Emo Oil. More than a third (36%) of people turn on the heating during summer
29 September 2016 | Jamie Harris Sodexo has secured a £90 million, five-year extension to its contract at Queen’s Hospital in Romford, Essex. The service provider has been working with the hospital, which is operated by Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT), for the last 10 years.
It has recently been announced that Land Securities has signed a number of key deals to make progress with the Ebbsfleet Garden City development. Exchanging contracts with Taylor Wimpey with regard to the selling of 539 housing plots at one of the three villages forming part of Eastern Quarry section
When compared to the first quarter of 2015, it has been highlighted in the latest batch of figures (provided by Registers of Scotland) that sales for residential properties has seen an increase of 18.2% within this year’s first quarter. This also comes as average residential property prices has also reportedly
The Heating & Hotwater Industry Council has most recently stated the reformed Renewable Heat Incentive scheme to be “flawed”, warning that it will be unable to deliver any meaningful impact on the delivery of renewable heat – a concerning notion, giving the scheme’s very goal. As such, the Heating &
Developing in line with rising property prices, it has now been highlighted in the Generation Rent Report that around one third of UK youths expect to still be paying off mortgages when they’re over 60, and around half then drawing concerns as to how they will then be able to
Tying in with the national surge in the take-up of office space, it has been highlighted by Savills that the Cambridge city centre has also seen a considerable increase in the amount of takeup over the last half year – this seen through the culmination of a number of smaller,
It has recently been announced that Kier has been chosen to deliver upon a new £53.5m scheme for student accommodation on behalf of the University of Northampton, and to serve as part of the university’s brand new, £330m waterside campus. Aiming to offer some 1,166 bedrooms for student use, the
Cheshire-based building envelope contractor FK Group saw its turnover and profits both leap by more than 50% last year. Above: FK worked on the expansion of Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium’s South Stand for Laing O’Rourke FK Group reported turnover of £70.5m for the year to 31st March 2016. This is a 52% increase in turnover from the previous year (2015: £45.8m). Gross profits were up 46% to £15.1m and pre-tax profit was up 59% to £3.3m (2015: £2.08m). Over the past year, the company has opened its sixth UK office in Newport, South Wales. It now has more than 140 staff across its offices, up from 80 two yeasr ago. FK’s Dubai office has recently secured £7m of new work, including a £5m project at Al Maktoum International Airport. Chief executive Francis Keenan said: “We have continued to illustrate our capabilities in providing the complete building envelope solution. Clients’ confidence in our services and delivery has ensured we have been continually considered for major projects nationwide. We continue to invest significantly in new services and training. “With confidence back and projects moving forward, the last 12 months have seen significant growth and we were prepared accordingly, ensuring we had the skills to deliver.” This article was published on 12 Jul 2016 (last updated on 12 Jul 2016). Source link
The winners of the 2015 RIBA President’s Medals and RIBA President’s Awards for Research were announced at a ceremony at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in central London this evening (2 December 2015). First awarded in 1836, the RIBA Presidents Medals are the RIBA’s oldest prizes and reward talent, promote innovation, and encourage excellence in the study of architecture worldwide. The Silver Medal (awarded to the best design project at Part 2) went to Finn Wilkie from The Mackintosh School of Architecture at The Glasgow School of Art for ‘The Heteroglossic City: A polemic against critical reconstruction in Berlin’. The project (tutored by Robert Mantho) investigates the historical background of Berlin’s highly-controlled planning system before setting out a new strategy for architectural intervention. This is illustrated through the ‘Bauforum’, a platform to explore a more dialogue-focused approach to each particular planning context. The Bronze Medal (for best Part 1 design project) was awarded to Boon Yik Chung, from the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, for his project ‘Space as the Third Teacher: An alternative classroom typology promoting creative learning and play’. To explore the notion of flexibility in classroom design, the author researched schools in Amsterdam and Rotterdam designed by Herman Hertzberger, and also drew on his own personal experiences of school spaces in Malaysia. The project (tutored by Rhys Cannon and Colin Herperger) concludes that ambiguous, open-ended spaces rather than wholly flexible rooms provide the best learning environments. Marie Price was awarded the Dissertation Medal for ‘The Overlooked Back Garden: Voyeurism in the English back garden’, supervised by Harold Charrington at the University of Westminster. The dissertation explores the concept of voyeurism in the wider sense of people-watching to explore