Running a business from your own premises can be costly, not only in terms of regular outgoing bills but also to pay external contractors to come in and conduct work, whether that is to redecorate the office or to get on the roof and clear the gutters. Whatever work is
Futureal Group residential subsidiary Cordia took over the development of the Sasad Resort project from GTC in the exclusive Buda hillside area of the Hungarian capital. Cordia will develop 850 homes in Budapest after buying the plots next to the already completed 3 phases of the project. The development of
When David and Carol Simpson decided to move back to Devon to reconnect with their roots, little did they realise they would need to embark on their second self-build project in 20 years. The Simpsons were not new to self-building – they completed their last project in Marlow – a
The LLDC has recently allowed Lyndon Goods Architecture (LGA) to begin work on a new site that will feature in the center of the capital’s bustling Hackney Wick environment. Drawn from the fish art that is such a star of Fish Island in Hackney Wick, the new building structure is
When was the last time that you saw a film which featured a builder as the hero? No. I myself can’t remember either. But Ken Loach’s “Riff-Raff” is probably the work that jumps to mind immediately. Set in and around a building site in Sheffield, the film excellently portrays in
Running a business from your own premises can be costly, not only in terms of regular outgoing bills but also to pay external contractors to come in and conduct work, whether that is to redecorate the office or to get on the roof and clear the gutters. Whatever work is needed to be completed by contractors you need to make sure your business premises is safe enough to conduct work in, and implementing the following into your workplace is essential. Site Induction for All New Visitors It doesn’t matter how big your premises is you should always do a site induction for any new contractors that have to work on the site, and that will mean explaining to them where the nearest fire exits are, and of course letting them know where the fire assembly point is if there is a fire. There are many other safety explanations to make sure contractors are aware of. Doing a site induction may take time out of your day, but it’s something that needs to be done to ensure the safety of all visitors. Built-in Ladders around the Warehouse A lot of business premises are built around warehouse environments so you need to make sure there are numerous built-in ladders to ensure contractors can get to their place of work safely. Sometimes you may need to get roof access ladders if contractors need to conduct work on the roof, and other times you may need to look at built-in ladder options if there are roofs within the warehouse environment itself. Make Sure Working Areas Are Clean & Tidy Not only will you want to make sure your working environment is clean and tidy for your employees to work more efficiently and safe in, but when you have visitors you will also want to protect them as much as possible. In a warehouse environment, you will find that there is always banding around that can be tripped over, and plenty of other materials that can cause slips and potential injuries. Always make sure your employees keep the working environment clean and tidy as that will protect you if any other contractors come in to conduct work. Abide By Health & Safety Regulations Health & safety regulators are sometimes known to be over the top when it comes to making warehouse environments safe to work in, but following the rules is important for the safety of all employees and external contractors. If you do not follow the rules not only will you be subject to fines, but your employees could succumb to injury. Implementing the above into any warehouse environment is important for your employees and visitors. If you do not implement the above you may find workers get injured and that could be a costly expense to your business, and in some cases, it could mean you lose your business altogether. It might be a costly investment in terms of money and time to make your working environment safe, but it’s a mandatory practice and all business owners should be doing it to protect themselves and everyone working in the area.
Futureal Group residential subsidiary Cordia took over the development of the Sasad Resort project from GTC in the exclusive Buda hillside area of the Hungarian capital. Cordia will develop 850 homes in Budapest after buying the plots next to the already completed 3 phases of the project. The development of Sasad Resort was originally started by GTC Hungary. Cordia will now invest approximately EUR 140 million in continuing the development, including the purchase of the plots. Besides the homes, plans also include a unique 8,000 sqm private leisure park and an office building. The project, which is the company’s next milestone development after the award-winning, outstanding Corvin Promenade, will be completed in 6 phases by 2021. “Sasad Resort is an important part of Cordia’s massive development roll-out, which will see the completion of over 1000 new apartments per year in Budapest. During the project, we will cooperate with over 100 subcontractors, creating hundreds of new jobs. The residential buildings will be designed by highly acclaimed KÖZTI Architects & Engineers and 4D Architect Studio – KÖZTI also worked on the previous phases,” said Mr. Gábor Futó, president and founder of Futureal Group. “As GTC is no longer involved with residential development projects we are delighted that the continuation of further development phases of Sasad Resort are in the good hands of Cordia, who we know are offering high quality product,” said Mr. Robert Snow, CEO of GTC Hungary. Thanks to its unique location and concept, Sasad Resort is one of the most popular residential parks in Budapest. During the upcoming phase of the construction, Cordia maintains the generously spaced building layout of the existing complex with an enhanced, family friendly manner and a design by the latest architectural trends. Of the 70,000 sqm site, 50,000 sqm will be developed into common-use green area, and plans call for an additional 8,000 sqm private leisure park for the exclusive use of Sasad Resort residents. This is a unique idea in the Hungarian market, offering various facilities for a wide range of age groups including several playgrounds, social areas and sport fields. Sasad Resort enjoys ready access to downtown Budapest, as well as to Western Hungary or even Vienna. A variety of hypermarkets and other stores are also within reach in just a few minutes’ drive.
