Tricon, the UK and Middle East’s largest specialist foodservice consultants have been involved in the design and development of an American burger brand outlet. The consultancy company has played an integral role in the brand’s new outlet site in Cambridge Circus. Shake Shack will open on the edge of Soho
Newtecnic, the British based international building engineering firm has announced that they have been appointed by the main contractor, BACS Consortium in order to oversee the construction stage of the advanced facade envelope planned for the King Abdullah Financial District Metro hub located in Saudi Arabia. It is great news
Research supported by the Danish government shows cost reductions of up to 7% by using a digital communications platform on large-scale construction projects. A six-month research project by the Danish Building Research Institute, initiated by a government fund, shows significant cost reductions if stakeholders in a construction project report their
Freeware is commonly used by a wide range of people in a professional and personal capacity. However, structural engineers are more often found to be distrusting of free structural engineering software. With a range of freeware options available, is it time to start trusting this solution? The computing world has
Kong Hoang has recently been appointed as the Information Manager/BIM Coordinator for BIM. Technologies. This organisation is the leading BIM consultancy in the UK and works behind the scenes with a number of the construction industry’s biggest names such as GallifordTry, Sir Robert McAlpine, Carillion and Google. Kong, the new
C&C Catering Equipment Ltd, the Chester-based company has announced their latest project. Located in Shrewsbury, the company’s newest bar and grill, The Warehouse will be working to serve customers throughout the day and into the night at a venue that required the appropriate facilities for their food and beverage offerings.
Tricon, the UK and Middle East’s largest specialist foodservice consultants have been involved in the design and development of an American burger brand outlet. The consultancy company has played an integral role in the brand’s new outlet site in Cambridge Circus. Shake Shack will open on the edge of Soho this week. Tricon were given a lot of scope to create an amazing design for the new location, with the client offering their blueprint foodservice design and giving the brief to make it better. The design used by Shake Shack has already been opened successfully in a number of different locations throughout London, making the improvement of this design a challenge for Tricon. The Tricon team looked into a number of different ideas and carried out a detailed re-engineering of the blueprint. The changes made by the specialist foodservice consultants led to the creation of a new and improved operational layout with access to a more competitive equipment supply. The Project Director for Tricon carried out a number of extensive visit to other operational Tricon Work on New Shake Shack franchises in the capital city in order to gain a more in depth knowledge about the business as well as getting more information about their brand standards and design features. With this knowledge the team got to work creating newly remodeled design and construction information for the Cambridge Circus site. The remodeled design was completed in a very tight time scale which allowed the company to transform the tired looking existing Italian restaurant into an exciting new addition to Theatre Land in London. The Shake Shack in Cambridge Circus is the seventh outlet to be open in London and is a part of a larger plan to nationally rollout one of the most popular US franchises. When open, the visitors will be able to enjoy Shake Shack’s innovative menu, with items that are exclusive to each location.
Newtecnic, the British based international building engineering firm has announced that they have been appointed by the main contractor, BACS Consortium in order to oversee the construction stage of the advanced facade envelope planned for the King Abdullah Financial District Metro hub located in Saudi Arabia. It is great news that a British building engineering firm has been selected to work on a prominent international project such as this one. The Metro hub in the King Abdullah Financial District, or KAFD has been designed by Zaha Hadid and includes an intricate facade that is intended to illustrate the patterns generated by desert winds. The facade of the building was design engineered by Newtecnic, the British company, in order to reduce the solar gain of the building as well as producing air currents that can be utilised to cool the building. Newtecnic’s building research team has had to develop new algorithms in order to achieve the desired performance level from the facade envelope. The KAFD has been planned in order to create the capacity to manage Riyadh’s expected 50% growth over the course of the next few years. The KAFD is a part of the new citywide transport system that has been planned and includes 6 metro lines as well as 85 different stations, and more than 100 miles of track. It is thought that work on this project will be completed in 2018. The facade was complex to design engineer. This complexity was created from the continuity of the KAFD’s self-supporting, 200-meter-long, high performance concrete composite walls and roof used on the building. New adjustable building components have been created in order to build this structure as well as fixing methods that needed to be invented and tested by technic specifically for this project. Newtecnic tested these components in partnership with the Engineering Department of Cambridge University.
Research supported by the Danish government shows cost reductions of up to 7% by using a digital communications platform on large-scale construction projects. A six-month research project by the Danish Building Research Institute, initiated by a government fund, shows significant cost reductions if stakeholders in a construction project report their progress every day through a shared communications platform. Three large-scale construction projects, the Maersk Tower (pictured above), the Niels Bohr Building and the Danish Defence’s Property Agency, have been the basis of the research, where the effects of GenieBelt – the platform used in all three construction projects – have been analysed. “In addition to the immediate cost reductions, it will improve project planning, and everyone involved can prioritise based on a better knowledge base. If we assume that the efficiency through the project is consistent, with a small decrease in the last months, the potential savings could be as much as 7%,” said Jan Fuglsig Lambrecht, researcher at the Danish Building Research Institute. A large construction company in Denmark, Juul & Nielsen, started using GenieBelt a few months after the construction activities at The Maersk Tower began, and they confirm the positive results. Currently, they are developing a “lean” process to initiate before each project begins to further increase the value of the tool. “We did not measure the effects ourselves, but we noticed cost reductions of 2-3% on the construction project, and we experienced great dynamics and fast communication across all units, which contributed with an overview of emerging problems and the necessary knowledge to take action when needed,” said Martin van der Watt, project director at Juul & Nielsen. Ulrik Branner: savings recorded “In addition, there’s more transparency for reporting at construction meetings and the obstacles we encounter.” The contractor of the Niels Bohr Building, The Danish Building and Property Agency, also followed the results closely and sees a potential in better retail and lean planning as a result of using digital communications platforms. “The Danish Building and Property Agency is very aware of the opportunities that digitalisation implies in connection with construction projects. By using a shared digital communications platform, the retail planning of tasks on the construction sites gets strengthened,” said Signe Primdal Lyndrup, deputy director of the Danish Building and Property Agency. “The communications platform is also a valuable tool for lean planning, which we encourage in general. For that reason, we are continuously reviewing the potential with using digital platforms and IT tools in our construction projects.” “No one else in the world has documented financial savings on construction projects this large. And that’s just the immediate savings without including reduced waste, a decrease in bankruptcies, less arbitrations or increase in invested capital that is released,” said Ulrik Branner, CEO of GenieBelt. GenieBelt is used in 43 countries, and in Denmark, several municipalities are using the platform to keep up with the developments in construction projects.
