Browser does not support script. Nine East Midlands buildings have won RIBA East Midlands Awards from the Royal Institute of British Architects, which were announced at a prestigious awards ceremony held at Nottingham Contemporary this evening (Wednesday 27 April 2016), in recognition of their architectural excellence. The event was hosted
The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) is calling for construction companies and clients to do more to eradicate cruel and unfair labour practices, wherever they occur. The CIOB says that clients and tier one organisations can no longer turn a blind eye to what goes on down the supply chain.
Ahead of speaking at an exclusive breakfast seminar at the Construction News Developer Forum on 9 June 2016, Victoria Hills will take part in a Twitter question and answer session. Get involved in our Twitter Q&A! Victoria Hills chief executive Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation 3 Submit your
Slips, trips and falls are the biggest cause of unintentional injury in the world today. This 2 day international conference will share the latest research and ideas to help develop solutions to reduce the incidence and impact of this ongoing problem. Slips, trips and falls on the level, stair falls
dhf (Door & Hardware Federation) has announced it will soon welcome a new member to its training team. Mike Lee will join the organisation as a full-time trainer at the beginning of July. Mike, who has extensive experience in the installation and maintenance of automatic gates, will deliver safety courses
The Conveyancing Market Tracker for Quarter one of 2017 has been released. The results for the tracker has shown that the conveyancing market has stayed static, with only minor improvements when compared to Quarter four of last year. The research was put together for the Market Tracker by Search Acumen.
Fusion Building Systems has successfully passed its transfer assessments to the ISO9001 and ISO14001 2015 revisions without incurring any non-conformance remarks, making them a top quality company to work with. The ISO standards specifically for quality management and environmental systems are key to Fusion’s work in the offsite construction industry,
The Glass and Glazing Federation have been celebrating their 40th anniversary by commissioning and installing a historic timeline. This timeline will be located at the Federation Head Offices which are in Southwark in London. The GGF have been carrying out a marketing plan in order to recognise their 40th anniversary,
Simian Skill are working in collaboration with Tough Scaff to create a Construction Industry Scaffolders Record Scheme, or CISRS and an Overseas Scaffolder Training Scheme, or OSTS training centre. This training centre that has been formed through the partnership of the two companies is located in Chennai, Southern India. The
The most influential people in international architecture have been announced as a new Super Jury. This new Jury, will be who decides the award winners at the tenth World Architecture Festival. The Festival is being held this year in the Arena Berlin, Germany between the 15th and the 17th November
Browser does not support script. Nine East Midlands buildings have won RIBA East Midlands Awards from the Royal Institute of British Architects, which were announced at a prestigious awards ceremony held at Nottingham Contemporary this evening (Wednesday 27 April 2016), in recognition of their architectural excellence. The event was hosted by BBC East Midlands TV presenter Marie Ashby and guest of honour will be RIBA President Jane Duncan. The winning buildings are: Contour House, Derbyshire by Sanei Hopkins Architects Derby Arena by FaulknerBrowns Architects Garden Buildings, Warmington, Northamptonshire by Ashworth Parkes Architects Heart of Campus, Nottingham Trent University by Evans Vettori Architects Leicester Print Workshop by Takero Shimazaki Architects Lincoln Castle Revealed by Arrol & Snell Nottingham One by Levitate Private house, Northamptonshire by James Gorst Architects The Portland Collection, Welbeck Estate, Worksop by Hugh Broughton Architects Regional Jury Chair Lucy Plumridge said of this year’s Award-winners: “The large number of schemes shortlisted for the 2016 RIBA East Midlands Awards reflects the calibre of the entries and the range of inspirational projects being developed in this region. The quality and attention to detail exhibited by the winning schemes was outstanding. Recurrent themes were innovation in the approach, the close working relationship between client and architect to bring the projects to life, and the embedded sustainability in the designs. Every scheme suited its end users perfectly, creating a sense of place and an aspirational environment.” Further Special Awards are awarded to: The Portland Collection – RIBA East Midlands Sustainability Award, sponsored by SIKA The Portland Collection – RIBA East Midlands Conservation Award, sponsored by Nottingham Trent University Leicester Print Workshop – RIBA East Midlands Small Project Award Nottingham Trent University for Heart of Campus – RIBA East Midlands Client of the Year; Jennifer Frewen, Takero Shimazaki Architects – RIBA East Midlands Project Architect of the Year, sponsored by Tarmac, for Leicester Print Workshop The Portland Collection – RIBA East Midlands Building of the Year, sponsored by Marley Eternit RIBA East Midlands Award winners will also be considered for a highly-coveted RIBA National Award in recognition of their architectural excellence, which will be announced in June. The shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building of the year will be drawn from the RIBA National Award-winning buildings later in the year. Two RIBA East Midlands Student Awards were also awarded to Sam Letchford (Part 1 prize for 2015), from Nottingham Trent University for ‘Cascina Cultura’ and to Daniel Orford (Part 2 prize for 2015), University of Lincoln for ‘Hedonistic Pleasurescapes’. ENDS Notes to editors: 1. For further press information please contact: Lucy Grierson 07534 178327 lucy.grierson@riba.org 2. RIBA Awards have been running continuously since 1966 and are judged and presented locally. No matter the shape, size, budget or location, RIBA award winning schemes set the standard for great architecture all across the country. 3. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) champions better buildings, communities and the environment through architecture and our members. www.architecture.com Posted on Thursday 28th April 2016 Source link
