The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and AHR have announced Boon Yik Chung as the 2016/17 winner of the RIBA AHR Stephen Williams Scholarship. Boon Yik Chung completed his Part 1 at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL and was awarded the RIBA President’s Bronze Medal in December 2015.
With the completion of a green energy generating hydro screw in Sonning, Berkshire, Pridewater Estates Ltd will become the UK’s first completely carbon neutral marina and caravan site organisation. Pridewater Estates Ltd owns and operates four canal marinas and caravan sites which are spread across the UK from near to
he construction division of The Premier Group, a national specialist in construction and maintenance work, has completed works on two new Asda filling stations in South Wales, which are now open for business. The new petrol filling stations, based in Llanelli and Tonypandy, were additionally awarded to The Premier Group
Nottingham-based, national commercial interiors specialist, Paragon Interiors Group Plc (Paragon), has welcomed a new CEO, Gary Perry, as it pursues the next step in its growth strategy. Last month, Paragon announced the opening of a new Birmingham office in line with its strategy of creating exceptional client relationships through local presence.
Nuffield Health Newcastle Hospital has announced it is launching a private GP service, providing doctors’ consultations to those who may struggle to access regular GP appointments. The service will be available to anyone and accessed on a pay-as-you-go basis, with appointments available at evenings and weekends, as well as during
Story Contracting new chief executive Jason Butterworth has set out plans to expand the North of England construction group after joining the business from Balfour at the end of last year. The former Balfour Beatty engineering services Midlands and Northern director plans to recruit over 100 extra staff in the
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and AHR have announced Boon Yik Chung as the 2016/17 winner of the RIBA AHR Stephen Williams Scholarship. Boon Yik Chung completed his Part 1 at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL and was awarded the RIBA President’s Bronze Medal in December 2015. He is currently working at muf architecture/art LLP and will be starting his MArch (RIBA Part 2) in September 2016, continuing at the Bartlett School of Architecture. The scholarship will offer Boon personal academic mentoring by a member of staff at AHR and a £5,000 grant towards his studies. The judges were also impressed by the work of Emily Priest, Architectural Association, and AHR generously awarded her an additional £1,000 as a commendation prize. Director of AHR, Brian Johnson said: “With a record number of entries and increasingly higher standards of submissions this year the judges faced a real challenge in selecting an overall winner. This year’s successful applicant, Boon is a worthy recipient of the Stephen Williams RIBA AHR Stephen Williams Award and AHR are delighted to be able support him in his continuing education with this scholarship. Emily’s commendation recognises her talent and once again AHR are delighted to support her to realise her ambitions to enter the profession.” RIBA President Jane Duncan said: “Boon is clearly an exceptional student, and I am delighted that we have been able to award him the RIBA AHR Stephen Williams Scholarship to support his Part 2 studies. The standard of entries was outstanding, and I would like to thank AHR for recognising this and awarding a supplementary commendation.” The judging panel consisted of from Laura Collins (Arcadis LLP and previous recipient of the scholarship), Jane Duncan (RIBA President), Brian Johnson (Director, AHR), David Simister (Creative Director, AHR) and Tony Watson (Education Trust Funds Committee). ENDS Notes to editors: 1. For further press information contact Callum Reilly in the RIBA Press Office: 020 7307 3757 callum.reilly@riba.org 2. To download images of Boon Yik Chung and Emily Priest along with their portfolio images visit: https://riba.box.com/s/rv22o8ojkswl6lg3oxqc59z29w1xdqno 3. The Scholarship was established in 2008 and is offered in memory of Stephen Williams, a past Director of Aedas (since renamed as AHR). http://www.architecture.com/ahrscholarship 4. Since 2008, the scholarship has been awarded to Laura Collins (University of Sheffield, 2009/10), Henry Fisher (University of Bath 2010/11), Joseph Deane (Royal College of Art 2011/12), Kerry Watton (Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art, 2012/13), Mick Scott (Oxford Brookes University 2013/14), Chloe Anderson (London Metropolitan University 2014/15), and Jonathan Connerney (Queen’s University Belfast 2015/16). 5. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a global professional membership body that serves its members and society in order to deliver better buildings and places, stronger communities and a sustainable environment. Visit www.architecture.com and follow us on Twitter @RIBA 6. AHR has a long-standing reputation for award-winning design and the creation of innovative places and environments. AHR is one of the UK’s most established architecture and building consultancy practices, with experience dating back to 1835. Today AHR has evolved into an international business encompassing 450 staff in 13 offices. The practice is currently working on a new headquarters for Blackpool Council, two major retail projects in Pakistan and a series of schools under the government’s Priority Schools Building Programme. Earlier this year AHR completed Heathrow Terminal 2 MSCP, and in 2013 completed the multi award-winning Al Bahr Towers in Abu Dhabi. www.ahr-global.com@ahrglobal Posted on Friday 15th July 2016 Source link
