Robertson Group managed a record number of wins at National Site Awards, operated by the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS). A total of 21 of its projects were honoured with Gold, Silver or Bronze, proving the continued commitment and achievement from the company. Six of its sites were honoured with the
The Lifetime Achievement Award was handed over to Lawrence Waterman, OBE, Chairman of the British Council, for his contribution to health and safety at the Safety and Health Excellence Awards gala night on the 11th of April 2018, at the VOX Conference Centre at the Birmingham NEC. Launched this year,
There is just over one month to go until the Structural Timber Awards Submission Deadline date – 31 May 2018. There is still plenty of time to enter, with just 5 questions to answer! Being shortlisted for a Structural Timber Award and ultimately winning an award is your chance to
Scotland’s largest consumer exhibition for self-builders, home renovators and improvers, The Scottish Homebuilding & Renovating Show, will be back at the SEC Glasgow on the 16th and 17th of June 2018, following a record breaking year in 2017. Last year it delivered over 9,000 visitors and according to a recent
Leicester’s Connecting Spaces regeneration scheme, masterplanned by AJ100 architects Stephen George + Partners, will see the refurbishment of the Great Central Station and the site of the former Stibbe factory transformed into an area filled with new hotels, offices and a traffic-free public space. “Leicester city centre is undergoing widespread
The second development at Liverpool Kings Dock is recommended for approval next week. Liverpool City Council’s planning committee will be looking at mixed proposals for offices, new homes and an interpretation centre for the public to view the area’s masterplan. If the proposals get approved, two new buildings will be
Adderstone Group has submitted the proposal for a new £40 million student residential scheme in Newcastle city centre. The scheme was developed in partnership with planning consultancy Lichfields and Ryder Architecture and it will be built on the site of the Technopole office building at Manors Business Park. “Discussions with
Designed to blend into the surrounding scenery, a unique roof construction of the new dining hall is the centrepiece of the regional college in Schwäbisch Gmünd. Visitors see a suspended roof, which is perfectly integrated into the landscape. The unusual roof construction was designed by German Liebel/Architekten and it was
International product design company, IDC (Industrial Design Consultancy), has developed an innovative automatic mains water shut off valve which could prevent millions of homes from water damage by burst pipes each year. The product, called Activalve, is the first water shut off device designed to work mechanically, without any need for
Robertson Group managed a record number of wins at National Site Awards, operated by the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS). A total of 21 of its projects were honoured with Gold, Silver or Bronze, proving the continued commitment and achievement from the company. Six of its sites were honoured with the highest accolade, including Annickbank Innovation Campus in Irvine, with construction work led by Robertson Central West and Robertson Civil Engineering. In addition, the £3.2 million innovation campus was awarded runner-up for Most Considerate Site, an award that recognises Scotland’s highest performing construction sites. The Group also performed really well in the education sector, with Robertson Tayside taking home Gold for Baldragon Academy in Dundee, and in the health sector, with Robertson Central East being awarded Gold for the £35 million Stirling Care Village. The CCS Ultra Site Certificate of Recognition was given to the company’s Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre. Ultra Site marks the highest level of attainment within the CCS, acting as beacons of best practice within the UK construction industry. “It’s a wonderful achievement to be recognised by the CCS for an outstanding number of projects, competing against thousands of sites across the country in awards that recognise positive role models for the construction industry. Our achievement is testament to the commitment of our entire project delivery team,” said Elliot Robertson, chief operating officer at the Robertson Group. Seven sites received Silver awards, including Huntershill Sports Hub Facility in Bishopbriggs, Perth Theatre and UHI Student Accommodation in Elgin, while eight received the Bronze status, including Glenfiddich Distillery and The New Macallan Distillery and Visitor Centre. All projects registered with the scheme were scored under five different criteria: appearance, community, environment, safety and workforce. Robertson has been registering its sites with CCS for more than ten years and in 2015 it received Associate Member status within the CCS.