The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) is calling for construction companies and clients to do more to eradicate cruel and unfair labour practices, wherever they occur. The CIOB says that clients and tier one organisations can no longer turn a blind eye to what goes on down the supply chain. They need to take greater responsibility for their supply chains and not simply take the lowest offer. In particular, priority should be given to tackling illegal recruitment fees. But the industry also needs to accept its complicity with the mistreatment of workers on the other side of the world. All this is set out in a new report from the CIOB, Building a fairer system: tackling modern slavery in construction supply chains, written by Construction Index contributor Emma Crates. The report, produced in consultation with a number of businesses and NGOs, including Amnesty International, Verité, Engineers Against Poverty and the Institute for Human Rights and Business, examines the root causes of slavery, and sets out priority actions for moving the industry towards greater transparency. The International Labour Organization estimates that there are 21 million people in forced labour around the world, generating profits in the private economy of $150 billion. While UK contractors and clients might not think it is a UK problem, it is if products or components being used here contain the embedded blood of slave labour. With its fragmented supply chains, opaque procurement processes and high demand for migrant labour, the construction sector faces a unique set of challenges in tackling human rights abuses, the report says. Building a fairer system examines how workers from developing countries become tricked or coerced into paying illegal and extortionate recruitment fees, and, once in debt, become vulnerable to exploitation in their place of work. Abuses range from forced or bonded labour, late payment, unsanitary living conditions, unfair deductions from wages, withheld passports and loss of freedom of movement, lack of representation, violence, intimidation and physical abuse. The report also examines how faults in the procurement process allow exploitative practices to remain hidden in building materials supply chains. It includes a series of case studies and recommendations from organisations that are working to shift cultural practices and norms: how recruitment firm FSI Worldwide‘s integrated cross-border operations are eradicating illegal recruitment fees the steps that CH2M has taken to implement a new global worker welfare policy Hewlett Packard’s move to direct labour Qatar Rail’s worker welfare strategy Marshalls’ 10-year initiative to protect vulnerable children and migrant workers in stone quarrying communities. Bechtel’s ‘bottom up’ approach to tackle exploitation in metal mining. Building a Fairer System is part of CIOB’s ongoing campaign responding to changing legislation and international protocols. The UK Modern Slavery Act, which came into force in 2015, requires UK organisations with a turnover of more than £36m to report on how they are dealing with human rights issues in their supply chains. Other forces reshaping the industry include the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010, the EU Non Financial Reporting Directive and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2015. In parallel to its new report, CIOB is collaborating with specialist providers on a series of training packages and is preparing an industry toolkit, to be launched later in the year. The CIOB believes that ethical innovation will be a differentiator for businesses and essential for future-proofing brands as well as improving the global reputation of the sector. Anti-Slavery Commissioner Kevin Hyland said: “With the culture of transparency becoming the norm in the era of globalised communication, having and showcasing sustainable and ethical practices is the only way forward and indeed an excellent market opportunity. Companies who opt for a model of secrecy will find they are no longer viable, as NGOs, journalists and consumers are increasingly able to hold them to account. Instead, those who lead the way with transparent, ethical and slavery-free supply chains will become the companies of choice and the new market leaders.” CIOB chief executive Chris Blythe said: “CIOB’s core values are founded on the principles of ethical business behaviour. We are calling on our thousands of members and partners to ask more searching questions of their colleagues, suppliers and clients. Strong leadership is required, as is the willingness to take more responsibility, both individually and at corporate level. “Ethical procurement processes should be embedded into the heart of operations. Organisations need to become proactive, holding subcontractors and suppliers to account through more stringent clauses and penalties. And the eradication of illegal recruitment fees must be our priority. “Our