the tension between the private and the overlooked. The dissertation considers degrees of overlooking at different scales (from the city, the street, from within the houses, and from within the garden) by resorting to historiography, empirical data and case-study analysis, and digital mapping technology. The RIBA President’s Award for Outstanding Master’s Degree Thesis went to Christopher Purpura, The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London for ‘Holding Hands, Touching Alterity: Dance as Spatial Practice at Monte Verità, 1914’. Supervised by Professor Jane Rendell and Professor Barbara Penner. This thesis is an account of the self-sustaining, anarchist community at Monte Verità set up by the architect-movement theorist Rudolph Laban in 1913. It focuses on a series of 7 high-definition autochromes, one of which is pictured here, taken by Johann Von Meisenbach around the outbreak of the First World War. An attempt to open up alternative histories of spatial practices, Purpura draws on feminist and queer critiques of Merleau-Ponty’s work on phenomenology. Described by the judging panel as ‘fascinating, compelling and elegant’, it tackles the fundamentals of architecture – body, space and movement. RIBA President’s Award for Outstanding PhD Thesis went to Torsten Schroeder, LSE Sociology Department, Cities Programme with ‘Translating the concept of sustainability into architectural design practices: London’s City Hall as an Exemplar’. Supervised by Professor Mike Savage and Professor Ricky Burdett. Schroeder’s doctoral thesis focusses on a single case study, London City Hall, to explore and interrogate a recent project that demonstrates the causes and effects of architects’ design decisions. Extracting a remarkable amount of forthrightness from his interview subjects about the power struggles between clients, engineers and architects, Schroeder charts the pyrrhic victory of form over performance in the design process that has led to resulting failures in environmental performance. The RIBA President’s Awards for Outstanding University-located Research went to Katrin Bohn and Andre Viljoen, School of Art, Design and Media, University of Brighton for ‘Second Nature Urban Agriculture: Designing Productive Cities’ What are the architectural and urban design consequences of a sustainable and resilient urban food system? What are the actions that will advance and enable the coherent integration of productive landscapes within cities? ‘Second Nature Urban Agriculture’ published in 2014, consolidates a systematic body of research undertaken over the last decade. This publication will be a valuable reference for any future research on urban food systems and sustainability. The RIBA President’s Award for Outstanding Practice-located Research and recipient of the inaugural RIBA Research Medal went to Walter Menteth, Walter Menteth Architects for ‘Pathways to Construction Procurement Reform leading to adoption and embedding of EU Directive 2014/24/EU’. Pathways to Construction Procurement Reform sets out to address why procurement processes, ostensibly set up to offer a fair, proportionate and open market, were having negative and unsustainable impacts on design talent accessing work; constraining opportunity, creative market skews and incurring excessive time and cost. Demonstrating tenacity and commitment, Menteth’s submission included books, articles, reports and conference papers showing a comprehensive investigation into the area of procurement reform of increasingly urgent relevance to the profession. RIBA President Jane Duncan said: “Congratulations to our deserving medal winners who have fought-off tough competition from around the world and truly excelled with their innovative, challenging and thought-provoking projects. It’s an honour to present these awards to the future trailblazers and current innovators of the architecture profession.” A number of other important awards were also presented this evening in the following categories: Silver Medal/Part 2:High Commendation: Marcus Rothnie and Marshall Inglis (Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture): ‘Chlorophyllous Urbanism: Mumbai’ Commendations: Gemma Wheeler (Cardiff University): ‘Re-Storying the Workhouse: An alternative conservation strategy’ Alistair Wood (De Montfort University): ‘Lofoten Seasonal Fishery’ Serjeant Award for Excellence in Drawing: Benjamin Ferns (Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL): ‘Pontifical Academy of Sciences’ Bronze Medal/Part 1:High Commendation: Douglas Miller (Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL): ‘The San Francisco Columbarium’ Commendations: Sophie Barks (University of Nottingham): ‘The Mnemonic Guild’ Hong Xi (Nanjing University, China): ‘Academic Landscape: Regenerate a riverside warehouse as an emblem of active learning’ Serjeant Award for Excellence in Drawing: Andrew Chard (Oxford Brookes University): ‘The Lost Dockyard’ Dissertation Medal:Commendations: Zeina Al-Derry (Architectural Association): ‘The Melancholic City of Mirages’ Irene Klokkari (University of Brighton): ‘Memories of Famagusta: Recapturing the image of the city through the memories of refugees’