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was handed over to Lawrence Waterman, OBE, Chairman of the British Council, for his contribution to health and safety at the Safety and Health Excellence Awards gala night on the 11th of April 2018, at the VOX Conference Centre at the Birmingham NEC. Launched this year, the Awards celebrate innovation and achievements in occupational health and safety. Tim Else, Director of Western Business Publishing, presented the award to Lawrence Waterman: “Lawrence’s contribution to the health and safety industry over many years has been nothing short of outstanding. That’s why I am so delighted to present him, on behalf of the panel of judges and all of us at Western Business Publishing, with the Safety and Health Excellence Award for Lifetime Achievement.” Lawrence also commented on his achievement: “I am a very proud recipient of this award. Like many people who worked on the London 2012 Olympic Games, I was privileged to have the opportunity to make a contribution to a project, which the whole country felt proud of. Now, as Chairman of the British Safety Council, I feel equally positive about the opportunity to work towards achieving and maintaining standards of excellence in health and safety. However, there is nothing better than receiving approbation from your peers and I am very grateful for it.” Lawrence Waterman OBE CFIOSH is the Chairman of the British Safety Council and a founding partner at the Park Health and Safety Partnership. He was formerly head of health and safety for the London Olympic Delivery Authority and is a past president of IOSH. Lawrence is also a visiting professor at Loughborough University, where he both teaches and participates in research. Lawrence was appointed OBE for services to health and safety in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Honours.
There is just over one month to go until the Structural Timber Awards Submission Deadline date – 31 May 2018. There is still plenty of time to enter, with just 5 questions to answer! Being shortlisted for a Structural Timber Award and ultimately winning an award is your chance to significantly enhance the profile of your business and demonstrate a market-leading position. Categories within the 2018 Structural Timber Awards include: Social Housing Project of the Year, Private Housing Project of the Year, Custom and Self Build Project of the Year, Education Project of the Year, Healthcare Project of the Year, Commercial Project of the Year, Retail and Leisure Project of the Year, Pioneer Award, Installer of the Year, Project or Construction Manager of the Year, Low Energy Project of the Year, Engineer of the Year, Architect of the Year, Client of the Year, Contractor of the Year, Product Innovation Award and Project of the Year. For more information on each category please visit http://www.structuraltimberawards.co.uk/enter/awards If you have an outstanding project, innovative product application and/or dynamic people promoting excellence in structural timber across the UK, then you should be entering the Structural Timber Awards and receiving the recognition that you deserve. The reward for well done work is the opportunity to more and by winning an award, or being shortlisted, you will be able to highlight your success in embracing timber technology to potential clients. To enter the awards please visit – http://www.structuraltimberawards.co.uk/enter/awards
Scotland’s largest consumer exhibition for self-builders, home renovators and improvers, The Scottish Homebuilding & Renovating Show, will be back at the SEC Glasgow on the 16th and 17th of June 2018, following a record breaking year in 2017. Last year it delivered over 9,000 visitors and according to a recent survey, the visitors had an average budget of £101,000 over the following 12 months. In addition, 71% of them were planning on working on a live project during the following year. Moreover, 79% of those who attended last year made purchases at the show or were considering doing so, while 73% of people had or were likely to request a quote from an exhibitor. Those wishing to attend the event can get a pair of free tickets and be able to talk to architects, designers, legal experts, craftspeople and self-build specialists and suppliers about everything they need, including flooring, windows, doors and heating systems. The advantages of attending the event include the chance of meeting 140 local and national specialist suppliers and see over 1000 products. Visitors can also bring plans, discuss ideas, ask questions and get free personalised one to one advice in a 15 minute consultation with one of the experts, architects, planners or builders present there. There will be 22 educational masterclasses and eight in depth seminars each day, which will offer practical answers to common questions. The show will be taking place at the SEC in Glasgow on the 16th and 17th of June. The opening hours are Saturday from 10am until 5pm and Sunday from 10am to 4.30pm. Those who want to claim their two free tickets, worth £24, should visit www.homebuildingshow.co.uk/pr12.