journey towards the eradication of slavery will take decades and demands collective action, as is reflected by the multiple contributors to this report. Professional and private organisations need to come together to solve these complex problems and to make a lasting difference.” CIOB recommendations The report makes a series of recommendations for the construction supply chain: Recommendations for tier one organisations: Map out supply chains and identify areas of highest risk, geographically and by activity. Tackle these areas first Lead policy from the top of an organisation, at CEO and COO level Provide tailored training and education to staff at all levels of the business. Work directly with labour supply agents and/or increase the proportion of directly employed labour on a project Take more responsibility for shifting the culture in lower tiers of the supply chain: provide support and training for SMEs Collaborate with NGOs that can provide support and understanding of the complex challenges of different regions Set long term strategy by following international guidance produced by organisations such as the UN Global Compact, the Ethical Trading Initiative, the Institute for Human Rights and Business, OECD or the International Labour Organization Recommendations for procurement teams and materials producers: Educate procurement teams and improve communication between the professions – designers, engineers and architects and project managers – to ensure that boardroom policy is translated to site and subcontractor levels Embed robust checking procedures that do not default to box ticking
Ahead of speaking at an exclusive breakfast seminar at the Construction News Developer Forum on 9 June 2016, Victoria Hills will take part in a Twitter question and answer session. Get involved in our Twitter Q&A! Victoria Hills chief executive Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation 3 Submit your question now! The Twitter Q&A takes place on Tuesday 19 April 2016 at 1pm. Follow Construction News and Victoria Hills on Twitter to get involved in the session. Ms Hills, the chief executive of Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, sits at the helm of the UK’s largest regeneration project. The scheme will see a Crossrail and HS2 ‘superhub’ developed and more than 25,000 homes built, creating 65,000 job opportunities at the same time. Ms Hills gave CN a no-holds barred interview earlier this year, and this Twitter Q&A will give CN’s digital audience a chance to get the same level of honest insight, direct from the chief exec herself. Submit your question now and join Construction News and Victoria Hills at 1pm on Tuesday 19 April for the Twitter Q&A! Victoria Hills chief executive Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation 2 There’s even more from Ms Hills: she’s appearing at Construction News’ bigger and better 2016 Developer Forum. The Forum packs lots of high profile speakers into one venue, and gives forward thinking construction businesses an unrivalled opportunity to network with and hear from influential clients. Find out more about the CN Developer Forum 2016 and keep an eye on announcements using the #CNDeveloper hashtag on Twitter. CN Developer Forum Victoria Hills is among the expert speakers (see below) lined up for the Construction News Developer Forum on 9 June. The programme will include regional project presentations and Q&A sessions with high-profile developers around procurement and work pipelines. This year’s Forum takes place at the Bloomsbury Hotel in London on 9 June. Get full details of this year’s CN Developer Forum. Roger Madelin, head of Canada Water Development, British Land Bill Hughes, managing director, property, Legal & General Graeme Craig, commercial development director, Transport for London Scott Hammond, managing director, Essential Living Andrew Locke, development director, Native Land David Pringle, director, NOMA, Co-operative Group Phil Wade, director, First Base Philip Barnes, land and planning director, Barratt Developments Grant Brooker, senior executive partner, Foster & Partners Source link
Slips, trips and falls are the biggest cause of unintentional injury in the world today. This 2 day international conference will share the latest research and ideas to help develop solutions to reduce the incidence and impact of this ongoing problem. Slips, trips and falls on the level, stair falls and falls from height will all be addressed and updated with the latest thinking. The Conference Co-Chairs are Steve Thorpe, Chair, United Kingdom Slip Resistance Group and Richard Bowman, Chair, Slips, Trips and Falls Technical Committee, International Ergonomics Association. WHO SHOULD ATTEND? THE EVENT WILL BE OF INTEREST TO RISK AND SAFETY MANAGERS, ARCHITECTS, DESIGNERS, SPECIFIERS AND FACILITIES MANAGERS ACROSS A WIDE RANGE OF SECTORS. Retail Catering Food Leisure Health Clubs Hotels Manufacturing Transport Source link