With the completion of a green energy generating hydro screw in Sonning, Berkshire, Pridewater Estates Ltd will become the UK’s first completely carbon neutral marina and caravan site organisation. Pridewater Estates Ltd owns and operates four canal marinas and caravan sites which are spread across the UK from near to Leighton Buzzard in the south, to New Mills in Derbyshire’s High Peak, with another near Lichfield, and one on the outskirts of Tamworth. The combined berthing capability of these marinas sits currently at over 300 boats and such facilities has meant the energy required to run all four marinas each year was significant – an output to the environment which Pridewater Estates has always worked to minimise. Ever aware of their carbon footprint, Pridewater Estates already make use of solar panels where possible at their marina locations however were looking to see how far they could go to cancel out their environmental impact completely. The answer came in the form of a highly efficient hydroelectric scheme – an Archimedes screw. An Archimedes screw is an energy generator which works by water falling naturally over a cascade, rotating the screw, which moves a turbine and generates electricity. While not feasible to install a hydro screw at each marina location, the idea came to build one screw which would produce enough energy to not only offset all four marinas at once but also provide a surplus which could be fed back into the National Grid. To this end, Pridewater Estates acquired a site to construct the green energy hydro screw in the beautiful Thames-side town of Sonning, Berkshire. The design and build was conducted by experienced civil engineering contractors Greenford Ltd who have been responsible for several other notable Archimedes screw projects including Blenheim Palace and the listed Mapledurham Watermill. THE STATS; The Sonning hydro site houses a 99kw generator driven by a 25 tonne Archimedes screw The screw is 4.2 metres in diameter, with a flow rate of 8,000 litres per second – sufficient to fill approximately 275 Olympic sized swimming pools every day! This site now has the capacity to generate enough power to supply approx. 2,000kwh every 24 hours – this is equivalent to offsetting approximately 150 average sized UK houses a year* The screw is set to produce approximately 730,000kwh per year – almost double the 440,000kwh per annum used by all four Pridewater Estate marina and caravan sites combined! The site also provides other ecological benefits including a fish pass which allows the continued safe passage of fish and other native fauna Robert Hutton, co-owner of Pridewater Estates Ltd, said, “Reviewing the ever increasing electricity running costs at our four marinas, coupled with an unexpected opportunity to acquire a suitable site on the Thames, led us to the decision to make this significant investment. We believe Pridewater Estates will be the first carbon neutral canal marina and caravan site operator in Great Britain and we will be able to play our own small part in tackling global warming and promoting green solutions to power generation. Thrilled to be an industry sustainability pioneer Another benefit of this initiative is to be able to provide marina and caravan sites for our customers to enjoy knowing we are a part of Britain’s incredible environmental landscape while minimising the mark made on it. Pridewater Estates are thrilled to be an industry sustainability pioneer and to operate 100% carbon neutral marinas.” To find out more about this green energy sustainability initiative and to view their marina locations please visit the Pridewater Estates Ltd website www.canalmarinas.com
he construction division of The Premier Group, a national specialist in construction and maintenance work, has completed works on two new Asda filling stations in South Wales, which are now open for business. The new petrol filling stations, based in Llanelli and Tonypandy, were additionally awarded to The Premier Group as part of the Asda Framework in 2016. The Asda Llanelli and Tonypandy sites will mark the second and third projects that The Premier Group has completed for the supermarket giant. The scope of the works completed at the Asda Llanelli site included a fully automated petrol filling station in the area of an existing car park, comprising of 4 x 4 pumps with two 75,000 litre fuel storage tanks, decorative landscaping works, a car park and road entrance works. The Asda Tonypandy site saw The Premier Group undertake the construction of a fully automated petrol filling station in the area of an existing car park, comprising of 3 x 4 pumps with two 75,000 litre fuel storage tanks, a car park and road entrance works. The Premier Group provided a number of different services to Asda during these two projects and was heavily involved in the pre-construction phase at the Llanelli and Tonypandy sites. The Premier Group is a leading UK independent fuel engineering company that operates as three main divisions: construction, installation and servicing. In addition to Asda, The Premier Group works with many major national brands. The company has also completed projects for Esso, Shell, BP, MRH, Rontec and Tesco. Collaborating with Asda has enabled us to enhance The Premier Group’s reputation of working with major supermarket chains. Steve Evans, managing director of the construction division of The Premier Group, said: “We are really pleased to be handing over these two new sites. Collaborating with Asda has enabled us to enhance The Premier Group’s reputation of working with major supermarket chains to provide specialist construction and branding work. As this project was for new sites, we were able to showcase our ability to solve problems, offering improvements for the client while maintaining the highest standards of health and safety. “Being based in Swansea, these projects were close to home for us and we are proud to have delivered our services to these local sites. This will help us to build upon our portfolio of construction works carried out in the South Wales region.”