Britain reacts to the summer chill Published: 12 September, 2016 A surprising number of Britons rush to put the heating on at the slightest sign of a chill, according to research by home heating oil specialists, Emo Oil. More than a third (36%) of people turn on the heating during summer months, according to a survey of 1,084 UK homeowners, with less than one in three (29%) putting an extra layer on when the weather takes a cooler turn. Considering recent summers have been full of record hottest days and months, the nation is still quick to turn on the central heating 18 times on average during the summer months. Alternatively, almost one in five (22%) will use a hot water bottle to prevent a chill between May and September, and 9% confessed to cuddling to keeping warm. Suzanne Waddell, marketing manager at Emo Oil, said: “It’s shocking to see just how easily Britons are tempted to switch on the heating for instant satisfaction during summer. Although there’s no guarantee of warm weather during the Great British summer, there are alternatives to turning the central heating on and it’s great to see some Britons getting creative when it comes to keeping snug. “The research shows a picture of who in the UK is quickest to hit the thermostat for a blast of welcoming warmth, with a north south divide quite apparent – those further down south seem to hold their nerve a little longer, however seem to enjoy marginally higher overall temperatures, although Mancunians are an exception to that rule.” Research revealed women were more likely to switch on the central heating, doing so 24 times on average during the summer months, while men did so just 12 times. Those in Durham (42%) were most likely to turn on their central heating, followed by Carlise (39%), while those in Bristol (24%) resorted to central heating help, followed by Manchester (28%). Image courtesy of Shutterstock/vchal Source link
29 September 2016 | Jamie Harris Sodexo has secured a £90 million, five-year extension to its contract at Queen’s Hospital in Romford, Essex. The service provider has been working with the hospital, which is operated by Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT), for the last 10 years. Under the terms of the new deal, Sodexo is to continue its provision of soft services, including patient dining, portering, waste management, cleaning, retail, reception, security, estates management and grounds maintenance. The new contract will also see Sodexo introduce a number of improvements to its services, which it says will focus on “enhancing patient experience” and help to release clinical time to care for patients. It is introducing a range of steam-cooked meals, which it says will offer freshness and speed of service. Sodexo is also running a programme to replace all curtains with antimicrobial, disposable alternatives which are designed to help control the spread of disease. Simon Mills, director of estates at BHRUT, said: “Delivering the highest quality of care possible to our patients is what we’re always working towards, so it’s been great to see some of the improvements Sodexo have made recently. These things can really make a difference and give our patients a better experience of staying in our hospital.” Sodexo is also currently in the second year of a five-year FM contract at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, where it is providing cleaning, portering, retail and private patient services across its five hospitals in London: Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea Hospital, Hammersmith Hospital, Charing Cross Hospital, St Mary’s Hospital and the Western Eye Hospital. Source link
It has recently been announced that Land Securities has signed a number of key deals to make progress with the Ebbsfleet Garden City development. Exchanging contracts with Taylor Wimpey with regard to the selling of 539 housing plots at one of the three villages forming part of Eastern Quarry section of the garden city development – most specifically, these plots being at Castle Hill. The deal then brings the total number of homes committed for the development up to a total of 1,500. It is hoped that, once finished, the village at Castle Hill will offer 1,500 much-needed residential homes as well as ample public space, primary school and community facilities, and also a neighbourhood centre. In fact, planning permission has also been grated for the primary school itself, which will then see the Leigh Academies Trust handling the operation of the facility – predictions are that the school will open its doors for 2017’s academic year, with the contract tenders process already begun to best facilitate this. It has also been reported that Land Securities has made an agreement for the sale of land within the Eastern Quarry for two additional villages, which are noted to have a total capacity of playing host to circa 4,700 residential homes. Of the remaining site, Land Securities will retain some 16 hectares across the western side of the site, which is then predicted to see use for complementary retail and leisure space, as well as assets to generate employment opportunities for residents. The sale of the land will see ownership passing from Land Securities to Henley Camland, but is also provided on the conditional note of accomplishing revisions to the pre-existing planning consent, which both organisations have stated they will work together to accomplish. It is hoped that this revision will take the project one step closer to the overarching target of bringing 15,000 homes with the Ebbsfleet Garden City.