dhf (Door & Hardware Federation) has announced it will soon welcome a new member to its training team. Mike Lee will join the organisation as a full-time trainer at the beginning of July. Mike, who has extensive experience in the installation and maintenance of automatic gates, will deliver safety courses across the UK and Ireland. He will join a training team of three at the organisation’s head office in Tamworth. The new post has been created as a result of the unprecedented uptake of dhf’s training courses, with more than 1200 individuals having now successfully completed the organisation’s Safety Diploma scheme. dhf pioneered the Safety Diploma scheme in September 2013, with the introduction of training for those responsible for the safety of automated controlled powered gates. At the beginning of 2016, it then expanded its training offering with courses for personnel employed by industrial door companies and garage door companies. The courses, which cover specific elements relevant to the industry, are currently delivered throughout the UK at various locations by the dhf training team. More than 1000 people have now completed the two-day automated gate training course, more than 180 have qualified on the two-day industrial door training course and more than 65 on the one-day garage door training course. A further one-day industrial door training course will be launched later this year. Representing the key players in the industrial/commercial door, garage door and automated gate sectors, dhf says the on-going uptake of its Safety Diploma scheme is a key part in its ambitious plan to continue to significantly raise safety standards. “We look forward to welcoming Mike to the organisation,” says dhf Chief Executive, Bob Perry. “With a vast amount of knowledge in the automated gate industry, he joins a very experienced team. dfh is committed to raising standards through its extensive range of training programmes and the increasing demand for these fully demonstrates our commitment to improving safety. Specifiers, contractors and end users are increasingly recognising that the level of safety, quality and compliance offered by our member companies is reinforced through comprehensive training. There can be no place in our industry for inexpert personnel who supply and install unsafe, illegal products.” For further information on dhf’s training courses, visit www.dhfonline.org.uk/training.aspx
The Conveyancing Market Tracker for Quarter one of 2017 has been released. The results for the tracker has shown that the conveyancing market has stayed static, with only minor improvements when compared to Quarter four of last year. The research was put together for the Market Tracker by Search Acumen. Data has also been taken from the Land Registry which reveals that despite the flat market, there is still a healthy amount of competition in the conveyancing market. Last Year the Conveyancing transactions reached 245,275 in the final three months. From January to March this year, the figures recorded were 245,738. These numbers show that there has been a tiny improvement of 0.2%. These conveyancing levels include a dip in activity which occurred in February 2017. February saw the lowest levels of activity since April 2014. The significant increase in sales at the start of 2016 I the rush to beat the changes to stamp duty changes has also added a bleak tone to the slower market. This slowing of the conveyancing market is illustrative of the slowing taking place across the property market. For the Building and Construction market this could be bad news, with the number of property sales also flat lining. The future is unclear at the moment with the announcement of a snap election, although the property market is staying stable. This stability is good news, property is still selling, there just isn’t an increase in the number of properties that are selling. In the short term, the stable market I better than a shrinking one, but it isn’t a pattern that would be helpful in the long term. It is thought that because of the uncertain economic climate, property transactions are moving on slowly. The addition of the snap election doesn’t help the market. For the conveyancing market, challenger, or middle sized conveyancing firms are starting to outperform larger firms due to their flexibility and efficiency.
Fusion Building Systems has successfully passed its transfer assessments to the ISO9001 and ISO14001 2015 revisions without incurring any non-conformance remarks, making them a top quality company to work with. The ISO standards specifically for quality management and environmental systems are key to Fusion’s work in the offsite construction industry, where developers can be severely penalised for not demonstrating due diligence. Revised in 2015, the new standards require an organisation to demonstrate the use of a continual improvement-based management system, supported by that organisation’s senior personnel. Over the past 18 months, Fusion has done just that – for example, by training many of its employees in the recognised ‘Six Sigma’ techniques and tools for process improvement. And, by re-assigning one of its key personnel Adrienne Clark, from purchasing manager to continual improvement coordinator, making her solely responsible for the operation of Fusion’s Targets to Improve (TTI) system. Under Fusion’s TTI system, each department is required to present ideas for improvement projects and provide justifications which consider financial, health and safety and environmental implications. If ideas are accepted, implementation teams are set up and progress monitored against set targets. This system has proved so effective, it has now become a fundamental and permanent part of Fusion’s operations. Drew O’Mahony, Fusion Building Systems’ head of technical quality, said: “As it states on the ISO website, International Standards make things work. They provide an assurance of quality, services and systems and our business certainly couldn’t have achieved the success it has without these stamps of approval. “We challenge ourselves on a daily basis to improve the way we work, to innovate our products and to find ways of developing new solutions which can help drive the offsite construction industry forward. Having our working practices recognised and approved under the latest revisions of ISO9001 and ISO14001 means as a team we can be satisfied that we’re amongst the best in the industry, and our clients can have peace of mind that we continue to be worthy contractors.” To view the full requirements of these ISO9001:2015 and ISO14001:2015 visit www.iso.org www.fusionbuild.com