Freeware is commonly used by a wide range of people in a professional and personal capacity. However, structural engineers are more often found to be distrusting of free structural engineering software. With a range of freeware options available, is it time to start trusting this solution? The computing world has a wide range of myths associated with it. Since the 1990s one of the most common claims that have been made is that the Mac and Linux systems are considered to be immune to malware and viruses; a complete myth that is very obviously not true, but based on the notion that these systems are more challenging for virus developers in the 1990s. Similar to this, there have been a range of misconceptions circulated about freeware that have historically dissuaded structural engineers from putting complete trust in the software when using it for their projects. This doubt and suspicion has remained even with the increase of free and open-source programs that have been made available by trusted developers and suppliers over the course of the past few years. One example of widely integrated freeware is Dropbox, used by a wide audience in order to place and store important documents in the cloud. Many Structural engineers also use this freeware service and this creates a contradiction for a range of businesses in this industry. Misconceptions around freeware is that the free structural analysis and design software lacks the quality assurance of paid for equivalents and that there will be a slower rate of roll out updates for new design regulations. However, these feelings to the outdated notion that freeware is developed by a single person as opposed to trained specialists, reputable companies and start-ups. With computing misconceptions still lingering from a misunderstanding of a historical situation, it is vital that Structural engineering companies understand and discover that freeware offering the same level of quality assurances and support as purchased software, and with the abundance of freeware available, now is a great time for engineers to trust professionally.
Kong Hoang has recently been appointed as the Information Manager/BIM Coordinator for BIM. Technologies. This organisation is the leading BIM consultancy in the UK and works behind the scenes with a number of the construction industry’s biggest names such as GallifordTry, Sir Robert McAlpine, Carillion and Google. Kong, the new Information Manager and BIM Coordinator is 38 and graduated from the University of Lincoln in 2002 with a degree in Interior Architecture and Design. Kong Hoang has also won the prestigious International Royal Society of Arts Students Design Awards in 2002 also. With more than 15 years of experience in the industry, acquired by working with well-known and reputable companies such as Sheppard Robson Architects and Broadway Malyan Architects. Most recently in his career, Kong worked as the Senior Architectural Technologist with Liser Architects. Kong has developed specialist knowledge in BIM applications and software such as Revit, Dynamo, Navisworks and Solibri. In his new role as Information Manager/BIM Coordinator, Kong Hoang will be responsible for managing clash detection meetings as well as managing auditing model information data and BIM Model Coordination at BIM. Technologies. With an impressive work history of working major projects such as Google Headquarters, Kings Cross and the Lead BIM Coordinator, the BIM Coordinator for Google Headquarters in California and the Maggies Centre in Leeds and the 515 in New York. Kong Hoang will be an asset to the company and his experience will help BIM Technologies to continue their success a while working with some major design practices in the UK and some of the highest profile projects in the world. BIM. Technologies is the UK’s leading BIM consultancy that works to provide clients with strategic advice, draft BIM protocols, BIM Execution Plans and all associated guidance and advice for the implementation of technology and software.
C&C Catering Equipment Ltd, the Chester-based company has announced their latest project. Located in Shrewsbury, the company’s newest bar and grill, The Warehouse will be working to serve customers throughout the day and into the night at a venue that required the appropriate facilities for their food and beverage offerings. C&C have said that they were delighted to be involved with the project. The Catering Equipment company is known for being one of the UK’s leading specialist kitchen contractors. The multi-award winning company works to create and installs the correct equipment in professional catering environments for clients throughout the UK. The Warehouse Bar & Grill owner has created this new space following the success of his first venture, The Church, located in Chester and fitted with catering facilities from C&C in 2013. The Warehouse in Shrewsbury required a finish was equally as high as the Chester venture in order to showcase their range of local and national produce. The Bar & Grill will offer handcrafted pies and homemade pizzas. This new sleek and modern location has had a range of brands involved in its creation. These brands included C&C Catering Fabrications, Retigo, Blue Seal, Meiko, Polar refrigeration and IMC bar throughout The Warehouse’s main kitchen, prep kitchen and bar area. The new facilities look great and will be a valuable new eatery to be added to the portfolio of everyone involved. C&C Catering Equipment have worked on this project alongside their subsidiary companies C&C Catering Engineers Ltd and C&C Catering Fabrications Ltd. The company is a proud member of CEDA and works with a number of the top catering consultants and designers in the UK in order to make sure that their visions can be turned into a reality. The company has recently worked on a range of high profile projects such as Burberry HQ in London, Sunbury Court, the Salvation Army’s HQ building and Macmillan Publishing.