When compared to the first quarter of 2015, it has been highlighted in the latest batch of figures (provided by Registers of Scotland) that sales for residential properties has seen an increase of 18.2% within this year’s first quarter. This also comes as average residential property prices has also reportedly dropped by 8.4%, with the now-average price for a property sitting at £159,198. Despite the drop in price, the sheer number and value of sales did indeed show considerable growth within the quarter, with the number of sales (19,802) being the largest reported number since 2007-2008, whilst the value of the sales showed an increase of 8.3% from the previous year – this totalling in at a notable value of £3.15bn. This also being highlighted as an extension of sustained growth in property sales, the news does come with a positive edge to it, perhaps suggesting the potential for further sustained growth in the new financial year. Of course, as for the drop in pricing, it is key to note that the figures from last year did indeed involve a considerable spike in the pricing of residential properties, thus bringing a degree of uncertainty as to whether the reported drop in price is due to a continued trend for depreciation or more the resettling of the market after the spike. Additionally, the rise in sales could also then be attributed partly to the drop in pricing, yet, only time will tell on both notes as we see the market stabilise. Good to see is the fact that all property archetypes did indeed see an increase in sales volumes this time, highlighting that the results are not limited to high-value properties alone. In fact, flats were reported to see the largest increase in sales, with a reported value of 24.2% – a clear spike in demand.
The Heating & Hotwater Industry Council has most recently stated the reformed Renewable Heat Incentive scheme to be “flawed”, warning that it will be unable to deliver any meaningful impact on the delivery of renewable heat – a concerning notion, giving the scheme’s very goal. As such, the Heating & Hotwater Industry Council has outlined a number of changes it both recommends, and would like to see changed if the Renewable Heat Incentive is to bring about positive change; the most prominent notion being that the scheme needs a far more clear focus, as well as a change in the a targeting of funding so as best to provide improvement. Highlighting that the scheme should target funding towards homes actually able to have a renewable heating system, as well as also being one with a presently carbon-intensive heating system, Director of the Heating & Hotwater Industry Council, Stewart Clements nods towards the importance of a proper incentive scheme to achieve goals, and does indeed reiterate the organisation’s commitment towards decarbonising heat; the concerns primarily revolving around the how and where this can be done. On this very note, Stewart Clements stated: “We are legally committed to achieving our 2020 renewable targets with the RHI the flagship policy for helping to decarbonise heat. Unfortunately, as it stands the RHI will simply not deliver.” Of those further changes highlighted by the Hotwater Industry Council, the three most notable are its encouragement for: the broadening of the spread of technology available within the scheme (perhaps seeing the biopropane and gas-absorption heat pumps to be included), the keeping of solar thermal within the scheme as a way of improving heat pump efficiencies, and also further support in the development of the wider heat pump market. In agreement, the Energy & Utilities Alliance also agrees on the note that the Renewable Heat Incentive is fundamentally flawed and will be unable to deliver upon the results required.