When David and Carol Simpson decided to move back to Devon to reconnect with their roots, little did they realise they would need to embark on their second self-build project in 20 years. The Simpsons were not new to self-building – they completed their last project in Marlow – a mock Tudor dwelling – more than 20 years ago and were not really looking to build from the ground up again. However, after only a few months of living in their two-bedroomed Devon bungalow, they discovered that the layout simply did not work for them and extending was not going to resolve the main issue which was the windows. They were not positioned in a way that enabled David and Carol to enjoy the fabulous panoramic views of the coast. So the couple sketched out a plan of the type of ‘future proof’ house they wanted and took it to a self-build show. There they met representatives from Hanse Haus, builders of pre-manufactured, energy efficient houses. The Simpsons were keen for a quick turnaround, so hired the German house builder to fully project manage the scheme. Their sketches were turned into architectural plans on the basis of which, planning permission was received. Work began on demolishing the bungalow and digging in of new footings for the concrete blockwork. With all the hard work that was going to be involved, both David, 69, and Carol, 67 were adamant that they didn’t want to move again. Therefore it was imperative for them to ‘future proof’ their new home, and installing a domestic lift was the perfect way achieve this. Additionally, the plan was for Carol’s elderly mother who is in her nineties, to move in once the build was complete. Adding a home lift had obvious benefits for her too. Although Carol’s mother did not use a wheelchair the Simpson’s decided on a Stiltz Duo Lift as part of their future proofing. The lift, which is a great alternative to a stairlift, travels on a unique dual rail system and worked perfectly with the couple’s original sketched ideas. Additionally, the domestic lift has an integrated drive system and simply plugs straight into the wall, using a normal 13 amp power socket so there was no need to worry about making space for a separate machine room. To compliment the streamlined and modern interior, the Simpsons installed their Stiltz Lift, which are also available in the USA – the company also recently launched a new Lifton brand – behind contemporary wooden doors in the hallway and upstairs on the landing to match the doors throughout the rest of the house. Mr Simpson said: “We decided, even before we started our initial drawings, that we wanted a home lift for two reasons. The first was to ‘future proof’ our home for when we eventually get too old to use the stairs properly and secondly for Carol’s elderly mother. “We came across Stiltz online and they provided us with a floor template so we knew exactly how much space we needed for the lift. This made it easy for us to include the lift in the sketches and plans which we handed over to Hanse Haus. “We did consider a stairlift but our stairs bend halfway up. Stairlifts also take up a lot of space in the stairwell and are a bit of an eyesore, so we are very happy with our decision. It sits behind a door in the hall and goes up to the first floor landing just perfectly.”
The LLDC has recently allowed Lyndon Goods Architecture (LGA) to begin work on a new site that will feature in the center of the capital’s bustling Hackney Wick environment. Drawn from the fish art that is such a star of Fish Island in Hackney Wick, the new building structure is set to include a grand total of 580 new habitations. A number of designers have affiliated themselves with the project that include Haworth Tompkins as well as Pitman Tozer, with inspirations from all kinds of other buildings in the Hackney Wick area including of course those on Fish Island. Having been in implementation since the end of December in 2016, the designing period to allow Block A of the structure to be built is well under way now and will be able to contain five storeys of building. It will contain 16 apartments of room numbers ranging between 1 and 3, and will also have the space for a restaurant as well as a café-bar area to be installed upon the premises. This is excellent news for the developers who have styled the outside of the façade to resemble a gritty urban outside that is a feature of the buildings and artwork of Fish Island. Structured and patterned from a material look known as herringbone, the new building development is set to be the pride and joy of the Hackney Wick area. Indeed, LGA Director Mister Simon Goode has announced that he is very pleased that the building will be able to act as a testament to the inspired and unusual artwork that is a feature of the area and is pleased that through this the structure will be able to blend in well with the surrounding environment. It is clear that the work of those on Fish Island Village will be paid homage as it should be by Lyndon Goods Architecture.
When was the last time that you saw a film which featured a builder as the hero? No. I myself can’t remember either. But Ken Loach’s “Riff-Raff” is probably the work that jumps to mind immediately. Set in and around a building site in Sheffield, the film excellently portrays in a gritty and honest way the toils and tribulations of a group of working-class men on a site. It is refreshing to see attention being given to workers in such a film, as well as the fact that many of the workers portrayed were and probably still are themselves on-site workers. This gives the film even greater accuracy, and helps one to think that stars Robert Carlyle and Ricky Tomlinson can also lift their weight worth and get stuck in with the kind of manual labour that perhaps a different set of actors (such as Eddie Redmayne or Ben Affleck) would pull a face and run away from as fast as they could. Indeed, it is a shame that films like “Riff-Raff” are made less and less these days, although Ken Loach remains one of the most talented and prolific portrayers of working-class life on the big screen. The film also has numerous parallels and bears a more than passing resemblance to the great novel “The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists,” a book which Tomlinson apparently cherishes. The building and construction industry is important to the film as well as it establishes the health and safety concerns as well as the protection of workers’ pay that trade unions help to implement as much as they can. All in all, it is hoped that the next few years will see greater amounts of portrayals of workers in the building design and construction industry so that the public can see the fantastic work that they do. The likelihood of this happening however is not very likely.