The Glass and Glazing Federation have been celebrating their 40th anniversary by commissioning and installing a historic timeline. This timeline will be located at the Federation Head Offices which are in Southwark in London. The GGF have been carrying out a marketing plan in order to recognise their 40th anniversary, and part of these celebrations are the new graphics and branding designed in to the interior of the Federation offices. This interior design has been a vital part of celebrating the heritage of the Federation. Throughout the GGF headquarters, visitors will be able to see the growth of the group and their plans for the futures. It is thought that the installation also works as a tribute to all of the members of the Federation that have helped the company adapt and expand in to the GGF it is today. The timeline installation in the Southwark offices is made from six different graphic panels. Each panel depicts a different section in the Federation’s history. The panels extend up until the most recent accolades for the company, including being awarded with the G16 Derek Bonnard Award for Unrivalled Excellence. Also depicted in the panels is GGF’s move to their new facilities and the availability of meeting spaces for their members. The GGF’s heritage spans back past their recognition as one of the earliest trade membership body to the Guild of Glaziers which was formed in the Pre-medieval era, in London in 1328. The GGF Timeline has also been created on a digital platform. As well as the new installation at the headquarters, in order to celebrate the anniversary, the Federation are having a “Life Begins at 40” party. This party will take place at The FIT Show on the 24th May, with drinks and live entertainment on offer in order to celebrate.
Simian Skill are working in collaboration with Tough Scaff to create a Construction Industry Scaffolders Record Scheme, or CISRS and an Overseas Scaffolder Training Scheme, or OSTS training centre. This training centre that has been formed through the partnership of the two companies is located in Chennai, Southern India. The centre is expected to offer the Level 1 Scaffolder Training for the CISRS certification and a Basic Scaffold Inspection Training Scheme. There is also the option of fulfilling a Scaffolding Supervisor Training at the training centre in Chennai and it is hoped that going forward there is the scope to expand their offerings and establish the right levels of accreditation so that the centre can offer Level 2 and 3 qualifications. The expansion of the training scheme will take place as the level of demand for the courses increases. The training centre has been praised during their Accreditation and it is hoped that the facility will be able to provide the correct level of training by Tough Scaff and Simian Skill in order for the training scheme to be a success. Simian Skill is a training provider that is established in the UK and on an international scale. With Simian Skill’s already established reputation, it is hoped that the training programme that has been set up in Southern India will be a success. The facility started operating quickly, and the first training programme took place the same week they were awarded the accreditation. On the first course were seven scaffolder working to complete the CISRS OSTS Level 1. Of the seven that attended this training course, five of the scaffolders worked for Cape PLC. During the training process, Cape also sent a delegation from their operations located in the Middle East in order to oversee the training programme. The training centre also offers some on-site accommodation as well as some welfare facilities that offer food for the people on the courses. This allows the delegates to travel from all over in order to go through the training courses.
The most influential people in international architecture have been announced as a new Super Jury. This new Jury, will be who decides the award winners at the tenth World Architecture Festival. The Festival is being held this year in the Arena Berlin, Germany between the 15th and the 17th November 2017. The Super Jury will be judging the entrants of the World Architecture Festival Awards. These awards are at the heart of the Festival as they look to celebrate the excellence shown by architects in projects around the world. The Super Jury for the 2017 festival includes Robert Ivy, the Chief Executive Officer for the American Institute of Architects. Robert Ivy will be the chair of the Super Jury at this year’s festival. Robert will be joined by The Director and Co-founder of MVRDV, Nathalie de Vries; Ian Ritchie, founder of his eponymous Ian Ritchie Architects and Christoph Ingenhoven, who created Ingenhoven Architects. The World Architecture Festival Awards consists of 31 different categories, where the entrants that have been shortlisted will be competing for prizes. These awards have been called the Oscars of the Architecture world and winning an award at the festival will be great publicity for the project and the architectural firm. These Awards are expected to take place over the course of the first two days of the three-day Festival. On the final day of the festival, the winners of each category will then have to present to the upper Jury who will then select the winners of the World Landscape, Future Project and Completed Building of the Year Awards. The deadline for the Awards programme has been extended until the 2nd June, which will allow more architects to enter their final projects in order to receive global recognition. This extension was announced as there was a significant number of applicants who wanted more time in order to complete their entry.