Nottingham-based, national commercial interiors specialist, Paragon Interiors Group Plc (Paragon), has welcomed a new CEO, Gary Perry, as it pursues the next step in its growth strategy. Last month, Paragon announced the opening of a new Birmingham office in line with its strategy of creating exceptional client relationships through local presence. Now, Paragon Interiors founder and Chairman Alan Hardy has appointed Mr Perry, who has been at the heart of the significant growth of CBRE’s Global Workplace Solutions business, to help drive the business forward. Gary has previously worked globally for Shell and Satchwell, developing their global energy business, whilst gaining an MBA in Services Management. At Norland Managed Services, Gary was an integral part of the leadership team that grew that business from £40m to £400m prior to selling it to CBRE in 2013. Paragon Interiors is in a major phase of growth of its own, with a 14% rise in new employees in November 2016 alone, driven by Paragon’s consistent growth in its core office fit-out market but also a significant growth in its retail and educational divisions. That growth is forecast to continue at a rate of 25% a year, with Paragon on track for £70m turnover in 2017 and to meet their “2020 vision” of £100m turnover by 2020. Paragon Interiors chairman, Alan Hardy, explains the factors behind the firm’s growth and Gary’s appointment: “We are on track for major and consistent growth but we cannot be complacent about this. I want to ensure that we reach our full potential and by bringing in Gary, we can do just that. He is driven by customer focus and service and has huge experience in harnessing the potential of growing businesses and their people. “My firm belief is that a business that has a strong culture, vision & value set, all fully aligned, is a business that produces strong growth, employment opportunities and rewarding financial benefits. Gary shares that philosophy and I cannot wait to start working with him in 2017.” Paragon’s focus of delivering client value has been recognised recently in an independent report into the UK Fit-out sector by respected analysts Plimsoll, with Paragon named as joint 1st UK Trading Partner. Delivering exceptional projects through exceptional people. Gary is very clear on his vision; “We are on a mission to be regarded as the pre-eminent workplace solutions company in the UK, delivering exceptional projects through exceptional people. To do that we are creating a culture where everyone feels empowered to take ownership and make decisions around the issues they face. When I came up to Nottingham to meet the team it was clear that we have an inspired group of committed people that are highly focussed on delivering the right solutions for our customers. “What Alan and the team have done here is fantastic, rising from a local fit-out firm to a national design and build practice with an international client list. We have an industry leading design team and a commitment to adding value to our clients’ property portfolios and businesses throughout the whole of their facilities life cycle. I am excited to be taking on this challenge to lead Paragon as we take the next step in our growth story. “Even as we build our Birmingham presence, we have just put the finishing touches to our extension at our Nottingham HQ. The primary purpose of the extension is to act as a hub for our customers. That focus and a drive to be ‘best in class’ will continue to drive everything we do as we ramp up our activities across all of our sectors”.
Nuffield Health Newcastle Hospital has announced it is launching a private GP service, providing doctors’ consultations to those who may struggle to access regular GP appointments. The service will be available to anyone and accessed on a pay-as-you-go basis, with appointments available at evenings and weekends, as well as during the week. It is thought the private appointments will prove popular with those working and living in and around Newcastle who may struggle to access other medical services at short notice, or find it hard to fit appointments around work. Nuffield Health GP Liaison Manager Beth Brook said: “We know from talking to patients at the hospital that many struggle to access their regular GP and were looking for a flexible service which they could fit around their busy lives. “The NHS provides a fantastic service but we know that there can be long waiting times and appointments have to be kept fairly short due to pressures on resources. Our new service will provide an alternative for those who don’t want to wait to see their regular GP or who want an appointment outside of normal practice hours. “Our appointments will also be longer than average GP appointments – around 30 minutes – meaning they are perfect for patients looking for a more extensive consultation or who have a number of issues they wish to discuss at once. “We know that life is busy and we see this new service as complimenting existing NHS provision by offering an alternative for those patients who may otherwise put off seeing a doctor, or have to take time off work to do so.” There will initially be three GPs providing appointments at Nuffield Health Newcastle Hospital, with others expected to join as the service grows. An advantage of the service being based within the hospital is that any investigations needed, such as blood tests or x-rays, can also be carried out at the time of the GP consultation, or the following day. It also means referrals to other specialists within the hospital can be done more quickly. Read more here
Story Contracting new chief executive Jason Butterworth has set out plans to expand the North of England construction group after joining the business from Balfour at the end of last year. The former Balfour Beatty engineering services Midlands and Northern director plans to recruit over 100 extra staff in the next 12 months as the group expands its four operations covering plant hire, construction, rail and house building by 30% this year. Profits have grown by 73% in the last three years and Butterworth aims to raise turnover to more than £120m for 2016/2017 In November, Butterworth replaced Fred Story, the founder and owner of Story Contracting who now has taken the role of chairman. Butterworth brings over 15 years’ experience in the rail industry having also worked in the past for Carillion, WSP, McNicholas and N G Bailey. He said: “The business is at an exciting stage of its development and due to celebrate 30th years in business this year. I am looking forward to working closely with Fred to make our shared ambitions for the business become a reality.” The contracting business extended its Carlisle headquarters at the end of 2016 to accommodate the recruitment of 100 new people during the course of the next twelve months. Story Contracting, which employs over 500 staff, is also planning on merging its two offices in Scotland’s Central Belt to provide a combined depot and office base for its rail and plant teams. Read more here.