Leicester’s Connecting Spaces regeneration scheme, masterplanned by AJ100 architects Stephen George + Partners, will see the refurbishment of the Great Central Station and the site of the former Stibbe factory transformed into an area filled with new hotels, offices and a traffic-free public space. “Leicester city centre is undergoing widespread transformation, with regeneration projects in the cultural, business and waterside quarters,” said John Morfey, Partner at Stephen George + Partners. “The station and Stibbe sites represent an important part of the jigsaw: having lain neglected for so long, the Masterplan which we have designed with Charles Street Buildings breathes new life into the area with new buildings and a public space which will add to Leicester’s developing sequence of squares.” The former Stibbe site received planning permission in October 2017. Its redevelopment will include a new 43,000 sq ft office block, a 152 bed Novotel hotel, a 100 bed Adagio aparthotel and the refurbishment of the station, including its glass canopy and front façade, designed by Stephen George + Partners. At the heart of the proposal is a new traffic-free public space, which will include part of Great Central Street so that the refurbished station becomes integral to the development. In addition, the plan includes the creation of a new pedestrian super-crossing of Vaughan Way, which will link the development directly to the city centre. “The development of this site, with the pedestrian super-crossing of Vaughan Way and the continuation of this route to the Great Central Station, provides a key link between the city centre and the Waterside Regeneration Area,” added John Morfey. Founded in 1970, Stephen George + Partners is one of the UK’s leading architectural practices, employing over 80 staff across offices in London, Leicester, Leeds, Birmingham and Solihull. Success in the UK has led to opportunities overseas, resulting in the establishment of Stephen George International in 2009 and the International Logistics Design Group in 2014. In 2016 Stephen George + Partners turned over £6 million.
The second development at Liverpool Kings Dock is recommended for approval next week. Liverpool City Council’s planning committee will be looking at mixed proposals for offices, new homes and an interpretation centre for the public to view the area’s masterplan. If the proposals get approved, two new buildings will be developed at the waterfront site, including the five-storey interpretation centre and office building on the southern side of the entrance to Kings Dock, and the six-storey ‘L’ shaped residential building on the north western corner of Queen’s Dock. According to a document to be considered by the planning committee, Monarch Quay Holdings Limited is the applicant behind the scheme and it aims to incorporate design and materials to reflect the area’s heritage. “The interpretation centre’s internal and external lower and upper ground spaces seek to provide flexible facilities, including a space where the overall masterplan and history of the area can be interpreted by the local community, stake holders and general public. The commercial office spaces above would be utilised by the applicant to provide modern office accommodation. The building’s form has been designed to create a gateway approach into Kings Dock, reflecting the existence of the Grade II-listed Hydraulic Tower located on the opposite side of Queen’s – Wapping Bridge. Externally, the building would feature large areas of Corten steel cladding and glazing, the former alluding to the maritime site’s location,” said the document. The proposed residential building will feature two ground floor commercial units, containing 102 one, two and three bedroom apartments on its upper floors. A four storey office development has already been approved for the Monarchs Quay site and it represents the first phase of the area’s redevelopment scheme. The workspace will provide home for Wirral-based business The Contact Company.