Developing in line with rising property prices, it has now been highlighted in the Generation Rent Report that around one third of UK youths expect to still be paying off mortgages when they’re over 60, and around half then drawing concerns as to how they will then be able to afford making mortgage repayments once they have entered into retirement. Despite the rise in prices and associated mortgage implications, demand for housing still remains high, with people, no matter how difficult it may now be, seemingly still determined to own their own home. Of course, when considering woes as to the ability of youths to afford residential property, this brings with it concerns as to how both the individual can garner personal housing if their capacity to repay a mortgage is questionable. One way in which people may be looking to overcome this is through continued work. Though not a favourable option for most, some 34% of people predict that they will be working beyond retirement so that they can pay off their mortgage, with 44% people drawing up concerns that they would not be able to do so if in retirement. Additionally, 51% of individuals have laid out concerns as to how paying for a mortgage may hinder the capacity to save up for retirement. As for how property can be made more affordable, or justifiable, around 49% of individuals regard having a partner as one of the key measures for judging the affordability of owning their own home, whilst 34% agree with the extending of a mortgage beyond 25 years to be one of the key ways to make the investment more affordable. Despite all these concerns, however, it has been reported that the quantity of first time buyers has increased considerably over the past few years, as some 300,000 individuals made their leap into the property market over the course of 2015.
Tying in with the national surge in the take-up of office space, it has been highlighted by Savills that the Cambridge city centre has also seen a considerable increase in the amount of takeup over the last half year – this seen through the culmination of a number of smaller, 10,000 square foot space deals. When looking to where Savills attributes this increase, the firm highlights the increased recognition seen from “technology” occupiers in the positive consequences of a central business district location; these locations then offering improved accessibility to local amenities, as well as transport links and further convenient facilities, such as for for cycling. In fact, it has been reported that the take-up from “technology” occupiers actually managed to outgrow that of incubator space, specifically within key areas of interest for technology firms, such as innovation and business parks, with technology firms looking to grow their business into more centralised space. This sees a number of scientific and technology-led organisations such as Malin Life Sciences, Raspberry Pi, Microsoft, Astra Zeneca and Apple now with central business locations. As demand has risen for space, so too has the supply of Grade A space dropped, with the market struggling to keep up with the demand. This has led to surges in rents for Cambridge (amongst other locations) as interested parties fight for the space still available. In fact, the rents reported for prime business parks hit £30 per square foot in certain areas of Cambridge, serving as a figure not too distant from the ever-high city-centre rents which now sit at around £35 per square foot. Of course, with the recovering economy in hand, it has been seen that occupiers are now slightly less concerned with the price of premises, and instead more focused on finding the best possible space, with the best location.
It has recently been announced that Kier has been chosen to deliver upon a new £53.5m scheme for student accommodation on behalf of the University of Northampton, and to serve as part of the university’s brand new, £330m waterside campus. Aiming to offer some 1,166 bedrooms for student use, the development will see a mixture of both four and five storey structures, comprising of both townhouses and flats for the majority of the accommodation, then also offering a 32-bedroom teaching hotel, ancillary and commercial space to provide yet further opportunity. It is expected that the development will begin the construction phase further into the year, with the project hoped to be completed in time for 2017’s academic year – naturally, it is hoped that the residences will be filled by students for the year, and so the speedy development of the project is a must to achieve this. The scheme comes to follow on from a number of projects which Kier has already undertaken with the University of Northampton, with the firm already having developed the university’s innovation centre (£7.2m), as well as the St John’s Halls of Residence project (£17.6m), which has already seen the addition of some 468 bedrooms for students to the location. Additionally, the scheme also follows on Kier’s well-founded experience in the provision of schemes for student accommodation, with the firm presently developing greater than 700 bedrooms for students in projects across the width and breadth of the UK. Additionally, the company has also recently seen the completion of the London Gateway project on behalf of the University of Lincoln, also then providing considerable bedroom space for students – 519 in total. Kier’s Managing Director, Mark Dady provided comment, then saying: “Being awarded this scheme is testament to the relationship we’ve built with the university over the past few years and we’re pleased to see this continue.”