Adderstone Group has submitted the proposal for a new £40 million student residential scheme in Newcastle city centre. The scheme was developed in partnership with planning consultancy Lichfields and Ryder Architecture and it will be built on the site of the Technopole office building at Manors Business Park. “Discussions with the city planners over a number of years have paved the way for some of the buildings at the park to transition over to residential uses. The park is adjacent to Northumbria University Campus and perfectly located for student accommodation as well as businesses connected in some way to the university,” said Ian Baggett, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Adderstone. The 535 beds will be located across 160 apartments in two buildings standing eight to 12 storeys high, containing a mix of accommodation such as studios and two, three, four, five and six bedroom apartments. In addition, it will also include a student hub, gym, dining room, games room and cinema. “With the support of the city planners we feel we have arrived at a robust, quality design that will stand the test of time for what is, after all, a prominent site in the city,” said Mark Clasper, Director at Ryder Architecture. Lichfields submitted a planning statement that confirms the development has the potential to contribute £10.7 million per annum to the local economy, creating hundreds of jobs during construction and on completion, as well as £500,000 to Newcastle City Council as Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to deliver infrastructure to support the development of the wider area. “The scheme will result in the creation of full time and spin off jobs during construction, as well as supporting full time and part time job opportunities within the student accommodation itself, immediate area and wider city centre,” said a spokesperson from Lichfields.
Designed to blend into the surrounding scenery, a unique roof construction of the new dining hall is the centrepiece of the regional college in Schwäbisch Gmünd. Visitors see a suspended roof, which is perfectly integrated into the landscape. The unusual roof construction was designed by German Liebel/Architekten and it was constructed using Metsä Wood’s Kerto® LVL products. The basic idea of the building was to use as many natural resources as possible. “As a result, we decided to construct the roof using wood,” says Steffen Kainzbauer, architect and project manager at Liebel/Architekten. “The wooden roof structure was developed by an interdisciplinary team of seven specialists.” The group designed a grillage frame structure supported on steel columns. Implementation of the roof construction succeeded with the use of Kerto® LVL Q-panels and S-beams. In the project, load-bearing and dimensionally stable Kerto LVL (laminated veneer lumber) was used for the beams, and also for the roof and floor panels. “We achieved a consistent design with identical material on both the beams and the ceiling. Due to the load-bearing strength of the LVL beams, we were able to design slender beams and use LVL roof and floor panels for lateral stability,” states Mark Lukas from the engineering firm Dr.-Ing. H. Hottmann. The Kerto LVL main and secondary beams used in the roof construction are just 10–12 cm wide and show only a very small deflection. Complex roof construction with precise implementation The roof design team created and implemented a unique wooden roof construction with Kerto LVL Q-panel and S-beams. The end result is convincing in terms of sustainability, design and functionality. Remarkable also is the performance of the carpentry company, Holzbau Moßhammer GmbH, which implemented the large new dining hall construction project with excellent precision and fully on schedule. Kerto® LVL proved again to be fast, light and green material for construction. Read more about this unique wooden roof structure.
International product design company, IDC (Industrial Design Consultancy), has developed an innovative automatic mains water shut off valve which could prevent millions of homes from water damage by burst pipes each year. The product, called Activalve, is the first water shut off device designed to work mechanically, without any need for a power supply. Activalve came to IDC with an idea to develop a new type of mains water shut off valve that was so simple it could be operated by any homeowner, and work automatically in all conditions, without the need for batteries or electricity. With the simplicity of the end product in mind, IDC’s team investigated current valve solutions and assessed ways to make the device easy to use. IDC’s engineering team came up with a simple but effective mechanical design which includes a spring system with a thermal trigger to operate a ball valve to shut off the water supply when the temperature falls too low and pipes are at risk of freezing. Once Activalve is fitted it works automatically to protect the house. IDC’s unique design generated valuable IP. A common problem for householders is actually recoginising the shut off valve in an emergency, so IDC’s industrial designers ensured that the appearance of the new device made it immediately obvious. The design also included clear visual features so the user can see when the valve is open or closed with a clear ‘Water On’ or ‘Water Off’ indicator on the front of the device. If the valve has closed automatically to protect the pipes, the valve can be opened again by simply turning a dial. The engineering of this design also means there is no risk of the valve seizing up as can be the case with older mains water shut off taps. IDC’s in-house rapid prototyping division, IDC Models, produced prototypes of the product throughout the development. These included early models right through to final prototypes for testing; working alongside the engineering team to develop the best solution.
